Oscars 2014: Best and worst moments

Pharrell Williams faked everyone out when he walked the red carpet without his Ranger Rick hat. He did, however, wear shorts, which grabbed the attention of all the red carpet hosts. Inside the show, however, the hat returned during Williams’ performance of “Happy,” the nominated song from “Despicable Me 2.”  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

One of the darlings of this year’s Oscar season has been “12 Years a Slave” star Lupita Nyong’o. And she demonstrated part of the reason she’s so loved while talking to E!’s red carpet schmooze ghoul, Ryan Seacrest. When asked if walking the red carpet was the culmination of a childhood dream, Nyong’o graciously replied, “I didn’t grow up watching the Oscars.... My dream was just to be an actress. I didn’t know it came with all of this.”  (Matt Sayles / Invision / AP)

Supporting actor nominee Jared Leto thought he was being the height of wit when he put his arm around supporting actress nominee June Squibb on the red carpet and joked to Seacrest that the two were dating. But little did he suspect that the 84-year-old Squibb would outwit him with her response, “Our evening in Santa Barbara was great,” she said. “Really wonderful.” Leto, you have been Squibb-d.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

“Captain Phillips” executive producer Kevin Spacey stopped by the Seacrest lair to give America two minutes of chitter chatter. “What was the real Captain Phillips’ response” to Tom Hanks playing him? Seacrest wanted to know. “I think he was disappointed it wasn’t Brad Pitt,” Spacey deadpanned.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Conspiracy theorists unite: Jennifer Lawrence tripped on the red carpet this year, making it the second year in a row the actress has tripped on the Oscars red carpet. What was an endearing sign of her humanity last year has rapidly descended to full-on suspicion and mistrust of Lawrence’s true motives. Is she tripping on purpose? Beware, JLaw, the entertainment press has you on notice.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

For the most part, host Ellen DeGeneres’ opening monologue was pretty standard, with a few requisite zingers directed at the nominees. But she saved her most cutting remark for the full Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membership at the end, telling the assembled that tonight there were two possibilities. “Possibility Number 1: ’12 Years a Slave’ wins best picture. Possibility Number 2: You’re all racists.” Amazing way to kick off the show.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Jared Leto won the first award of the night, and gave a lengthy speech in which he paid tribute to his mother, spoke to the people of Venezuela and Ukraine, mentioned the people who have died of AIDS and even managed to work in the required show business thank-yous. What was most amazing about it wasn’t his eloquence or luxurious hair, but the fact that he wasn’t played off the stage before he made it to the end.  (John Shearer / Invision / AP)

Kim Novak and Matthew McConaughey’s presentation of the animated short award had all the signs of a bit edging ever closer to running completely off the rails. McConaughey’s steadying hand on Novak’s back, the leading edge in his voice and the fact that Novak seemed to think she was presenting a slightly differently worded category all made her Oscar appearance the most nail-biting sequence Hitchcock never directed.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Sally Field, Kim Novak, Zac Efron, Charlize Theron and more presenters struggled mightily to decipher the words being scrolled before them on the teleprompters in the Dolby Theatre. Meaning either the bar was making the drinks extra strong or the teleprompter guy was speeding through the words. Perhaps because he was excited to get to Jimmy Kimmel’s post-show?  (John Shearer / Invision / AP)

Sometimes the Oscar film clip montages can be inspirational, making you want to run out and watch or rewatch all those movies right away. Other times, they just leave you scratching your head and wondering why they decided to do that. Tonight’s montages, all based around the theme of heroes -- real-life, animated and pop culture -- were the latter. Why did they choose those to take up precious screen time? And why were most of the featured heroes male? Not even the accountants at PriceWaterhouseCoopers could tell you.  (David James / AP)

Oscars musical numbers have a tendency to be overblown, but Karen O and Ezra Koenig’s performance of “The Moon Song” from “Her” in front of an oversized full moon projection was stagey, yet intimate in just the right way.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

You can thank all the people you want when you win an Oscar, but only Darlene Love brought the crowd to its feet by singing her thanks while accepting the documentary feature Oscar for “20 Feet From Stardom.” Leto and Love set a high bar for acceptance speeches early in the evening.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ellen DeGeneres didn’t subject the audience to a song-and-dance number called “We Saw Your Boobs” like Seth MacFarlane did, but she did spend valuable TV screen time and celebrity money wandering the aisles of the Dolby Theatre, saying hi to attendees and offering pizza. What MacFarlane did was poor judgement, but DeGeneres was wasting everyone’s time.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

During Tyler Perry’s introduction of best picture nominee “Her,” the camera cut to Amy Adams in the audience, busily texting someone. It’s a long show, Amy. We felt your pain.  (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

Someone must have told Ellen DeGeneres that the kids are all on Twitter these days, because the Oscar host devoted not one but two major gags to sending out tweets with pictures she’d taken live during the show. It may have seemed like pandering, but something worked. Ellen’s star-studded selfie managed to crash Twitter during the Oscar’s telecast and become the most retweeted photo ever, having been retweeted over 2.1 million times.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Lupita Nyong’o’s speech after her supporting actress win for “12 Years a Slave” was yet another master class in amazing Oscar speeches. Heavy with emotion and the weight of the real-life person she played, Nyong’o capped it off with the inspirational words, “No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.” Not only was it uplifting in its own right, but it also served as a great coded message to Ryan Seacrest from earlier in the evening. Your dreams are valid, Seacrest.  (John Shearer / Invision / AP)

Bill Murray arrived on stage ostensibly to present the Oscar for cinematography. However, after co-presenter Amy Adams had read the nominees aloud, he stepped in with “We forgot one. Harold Ramis, for ‘Caddyshack,’ ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Groundhog Day.’” Ramis and Murray had a long history, including a rumored feud during the years leading up to Ramis’ death last week at age 69. After that very public shout-out, we can officially consider the feud over.  (John Shearer/ Invision / AP)

Side-stepping controversy, the people who assemble the Oscars’ in memoriam montage managed to include camera assistant Sarah Jones, who died just over a week ago while filming the movie “Midnight Rider.” While she wasn’t part of the same montage as people like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Walker, her name was included on screen soon after Bette Midler concluded her performance of “Wind Beneath My Wings.”  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Everyone trips up with a name from time to time, but John Travolta stepped in it big time when he introduced singer Idina Menzel as “Adele Dazeem.” Look for the John Travolta Name Generator to appear online sometime Monday.  (John Shearer / Invision / AP)

The trembling you hear in the heavens tonight isn’t thunder from a winter storm, it’s the ascendance of “Let It Go” co-songwriter Robert Lopez to the EGOT heavens. With his Oscar for the song from Disney’s “Frozen,” he’s now won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. At the end of your life, he and his fellow immortal EGOTs will decide your fate. Be well.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Lead actress Oscar winner Cate Blanchett thanked Woody Allen during her acceptance speech, but her most shocking moment was directed toward fellow nominee Julia Roberts, to whom Blanchett said, “Julia #suckit.” A joke between actresses? Pure venom directed from the winner’s circle? A little of both?  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

Matthew McConaughey gave yet another lyrical and borderline incomprehensible speech upon winning the lead actor Oscar for “Dallas Buyers Club.” Among the profound words of McConaughey-ism: “And to my hero. That’s who I chase. When I was 15 years old I had a very important person in my life come and ask me, ‘Who’s your hero?’ I said, ‘I thought about it and it’s me in 10 years. So I turned 25 10 years later and that same person comes to me and goes, ‘Are you a hero?’ I said, ‘Not even close!’ She said, ‘Why?’ and I said, ‘My hero is me at 35.’ You see, every day, and every week, and every month, and every year of my life, my hero is always 10 years away. I’m never going to be my hero. I’m not going to obtain that and that’s fine with me because it keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.” McConaughey in real life is like the positive version of his “True Detective” character Rust Cohle.  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

“12 Years a Slave” won the Oscar for best picture, and in a tradition taken from the Emmys and Golden Globes, the cast joined the winning producers on stage to accept the award. A crowded stage is always better than an empty stage and a great way to end the broadcast.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)