Photo gallery: Red carpet arrivalsKEY POINTS:
5.50pm Looking sharp in a classic tux, Denzel Washington presents the 80th Best Picture.
And the Oscar goes to...
The Coen Brothers for No Country for Old Men. Producer Scott Rudin accepted the award with the brothers, officially ending one of the most predictable and uneventful Oscar ceremonies of all time.
5.45pm Martin Scorsese presents Best Director to the Coen Brothers - who claim their third Academy Award ever and second Oscar of the evening for No Country for Old Men.
Keeping it brief, Ethan Coen said:
"I don't have a lot to add to what I said earlier. Thank you."
5.30pm Please be Johnny, please be Johnny... The regal Helen Mirren presents the award for Best Actor. Predictably, the award goes to Daniel Day-Lewis for his turn in There Will Be Blood.
Claiming his second Academy Award, Day-Lewis jested that receiving his prize from Mirren was "the closest I'll ever come to receiving a knighthood".
5.22pm Just four awards to go - but what a four. Harrison Ford enters to the Indiana Jones theme song to present Best Original Screenplay.
The Oscar goes to former stripper Diablo Cody for Juno. She nearly got through the speech without bawling but the dedication to her family proved too much and she walks off in tears.
5.17pm Hanks blitzes through the Best Documentary Feature nominees. Obviously, things are running behind schedule.
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner win for Taxi to the Dark Side.
5.15pm Double Oscar winner Tom Hanks takes the stage briefly before crossing live to US troops in Iraq, who present Best Documentary short subject.
The Oscar goes to Freeheld by Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth. The ladies also win for best histrionics of the night.
5.08pm Ella Enchanted herself Amy Adams (not to be confused with Best Supporting Actress nominee Amy Ryans) presents Best Original Score.
And the Oscar goes to... Dario Marianelli for Atonement.
5.02pm Two-time Best Actress winner Hilary Swank presents this year's In Memoriam - a tribute to Hollywood's lost legends, including Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), director Ingmar Bergman and Heath Ledger.
5pm Whose idea was it to have Cameron Diaz present Best Cinematography? She can't even say the word. Once she finally spits it out, the award goes to Robert Elswood for There Will Be Blood.
4.55pm Marketa Irglova didn't get a chance to thank the room, so in an Oscar first, Jon Stewart brought the winner back on stage to have her turn. A grand speech it was too.
4.50pm John Travolta presents the Best Song gong. Thank goodness he didn't choose to come in character as Edna Turnblad.
Irishman Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova accept the award for the song Falling Slowly for the film Once. Humbly, Hansard 'tanks' the room repeatedly. Aw, bless.
4.46pm McDreamy, oh, I mean Patrick Dempsey presents the final Best Song nominee - So Close from Enchanted. With three Best Song nominations for the film, odds are good that one of them will take out the category.
4.44pm Academy Award nominee Penelope Cruz takes the stage to present Best Foreign Language Film.
The Oscar goes to Austria for The Counterfeiters.
4.37pm Nicole Kidman presents the Honorary Oscar of the night to Robert Boyle, who receives a standing ovation. Boyle is a production designer with four Academy Award nominations to his name.
4.28pm A tiny Renee Zellweger takes the stage, in a glittering silver gown, to present Achievement in Film Editing.
It's a good night for The Bourne Ultimatum, which picks up its third award of the night. Christopher Rouse picks up the award, becoming the second Oscar winner in his family.
4.22pm Hollywood royalty Jack Nicholson, donning his trademark glasses, presents a special tribute to past Best Picture winners - all 79 of them.
4.16pm Devilish Irishman Colin Farrell slides on stage - literally -to introduce the fourth original song of the night, Falling Slowly from Once.
4.10pm Things are starting to get interesting. Forest Whitaker takes the stage to present Best Actress. Will it be past-winner Julie Christie or French newcomer Marion Cotillard? Or for a long shot, 20-year-old Ellen Page?
Marion Cotillard takes the prize, looking particularly stunned. Shaking, the actress delivers an adorable speech in her gorgeous French accent, telling the director he "rocks my world".
"Thank you life, thank you love. It is true there are some angels in this city."
4.04pm Knocked Up stars Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill "fill in" for Halle Barry and Dame Judi Dench to present Best Sound Editing. Hands down, best presenters of the night.
The Oscar goes to Karen Baker and Per Hallberg for The Bourne Ultimatum.
The comedic duo stay on to present Achievement in Sound Mixing, which also goes to The Bourne Ultimatum. Scott Milan, David Parker and Kirk Francis collect the award.
4.01pm Best joke of the night: Angelina couldn't be with us tonight. It's hard to get 17 babysitters on Oscar night.
3.55pm 15-year-old Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, introduces the third nominated song, That's How You Know, from Enchanted, performed by Pushing Daisies star Kristin Chenoweth.
3.47pm The dapper Josh Brolin and James MacAvoy present Best Adapted Screenplay. Atonement is the favourite but the Coen Brothers beat it out for No Country for Old Men.
3.44pm Host of the Scientific Technical Academy Awards, Jessica Alba gives the crowd a recap of the event, congratulating the winners. Curiously, the cameraman never shows a full-length shot of the pregnant star.
3.37pm Last year's Best supporting actor winner Alan Arkin presents Best Supporting Actress. This category boasts the biggest age range of nominees, from 13-year-old Saoirse Ronan to 83-year-old Ruby Dee.
The Oscar goes to a shocked Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton. That is a surprise - most people's money was on Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone.
3.35pm Best Short Animated Film goes to Peter and the Wolf, while Best Live Action Short Film was handed out to Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)
3.27pm Kerri Russell introduces the second original song, Raise It Up, from the film August Rush, which Russell stars in. Speaking of which, it's been a while since Russell graced the world with her presence. She's looking splendid in silver.
3.18pm Dreamgirl Jennifer Hudson shows of her, um, assets in a diamante encrusted, white gown, presenting Best Supporting Actor. Will Casey Affleck become the second Oscar winner in the family. Or will Philip Seymour Hoffman win a friend for his other Oscar?
Nope, it's neither. Javier Bardem wins for his terrifying turn in No Country for Old Men. I'm sure his speech was lovely but as it was delivered in rapid-fire Spanish, I'm in the dark as to what exactly he said.
3.13pm That's more like it. Pregnant and glowing, award-winner Cate Blanchett is up next presenting Achievement in art direction.
Dante Ferretti wins for his stunning art direction in Sweeney Todd, and Francesca Lo Schiavo for set decoration.
3.10pm Former wrestler Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, presents the statue for Best Visual Effects. Err, how exactly did he score that one? I thought presenters were meant to be past Oscar winners?
The award goes to the very excited Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood for The Golden Compass. Safe to say that will be the only award the film picks up. Has anyone else seen it? Absolute shocker.
3.01pm Amy Adams performs the first song for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Happy Working Song from Enchanted. Wow, her voice is annoying! She really is a real-life cartoon character.
2.58pm An immaculate Katherine Heigl presents Achievement in Make Up. Wearing scarlet red, with matching lippy, Heigl looks every inch the screen goddess.
The Oscar goes to Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald for La Vie en Rose. Kudos to Heigl for getting the names out with a perfect French accent. It is the first Oscar win for both nominees. Marion Cotillard, star of the film and Best Actress nominee, sheds a tear for her colleagues. Aww.
2.53pm Entering to the Get Smart soundtrack, funnyman Steve Carrell is joined by a particularly stunning Anne Hathaway to present Best Animated Feature.
Ratatouille has been a standout favourite with critics and audiences so it's no surprise that Brad Bird picks up the gong for the rodent-infested flick.
2.47pm George Clooney may be gorgeous but he seems to be having an awful lot of difficulty reading the teleprompter. His timing is all off and it's a little awkward to watch. Gorgeous George is presenting a special tribute to the Academy Awards, which turns 80 this year. Who doesn't love a good montage, eh? Especially when it includes Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On as the soundtrack. God, save me.
2.41pm And we're off. With 24 categories to get through, we're straight into it. Jennifer Garner presents Achievement in Costume Design. Someone could have designed Jen's costume a little better - she appears to have quadi-breasts thanks to a too-tight fitting strapless gown.
The first Oscar of the evening goes to Alexandra Byrne for Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It is Byrne's first Oscar win, after four nominations.
2.30pm Oh god. Less than 30 seconds in and we have a blooper. Jon Stewart takes the stage, mouthing silently. The technicians quickly realise their error and turn on his mic. As he thanks his audience, he launches straight into a writers' strike joke.
When you're Jon Stewart, it's never too soon.
2.15pm Another year, another Academy Awards ceremony. Given the dearth of awards shows this season, viewers are hanging out for some old-school, red carpet glamour. So far the stars haven't disappointed.
From scarlet to deep blush, red is the colour du jour at this year's event. Katherine Heigl, Miley Cyrus, Helen Mirren, Anne Hathaway, Ruby Dee, Heidi Klum and many more have donned the glamourous hue. Here's hoping the ceremony and speeches are as colourful as the frocks.
*****
The stars, the speeches, the tributes, and yes, the fashion faux-pas.
We wouldn't want you to miss out on the action from Hollywood's biggest night of the year, so we will be keeping you up to date with all the deserved winners, the losers who were robbed and everything inbetween, here in our continually updated Oscars commentary from 2.30pm today.
