The 81st Annual Academy Awards were a stunning display of sparkles, details, glam, neutrals and reds. There were a lot of good and a whole lot of bad. There were a lot of gowns that I loved but for me, there were five that really stood out above the rest.

Click on any picture for more shots and extra details!

My Fave Five Dresses from the Red Carpet

Miley Cyrus in Zuhair Murad

Penelope Cruz in Vintage Balmain

Anne Hathaway in Armani Privé

Sarah Jessica Parker in Haute Couture Dior

Alicia Keyes

The Rest of the best

In no particular order. I thought they were all great! Loved Natalie, Taraji and Freida! Most of these I did my own profile for but some do link to another site! Enjoy!

Angelina Jolie

Taraji P. Henson

Kate Winslet

Queen Latifah

Marisa Tomei

Natalie Portman

Viola Davis

Melissa George

Frieda Pinto

Check back for the worst dressed!

Before we get to my awards, here’s a quick rundown of the 81st Annual Academy Awards

The Oscars went to

Best Picture: Slumdog Millioniare winner of 8 total Oscars!

Best Achievements in Direction: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk

Best Writing Original Screenplay: Milk
Best Writing Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

For a complete rundown check out Oscar.com

Now, back to Stiletto Sports Academy Awards

And the Oscar goes to…..

Click on any picture to take you to the nomination where you can see the video or hear the song that got these winners nominated!

Best Costume Design: NC State Women’s Basketball Team Think Pink Tribute to Kay Yow
Best Score or Soundtrack: NASCAR “Pedal to the Medal” Kazzer
Best Original Song: “Steeler Ladies Put A Ring on It”
Best National Anthem by a Former American Idol Contestant: Daughtry–Arizona Cardinals Home Opener

Best Animated Film or Sequence: “The NFL Paso Doble” Jason Taylor, DWTS Season 6
Best Visual Effects: Surfing, Billabong XXL Big Wave Nominees 2008
Best Attempt at a Make-up: Shaq/Kobe

Best Made for TV Movie Mini-Series: NCAA Final Four: 30 Days of Madness, The Road to Recovery

Best Short Film: ESPN “This Is Sportscenter:” What Happens in Sportscenter…
Best Foreign Language Film: Beijing 2008
Best Documentary Long: Yankee Stadium The End of an Era
Best Documentary Short: World Series of Beer Pong The Table of Champions

Best Director: Manager Joe Maddon Tampa Bay Rays: A Cinderella Story
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: The Central Washington University Softball Team: Without Pride or Prejudice
Best Actress: Danica Patrick, Driving Miss Danica: The First Female to Win an Indy Car Race
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Arizona Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald Cool Hand Larry
Best Actor: Michael Phelps, 8 Medals

Best Writing Original Screenplay: The 2008 Arizona Cardinals
Best Writing Adapted Screenplay: The 2008 Tampa Bay Rays: A Cinderella Story, adapted from Cinderella
Best Picture: Beijing 2008

Here are the nominees for the Stiletto Sports First Annual Academy Awards. There are links to take you to the original nomination post where you can view the movie clips and hear the songs!

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Best Costumes

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Best Song

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Best Song

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Best Song

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Best Animation

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Best Visual Effects

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Best Make-Up

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Best Movie Mini-Series

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Best Short Film

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Best Foreign Language Film

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Best Documentary Short

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Best Documentary Long

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Best Director

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Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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Best Actress in a Leading Role

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Best Actor in a Supporting Role

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Best Actor in a Leading Role

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Best Adapted Screenplay

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Best Original Screenplay

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Best Picture

It’s the movie that surprises, takes risks, tries to say something from the heart, and walks out of the theater with you and, ideally, stays by your side a long time. The best picture is the one you can have the longest conversation about at dinner afterward. The best picture is the one that you could watch again right away as soon as the credits end. The best picture is the one that makes you say “Wow” the loudest. ~Anthony Breznican, USA Today

Best picture should embody the magic of the craft, with everyone involved, most especially the director at the height of his or her powers. It should be the kind of movie that is so good that it brings both civilians and the critical vanguard together. ~David Carr, NY Times

Here are the nominees for Best Picture:

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Best Adapted Screenplay

Tele-Prompted Speech: Some may call them uninspired copycats. Some may think it’s plagerism. Others think that if you can take an original work and adapt it to make it your own—and maybe even make it better—it is a sign of true skill and genius.
These stories from 2008 may not have be the most original–some we have heard and seen many times before–but their timeless classic nature keeps us coming back for more and loving every adaptation over the years.
Click on any picture to be taken to the “screenplay”


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Best Original Screenplay

Tele-Prompted Speech: According to Tina Fey and Steve Martin during their tele-prompted script “To Write is to Live Forever.” It’s hard to find a script that hasn’t been done before. But these stories were so unique, that not even the best Hollywood screenwriters could do a better job writing them. And now that they have been written in the history books, these moments will live forever

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Best Actor in a Leading Role

Still to come….the nominees for Best Writing and Best Picture. And the Red Carpet Awards!

Tele-Prompted Speech: Let’s face it, the Leading Men are always the ones to steal the ladies. But, it’s the supporting actors who actually steal the show. Can you imagine Jerry Maguire without Cuba Gooding, Jr saying “Show me the Money!” or A Few Good Men without Jack Nicholson’s “You Can’t Handle the Truth!” These men are not only supporting the rest of their cast, but they are also the ones that make the leading men look so damn good. Without their key shining moments, the Blockbuster Shows would be just B-list forgettable clips. Here are the nominees

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

*Just a warning: Larry’s video is FANTASTIC. Best I’ve seen…but the music is really, um, loud and hard. The men’s swim team video is just of one relay–hard to find a good tribute that’s not all about Mike!

Coming up next, Best Actor in a Leading Role and the nominees for Best Picture

First, a look back at the women of 2008:

And now, the nominees for

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

and the nominees for…..

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Still to come on the Stiletto Sports Academy Awards, the nominees for The Final Four: Best Actor, Best Writing (Original & Adapted) and Best Picture

Best Director and Achievement in Direction

Tele-Prompted Speech: Director: A person who supervises the technical, artistic and creative aspects of a dramatic production. Sure, you may have amazing visual special effects, inspiring musical score and the best actors and actresses that money can buy, but without the best directors, even the billion dollar productions fall short of  best pictures. The nominees for best achievement in direction are true visionaries who rally their teams around their visions. They inspire and motivate. They dare to do what others could not do in the past. Here are the nominees:

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Still to come on the Elite Eight Nominees for the Stiletto Sports Academy Awards, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Picture! Stay tuned!

Tele-Prompted Speech: Immediately after I hear the word “documentary” my brain adds the words “history lesson movie.” That doesn’t mean I don’t like them because I do think they are fab. The stories are usually remarkable true-life tales worthy of a Lifetime movie award! Hoop Dreams was a fantastic sports docu-drama. And everyone tells me that really long Baseball documentary mini-series was really long great. And you learn a lot! That doesn’t mean I don’t kinda cringe a little when I hear the word “documentary.”
The last year was filled with sports moments that just beg movie producers to make documentary features about them*. Here are your nominees

*as far as I know, these are not real documentaries. Just things I think should be documentaries!

Best Documentary Long

Best Documentary Short

Still to come on the Stiletto Sports Academy Awards, Best Actor and Actress in leading and supporting Roles, Best Director and some Red Carpet highlights!