Analysis of the 83rd Academy Awards

With the 83^rd Annual Academy Awards coming to an end, awards season is slowly wrapping up. The lights at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles have been turned off, and the winners have taken their golden statues home with them.

The awards show was rather predictable. Many critics have gone on to describe it as dull. There were no major surprises during the three-hour long broadcast.

As predicted, the Oscar for Best Picture went to The King's Speech. The movie dominated at previous awards shows such as the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild awards. It absolutely deserved to win the biggest award of the night.

As predicted by many, Natalie Portman won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Nina in Black Swan. The respective Best Actor in a Leading Role went to Colin Firth for his performance in The King's Speech.

Both Portman and Firth gave a heartfelt acceptance speech that demonstrated just how respectful and elegant they are.

The Social Network also won a number of awards including Best Film Editing, Best Soundtrack and Best Adapted Screenplay.

It was nice to see Aaron Sorkin get the recognition he deserves. He is a fantastic screenwriter and producer and he absolutely deserved the Academy Award.

The biggest snafu of the night came when Melissa Leo took the stage to accept the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in The Fighter.

Leo was so shocked and nervous. She accidentally dropped the F-bomb on live television. Thankfully ABC implements the 7-second delay, so they were able to cut it out from the live broadcast.

Another touching moment was when Christian Bale accepted the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in The Fighter. He gave a very articulate speech but got a little teary-eyed and choked up when he thanked his wife.

Compared to previous awards show, though, where Michael Moore gave a hard-hitting political acceptance speech, or when Roberto Benigni climbed the seats to get to the stage to accept his award, the 83^rd Academy Awards were awfully quiet.

Even the hosts were somewhat subdued.

There were high expectations for James Franco to bring his comedic persona to the awards show. Two years ago Franco, along with actor Seth Rogen, did a hilarious pre-taped skit mocking his movie Pineapple Express. Unfortunately, Franco did not deliver. He was rather quiet as a host, not providing the audience with much comic relief.

On the other hand, his co-host Anne Hathaway was a little too eager to please. Possibly trying to compensate for Franco's passiveness, Hathaway was over-enthusiastic.

The Academy probably tried to appeal to a younger demographic by casting Hathaway and Franco as the hosts, but their chemistry didn't match up very well, which is a shame since they are both such talented actors.

Even so, the Academy Awards are always a celebration of the best films of the year and it's nice to see great actors and actresses honored for their contribution to cinema.

Now we have another full year to take in the great movies and meet back at the Kodak Theater in 2012.