78th Annual Academy Award Winners

It's time. After 15 minutes of Jon Stewart's comedy and some old gay western jokes, the results are in. Here are the 78th Academy Award winners.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR:
Danny's Pick: "Brokeback Mountain"
Emma's Pick: "Capote"
The Winner: "Crash"

In a year of mavericks, Oscar favored the underdog. "Crash" won when everyone at SCO was certain that either "Capote" or "Brokeback Mountain" would. But, as some haters have been saying, it takes more than gay subject matter to win an Oscar. With countless festival wins, Oscar nominations and Golden Globes, "Brokeback" seemed to be a sure win – and it should have won. Regardless of who should win, though, at least the Academy has honored films this year that deal with subject matter that Americans deal with like racism or homosexuality rather than a beautifully-filmed drama.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Danny's Pick: Heath Ledger
Emma's Pick: Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Winner: Philip Seymour Hoffman for "Capote"

Hoffman underwent many transformations for his part in "Capote," some of which include raising his voice a few octaves and wearing constrictive suites that altered his football player physique to Truman's more delicate and feminine one. But these did not win him the Oscar. Hoffman's acting is intricate and by no means discreet. His performances burn holes into whatever film he stars in because of his intense and full-out acting style. Hoffman has been ignored too long by the Academy; hopefully Hoffman won't phase out like other first-time Oscar winners and will act in more fabulous movies.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Danny's Pick: Felicity Huffman
Emma's Pick: Reese Witherspoon
The Winner: Reese Witherspoon for "Walk the Line"

The hype was right this year with Witherspoon's win for "Walk the Line." Drawing on her own childhood in Tennessee and her so-called dreams of "being a country music star," Witherspoon crafted a portrait of a truly strong and creative woman. Johnny and June Cash would be proud.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Danny's Pick: Jake Gyllenhaal
Emma's Pick: Jake Gyllenhaal
The Winner: George Clooney for "Syriana"

George Clooney seems to be the Humphrey Bogart of the modern day -- even Jon Stewart fawns over his classy demeanor. But whatever he is in real life, he shouldn't have won that Oscar. Clooney may have fueled the political drama "Syriana," but the real winner tonight should have been Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal's portrayal of a broken-hearted cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain" was both dynamic and sympathetic, which in itself illustrates Gyllenhaal's progression from a cult-movie heartthrob to a big-screen, professional actor.

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
The Winner: Ang Lee for "Brokeback Mountain"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Danny's Pick: Amy Adams
Emma's Pick: All of them
The Winner: Rachel Weisz for "The Constant Gardener"

As Tessa Quayle, Weisz gave a remarkable performance as the admirable activist who is murdered for her work. Her work in the film only made the film all the more moving and compelling -- her win is well deserved.

BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN:
Danny's Pick: Noah Baumbach for "The Squid and the Whale"
Emma's Pick: Noah Baumbach for "The Squid and the Whale"
The Winner: Paul Haggis for "Crash"

Leave it to the Academy to go with the most politically correct nominee in the batch. The predictable and shallow screenplay for "Crash" hardly deserved to win over the more intelligent, meaningful and honest script of "The Squid and the Whale." "Crash" manipulates its audiences with a hardly-developed look into the serious subject of racism in Los Angeles. Mediocre at best, the script of "Crash" was hardly of Oscar quality.

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
The Winner: John Myhre and Gretchen Rau for "Memoirs of a Geisha"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
The Winner: Colleen Atwood for "Memoirs of a Geisha"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES, ORIGINAL SCORE
The Winner: Gustavo Santaolalla for "Brokeback Mountain"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES, ORIGINAL SONG
The Winner: Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard's "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow"

In the words of Jon Stewart, "It looks like things have gotten easier for a pimp here." This is quite possibly the most surprising win of the night so far. But if Dolly Parton had won, would it really have been any less funny?

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
The Winner: Howard Berger and Tami Lane for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Winner: Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek for "King Kong"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Winner: Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn for "King Kong"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Winner: Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor for "King Kong"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
The Winner:"Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Winner: "Tsotsi" (South Africa)

BEST DOCUMENTARY, FEATURES
The Winner: "The March of the Penguins"

The story of one group of penguins and their long journey was, by far, the most heartwarming hit of this summer. The film captured the hearts of children and adults everywhere -- it is no surprise that it won.

BEST DOCUMENTARY, SHORT SUBJECTS
The Winner: "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin"

BEST SHORT FILM, ANIMATED
The Winner: "The Moon and the Son"

BEST SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION
The Winner: "Six Shooter"