Oscars commentary: And the Oscar goes to...

Reese Witherspoon accepts the Oscar for Best Actress at the 78th annual Academy Awards. Picture / Reuters

For a full list of nominees and winners and Oscar picture galleries, please see links at bottom of page.

5.22pm - Jack Nicholson, who receives rapturous applause when he takes to the stage, introduces the nominees for Best Picture.  Brokeback Mountain is the favourite, scooping all the recent awards.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Picture: Crash

The audience gasps as Jack reads out the winner.  In possibly the biggest upset of the evening, Crash has taken out the award for Best Picture, beating out Brokeback Mountain. 

5.19pm - The very likeable Tom Hanks steps on stage to present the award for Achievement in Directing.  Ang Lee is being tipped to win but Steven Spielberg and George Clooney could be surprise upsets.

And the Oscar goes to...

Achievement in Directing: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

5.13pm - Uma Thurman presents the award for Best Original Screenplay.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Original Screenplay: Crash

5.07pm - Dustin Hoffman is on stage to present Best Adapted Screenplay.  Hoffman tells everyone who hasn't won tonight - "great work people" and almost opens the envelope before announcing the nominees.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain

4.56pm - Jamie Foxx says he knows where the party will be at later...and gives a shout-out to Three 6 Mafia.  Foxx introduces the nominees for Best Actress.  Felicity Huffman for Transamerica and Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line are the leading contenders...

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

4.54pm - The Oscar for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography is presented by John Travolta.

And the Oscar goes to...

Achievement in Cinematography: Memoirs of a Geisha

4.44pm - Hilary Swank, who has also chosen to go a for basic black strapless gown, introduces the nominees for Best Actor.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is being touted by critics as a shoo-in for his potrayal of conflicted author Truman Capote, but Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) and Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line) are also contenders.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

4.42pm - Ziyi Zhang presents the award for Achievement in Film Editing.

And the Oscar goes to...

Achievement in Film Editing: Crash

4.41pm - Jon Stewart is still coming out with the Three 6 Mafia jokes - "For everyone at home keeping tally... Martin Scorsese - no Oscars, Three 6 Mafia - one".

4.39pm - Will Smith presents the award for Best Foreign Language Film.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Foreign Language Film: Tsotsi (South Africa)

4.31pm - Jennifer Garner trips on the hem of her dress as she walks on stage to present the Oscar for Sound Editing - "I do all my own stunts," she quips.

And the Oscar goes to...

Achievement in Sound Editing: Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn - King Kong

4.25pm - Presenter Jon Stewart has a field day, reeling off the jokes about the Three 6 Mafia's win for Original Song - "it's funny, they're the most excited people here" after their enthusiastic acceptance speech.

4.22pm - Queen Latifah comes onto stage to present the Oscar for Best Original Song. She chuckles to herself and wonders aloud how she managed to not be in the preceding performance.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Original Song: Hard Out Here for a Pimp - Hustle & Flow

4.18pm - The third song nominated for Best Original Song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp", from Hustle & Flow, is performed.

4.05pm - Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Robert Altman.

4.00pm - Jessica Alba and Eric Bana take to the stage to present Achievement in Sound Mixing.  Jessica was apparently worried about stumbling in her shoes and had worn them to the presenter's rehearsal yesterday to practice, while telling Eric not to walk too fast...seems she had nothing to worry about!

And the Oscar goes to....

Achievement in Sound Mixing: Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek - King Kong

It is the second award for King Kong so far today, and Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek finish off their acceptance speech with "Go Kiwis!"

3.45pm - Salma Hayek introduces the nominees for Best Original Score.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Original Score: Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain

3.37pm - The second song nominated for Best Original Song, "In the Deep" from Crash, is performed by Kathleen "Bird" York.  Bird York's shoes were customised especially for her by shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, adorned with earrings that once belonged to Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth.  The earrings are made up of 200 rubies, 200 sapphires and 50 diamonds.  In past years, Weitzman has created "million dollar shoes" for lesser-known actresses, including Mulholland Drive actress Laura Elena Herring, who wore shoes adorned with about 400 diamonds (including two 5-carat beauties) to the Oscars in 2002.

3.33pm - Speed co-stars Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves reunite to present the Achievement in Art Direction award.  Sandra is wearing a deep blue dress with a full skirt, not doing much to quell persistent rumours that she is expecting her first child with hubby, Jesse James.

And the Oscar goes to...

Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha

3.21pm - Past Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, wearing a charcoal dress with her hair in a sweeping up-do, reads out the nominees for Best Documentary Feature.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins

3.18pm - Host Jon Stewart announces the next presenter will be Terrence Howard, who is nominated tonight in the Best Actor category for playing a pimp in Hustle and Flow.  For those out there who may not be aware, Stewart says "a pimp is just an agent with a better hat".

Terrence presents the award for Best Documentary Short.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Documentary Short: A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

3.03pm - Morgan Freeman, last year's winner of Best Supporting Actor, presents the award for Best Supporting Actress. 

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener 

Among those she thanks is her co-star in The Constant Gardener, actor Ralph Fiennes, and the aid workers out there who are making a difference.

2.58pm - Comedians Will Ferrell and Steve Carell, complete with fake eyelashes and a faux sunburnt face, present the Oscar for Achievement in Makeup. 

And the Oscar goes to...

Achievement in Makeup: Howard Berger and Tami Lane - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

2.48pm - Jennifer Aniston who has stayed true to her simple, classic style in a basic black dress, presents the Oscar for Best Costume Design.  She says that while all the celebrities are hounded on the red carpet about what they're wearing, the five nominees in this category are the ones we really should be interested in!

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Costume Design: Memoirs of a Geisha

2.46pm - Best Animated Short is presented by animated characters Chicken Little and his sidekick.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Animated Short: The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation.

2.42pm - Luke and Owen Wilson take to the stage to present the award for Live Action Short.  After a bit of brotherly banter, they announce the nominees.

And the Oscar goes to...

Live Action Short: Six Shooter

2.36pm - Naomi Watts introduces the first song nominated for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture - ''Travelin' Thru,'' from Transamerica, to be performed by Dolly Parton - "a woman I've admired my whole life".  Dolly Parton, apparently set to make three costume changes throughout the evening, has changed out of her candyfloss pink dress and is now wearing a white suit.  It will be interesting to see what she changes into next!

2.32pm - Ben Stiller crawls on stage in a green bodysuit like those worn by actors working on visual effects, to present Best Visual Effects.  New Zealand's own Richard Taylor and his team from Weta Workshop are up for this award.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor - King Kong. 

2.30pm - Reese Witherspoon presents the award for Best Animated Feature.

And the Oscar goes to.....

Best Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

2.20pm - The Best Supporting Actor category has been too close for most people to call.  A lot of critics see it as a two-horse race between George Clooney for Syriana and Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man, although Jake Gyllenhaal is still in the running for Brokeback Mountain.

And the Oscar goes to...

Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana

2.15pm - The ceremony has begun. 

2.00pm - Celebrity red carpet arrivals are now underway (see picture gallery, link below) and we have already seen a number of A-list celebrities making their way down the carpet into Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

Best supporting actress nominee Rachel Weisz is one of the first big names to appear, wearing a gorgeous black Narciso Rodriguez gown with a low scoop neck, and accessorising it perfectly with subtle drop earrings and her growing baby bump. She is one of a number of stars who have decided to play it safe in basic black.  Jennifer Aniston (in Rochas), Ziyi Zhang (in Armani) and Teri Hatcher are other actresses who are playing it safe today.

Keira Knightley, nominated tonight in the best actress category for her role in Pride & Prejudice, has surprised many with her dress choice - a Vera Wang taffeta number in a shade of deep plum.  Her gold and turquoise Bvlgari necklace is apparently 60's vintage.

Jada Pinkett-Smith has chosen a beautiful periwinkle blue gown designed by Roberto Cavalli while best supporting actress nominee Michelle Williams has turned up on the arm of boyfriend (and best actor nominee) Heath Ledger, wearing Vera Wang in buttercup yellow - perhaps a risque colour choice but Michelle manages to pull it off. Salma Hayek has also gone with a rich blue Versace gown, and Nicole Kidman has chosen a pale, strapless Balenciaga number.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the two most striking actresses on the red carpet today happen to be the two actresses going head-to-head for the Best Actress Oscar.  Felicity Huffman, nominated for her role in Transamerica, looks stunning in a sweeping black Zac Posen gown with an extreme plunging neckline and Reese Witherspoon's embellished dress looks like something June Carter (the role she played in Walk the Line) might have worn.

Naomi Watts and Jessica Alba both shunned the jewel-tones and instead settled on nude Givenchy (Watts) and gold Versace (Alba).

Meanwhile, designer Isaac Mizrahi says that bow ties are making a big comeback with the men - George Clooney is one man in particular doing it with style on the red carpet today.