Favs and Fails: Academy Awards 2012

So, who watched the Academy Awards last night? Hugo took away multiple awards which was a little surprising to me, but makes me want to see the movie even more! The Artist was the big winner of the night which was not so surprising. And the other big winners were pretty predictable as well. But so much happened in the show, and I'd like to recap my fashion picks, my favorite moments from the show, and some of my criticisms. Enjoy!

The evening started off on the red carpet, and you all know how much I love that! E! started coverage at 5:30, which is a little ridiculous, but I'm not gonna lie... I watched most of it! Aaaaand my favorite dress of the night was: Michelle Williams. I thought the dress was red at first, but it's really a coral color. I always love her style, and I think she really stepped it up for the Oscars. I love the detailing on the skirt and the color looks so great with her skin, and the peplum skirt is so feminine and flattering.

Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton; image via oscar.com

Some of my other favorites were: Viola Davis, that green against her skin was so beautiful and I love the shape of that dress; Tina Fey (Yay Tina!) I love her but she never seems to have it fully together on the red carpet, but NOT so in this dress... it looks stunning and so do her hair and accessories; Gwyneth Paltrow, the simple lines on this white dress were beautiful on her, and the cape she had on outside added a unique element that no one else had; Melissa McCarthy, the last few things she's worn during awards season were a little boring for me, but I'm so glad she stepped it up and went for some color last night... it thought the jeweled neckline and belt were very flattering on her.

Viola Davis in Vera Wang; Tina Fey in Carolina Herrera; Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford; Melissa McCarthy in Marina Rinaldi
images via oscar.com

And, probably my favorite red carpet moment of the night was with "The Dictator" Sacha Baron Cohen and Ryan Seacrest. Ryan is so mad, but trying to conceal it and I thought it was hilarious... you gotta shake things up every once in a while on the red carpet! (It'll keep you grounded, Ryan.)

My favorite part of the actual Oscar show were the interviews with celebrities talking about film and the part it plays in there lives. It was so fun to see some other stars besides those nominated that night. I also like the short interview clips they played when announcing some of the nominees... I thought it added a little something for the audience for each film. Here are "Movie Moments" they have on Oscar.com, but I can't find the ones they showed during the show last night.

I was so excited to see that Bret McKenzie (Bret from Flight of the Conchords!) won the Oscar for Music-Original Song with "Man or Muppet". I loved him in Flight of the Conchords, and that was one of my favorite songs from THE MUPPETS.

image via oscar.com

Another nice moment of the evening was Meryl Streep's speech. I know she started off as usual with her breathless shock at just the possibility of winning, but I think she really said some nice things to her husband and her long-time makeup artist (who won earlier in the evening). And she ended with a nice sentiment about all of the friendships she's made in the industry, and I thought it was just lovely and sweet. And I haven't seen Iron Lady yet, but I'm sure she deserved the win... she embodies characters like no other actor I've seen.

There were a few things throughout the evening that I didn't enjoy however:

The first was the microphone sound for the ENTIRE night... I don't think it was just my TV, but there was awful feedback and crackling on all of the mikes, and it was driving me nuts. This is the Academy Awards, you'd think they would have that under control in the first place and if not it should have been corrected early in the show. Did anyone else notice this?

The second thing that got on my nerves was Angelina Jolie and her leg (on the red carpet AND when she presented):

We know you have nice legs, Angie and yes, your dress does have a very high slit in it. But that means it's automatically going to show your leg... you don't have to intentionally bend it out for us to see. We get it. It's a nice dress, let it speak for itself. That is all.

What were some of your favorite Oscar 2012 moments? Let us know in the comments! Enjoy!