The lights come up at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood to start the 86th Annual Academy Awards, the most famed film event of the year. The audience is in for a long night filled with recognition for this year’s best films, and of course the comedic antics of the host, the one-and-only Ellen DeGeneres.

Ellen bravely comes out to start the show despite the horrible plight Hollywood is facing, saying, “It’s been a tough couple of days for us here. It’s raining… We’re fine. Thank you for your prayers.”

She’s back after hosting 7 years ago. She ribs all the repetitive nominations, like Meryl Streep (18-time nominee, who Ellen says can’t afford to be nominated again) and Leonardo DiCaprio (the forever snubbed). Ellen talks in a loud voice to June Squibb, the oldest nominee, making fun of her advanced age. The real Philomena and Captain Phillips, whom films are based off of, are here tonight.

The theme for the show is “Heroes in Hollywood” because movies inspire us and give us an escape. Ellen proceeds to inspire everyone by saying “You should think of yourselves as winners… Not all of you, but the people who won before should think of themselves as winners.”

Another Ellen gem: “Who am I kidding? It’s the Hunger Games. There’s cameras everywhere, you’re all hungry, Jennifer Lawrence won last year.” She brings up once again how Jennifer Lawrence tripped on stage last year. “If you win tonight, I think we should bring you the Oscar. Can we do that?”

Anne Hathaway presents the first award, for Actor in a Supporting Role. The Oscar goes to Jared Leto for his role as Rayon in “Dallas Buyers Club.”

Ellen will be tweeting throughout the night. She takes a selfie of her looking at the “beautiful” audience.

Jim Carey talks a bit, then intros an animated collage that is unfortunately “light on the Nemo,” according to Ellen.

Pharrell Williams sings “Happy,” the first of 4 Oscar-nominated songs to be performed, with a “Despicable Me 2″ themed backdrop screen. It’s energetic, with some funky new dance moves thrown in by his crew.

Samuel L. Jackson and Naomi Watts present nominees for Achievement in Costume Design. Catherine Martin takes the Oscar for her work on “The Great Gatsby.” For best Makeup and Hairstyling, the award goes to “Dallas Buyers Club,” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews.

6 young student filmmakers were chosen to participate in the show as a reward for their accomplishments. They’re applauded onstage.

Ellen brought consolation prizes for the runners-up. Bradley Cooper gets 2 ¼ scratcher lotto tickets.

Kim Novak (“Vertigo,” who makes very few public appearances and seems a bit out of it tonight) along with Matthew McConaughey present the award for the Best Animated Short Film to “Mr. Hublot,” a futuristic tale of one man and his giant pet robot, produced by French filmmakers Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares. It is their first Oscar.

Novak and McConaughey proceed to award the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film to “Frozen,” a thoroughly enjoyable arctic adventure and deserving film that has received much acclaim from the young and the young at heart. It’s no surprise it takes the win. Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, and Peter Del Vecho accept the award for the Disney movie.

Sally Fields comes on stage to give merit to all the films over the years that have portrayed the extraordinary stories of “everyday heroes.”

Then, Emma Watson and Joseph Gordon Levitt announce the nominees for Achievement in Visual Effects. All the nominees are fantastically futuristic and deserving in my opinion, but “Gravity” ultimately wins the Oscar, no surprises there. It’s the first of many inevitable awards the much-hyped “Gravity” will take home tonight. Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, and Neil Corbould accept their Oscar.

Zac Efron stumbles over his words to announce Karen O’s performance of “The Moon Song,” from the movie “Her.” I’ve never heard the song before, but it’s a pretty, stripped down song with some nice harmonies, and an intimate performance given the huge venue. I’m not “wow-ed” though.

Kate Hudson and Jason Suideikis present the Oscar for Live Action Short Film to “Helium” by Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson, an uplifting portrayal of a dying boy’s adventures in a magical fantasy world and my pick to win.

Documentary Short Subject is next (you can read my previous review of all the nominees in this category HERE). Drumroll…..as it’s the only award I really care about……and the Oscar goes to “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved my Life” by Nicholas Reed and Malcolm Clarke. Wow, this is a surprise. I was betting on “Prison Terminal” to take it instead. This film struck me as a bit sleepy as mostly a re-telling of history, but the win is a great honor to its subject, Alice Herz-Sommer, who passed away just last week at age 110.

Ellen plans to order a couple of pizzas for the hungry crowd. 2 Large ones will be sufficient.

Bradley Cooper announces the winner for Documentary Feature, “20 Feet From Stardom.” One of the featured back-up singers from the films launches into an a capella song on stage, finally getting her chance at stardom.

The award for Foreign Language Film goes to “The Great Beauty,” an Italian entry.

Ellen, in new clothes, introduces Brad Pitt, who introduces U2, who perform Ordinary Love from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” It’s raw and has a nice groove, with simple acoustic instrumentation. I’m digging the vocals at the beginning. Good song.

More selfie-time with Ellen. She has upwards of 10 actors crowd in for a picture, #oscars.

We see a highlight reel from the geek-central Scientific and Technical Awards, including a Hover Cam and a new way to flip cars over.

“Gravity” wins for both Achievement in Sound Mixing and Achievement in Sound Editing.

The Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is awarded to Lupita Nyong’o for “12 Years a Slave.” She’s enthralled.

Pizza’s here! Ellen and the Delivery Guy pass out slices to pretty much every actor in the audience. Does anyone have a tip for the pizza guy? No pressure, just millions of people seeing how much you tip.

Achievement in Cinematography goes to “Gravity,” while Achievement in Film Editing goes to… “Gravity.” That’s four wins for the movie in just four paragraphs! Such a big surprise. Expect more to come.

Whoopi Goldberg gives a shout-out to Judy Garland and her kids, who are here tonight. She then introduces P!nk’s performance of Somewhere Over the Rainbow in tribute to “The Wizard of Oz,” which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

Update: Ellen is in a giant Glinda dress.

Achievement in Production Design goes to “The Great Gatsby.”

There’s a Memorial montage and song to honor the members of the film community who passed away this year. And the Oscars broke Twitter; I’m impressed.

As John Travolta introduces her performance of Let It Go from “Frozen,” he butchers Idina Menzel’s name, calling her “Adele Dazi” instead. Anyhow, the performance is stunning. This song will definitely get some recognition tonight. By the way, check out THIS impressive take on the song if you’ve got the time.

The Oscar for Original Score is awarded to “Gravity,” while Best Original Song (of which the nominees have all been sung during the show) goes to Let It Go.

“12 Years a Slave” wins the award for Adapted Screenplay, whereas “Her” takes Original Screenplay.

Best Director goes to Alfonso Cuaron for “Gravity.” Cate Blanchett wins Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in “Blue Jasmine,” and Matthew McConaughey wins Best Actor.

Without further ado, “12 Years a Slave” receives the big one, Best Picture. And that’s it for the 86th Academy Awards!

The show ran smoothly, with great musical performances and comedy interjected by the hilarious Ellen DeGeneres. “Gravity” made quite a sweep, winning 6 awards in total, but “12 Years a Slave” had a respectable showing as well. And folks, the show only ran 30 minutes over-time this year! Yes, it was a night of great accomplishments.