And The Winners Are.....

The Academy Awards have just ended and The Shadow can tell you this was one of the better shows in the past few years.  But before we get into a final review of the show, here are the winners from tonight (as always, there were a few pleasant surprises):

• Best Picture - 12 Years A Slave
• Best Director - Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
• Best Actor - Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
• Best Actress - Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
• Best Supporting Actor - Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
• Best Supporting Actress - Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave)
• Original Screenplay - Her
• Adapted Screenplay - 12 Years A Slave
• Animated Feature - Frozen
• Cinematography - Gravity
• Original Score - Gravity
• Original Song - Let It Go (Frozen)

Watching Ellen DeGeneres hosting tonight's awards was a breath of fresh air compared to last year's show.  Ellen took advantage of her relationship with many of the nominees to provide comedy relief during the show.  In one instance, she posted the following selfie with several A-listers which literally crashed Twitter briefly:

This pic has been retweeted more than 2 million times as of this writing, making it the most retweeted picture of all time.

Ellen's antics tonight were funny, in good taste, and made for a great show tonight.  We only have to wonder why it took seven years for her to come back to host the Oscars again.  We do hope to see her again soon.

Good night and good luck.