Digital Hit's Coverage of the Winners of the 70th Annual Academy Awards

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Interviews with nominees in every magazine. Discussions about nominations at every water cooler. Will Titanic take everything?

Monday, March 23rd is finally here and we will see the answer to that question and more as the 70th Annual Academy Awards get underway at 9 p.m. EST. Digital Hit Entertainment is providing up-to-the-minute commentary and coverage, so please join us tonight. So watch your TV, grab your chips, and sit back and check with us throughout the night.

What a night! There's a ton of past Oscar® winners at the show tonight, so everyone is turning up about an hour earlier than they used to. Everyone from Steve Gutenberg to Peter Fonda have walked down the famous red carpet, and it's only 7:48 p.m. EST.

8:06 EST. 54 minutes to go and the red carpet is still glittering with Hollywood stars. The big question isn't will Titanic win, but will the show go over three hours? Will the liver pate be fresh? Will anyone fall out of their dress? And if they do, would that make them the Worst Supported Actress? (Speaking of dresses, Minnie Driver just came down the carpet and vavavoom, great dress.)

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck looked great in their Armani tuxes, but they're so darn young I'm sure some people asked them to park their limos.

It's 8:53 EST. Billy Crystal's getting ready to come on for yet another stint as host and we're all anxious to see if he can top last year's opening. That one was simply superb, so he's got his work cut out for him.
It's 9:02 EST and the excitement is at a peak as we head into the 70th Annual Academy Awards®. Well, Billy did the perfect thing. He didn't try to out do last year, but rather make fun of it. And what a video opening it was. As usual, his Oscar nominees song was a great laugh.

9:15 EST and Cuba Gooding Jr. came out to present the award for Best Supporting Actress, urging them to take their time with their speech. And the winner is: Kim Basinger for L.A. Confidential. Just like her speech at the Golden Globes, Kim was shaking with disbelief at her good fortune.

Elisabeth Shue came out at 9:24 to present the award for Best Costume Design. And the winner is:Titanic

Dustin Hoffman (all 5'6" of him) came out to show a short film with clips of the previous 69 Best Picture Winners. He wondered aloud if the number 69 had the same significance internationally as it did in North America. Jack Nicholson, of course, smiled.

Dustin was followed by Neve Campbell, whose quick rocket to fame made her sound a little nervous as she announced the performance of several of the nominated songs.

Well, we're 42 minutes into the show and it doesn't feel too sluggish this year. Of curse, we do have over 2 hours to go, but hell, that's still shorter than Titanic. Well Arnie then came out to show a clip of that film, joking that it would soon gross so muh that no studio accountant would be able to hide the profits. He also quipped that he worked with James Cameron back in his "low budget art house days." Juliette Binoche broke her foot and was unable to give out the Best Supporting Actor award, so Mira Sorvino pinch hit for her. And the winner is...: Robin Williams for Good Will Hunting. Robin's speech was quick, touching, and full of some tears.

Cameron Diaz then came out to present the Best Sound Award. And the winner is: Titanic. The ol' ship is now 2 for 3.

Funny Mike Myers came out to present Best Sound Effects. He did some schtick about animal actors being overlooked. A bear then presented the envelope to Mike so we could learn that the winner for Sound Effects is: Titanic The leaky ship is now 3 for 4.

10:03 EST: Helen Hunt, a nominee for Best Actress, tripped over her intro about Visual Effects. After a clip showing some old visual effects styles, she announced the winner: Titanic The ship's now 4 for 5.

As part of the Academy salute to Hollywood legends, Billy had Fay Wray introduce Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who presented the award for Live Action Short. And the winner is: Visas and Virtue

They also hung around to give out the award for Best Animated Short. And the winner is: Geri's Game

Last year's Best Actor, Geoffrey Rush, came out to present Best Actress. Is it just me or are they handing that one out earlier this year. And the winner is: Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets. Helen made a great speech, spending the first little while listing all the people she felt gave Oscar worthy performances this year.

10:26: Antonio Banderas came out to introdue Bill Conti and the orchestra, who played through the Best Original Dramatic Score nominees. And the winner is: James Horner for Titanic. Ok, the ship's now 5 for 7.

Introduced as "talented and exiting", Jennifer Lopez introduced the nominees for Musical or Comedy Score, which were accompanied by some great dance routines. And the winner is: Anne Dudley for The Full Monty.

Drew Barrymore, very stylish in black, with flowers in her hair, came out to present the award for Best Makeup. And the winner is: Rick Baker and David Leroy Anderson for Men in Black.

Alec Baldwin, husband of winner Kim Basinger, showed a scene from L.A. Confidential.

Samuel L. Jackson, a really great actor with better things ahead, came out to present the Editing Award. And the winner is: Titanic. The ship is now 6 for 9.

Martin Scorcese was then introduced to handle the special presentation to directing genius Stanley Donen, creator of such classics as Singin' in the Rain and On the Town. He then introduced Mr. Donen, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Oscar, which he felt should have gone to Marty. As befitting his past he did a lil' song and dance to show how happy he was. The crowd went wild. His speech was absolutely fantastic and he was very gracious to the people he has worked with over the years.

Matt Dillon introduced the clip for Best Picture nominee Good Will Hunting. Billy Crystal joked Matt Damon was so young that results in his category were tabulated by Fisher Price-Waterhouse

Madonna, who keeps putting lil' reflective things near her eyes, introduced the final three nominees for Best Original Song. Will Celine win? Madonna came back out to hand out the award. And the winner is: My Heart Will Go On from Titanic by James Horner and Will Jenning. That makes the boat 7 for 10.

Djimon Hounsou gave out the award for Documentary Short Subject. And the winner is: A Story of Healing

Billy Crystal then introduced friend and Comic Relief co-host, Whoopi Goldberg, who presented the annual tribute to those who have passed away in the previous year.

Billy Crystal's costar in When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan, came out to present the award for Art Direction. And the winner is: Titanic For those still counting that's 8 for 11.

Best Supporting Actor winner Robin Williams introduced clips of the best moments of the past 69 years.

Last year's Best Actress, Frances McDormand, then presented the Best Actor award to Jack Nicholson for As Good As It Gets. Jack's speech mentioned feeling a "sinking feeling" all night. Gee, we're all making Titanic cracks. Anyway, Jack's speech was quite light-hearted and he even made jokes that produer Gil Cates must be sweating as we hit the 11:45 EST mark.

The presenter for Best Foreign Language Film was Sharon Stone. The award went to Holland's Character. The winner almost did Cuba Gooding Jr., hopping up and down.

Next we had Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau hadning out the Best Adapted Screenplay award. The winners were Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson for L.A. Confidential. They also handed out the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay to, surprise surpise, childhood friends Ben Affleck & Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting. Their acceptance was full of crazed energy as they felt they had so many to thank for all this good will.

Denzel Washington had the task of presenting the award for Cinematography to Titanic. That's 9 for 12.

Susan Sarandon then came out for the tribute to all the past winners, especially the actors, who they had grouped on a large bleacher. Okay, at the speed they're announcing them, we're definitely going way over time! Anyway, back to Titanic for a second. At 9 for 12 and only two more nominations to go for them, they best they can hope to do is tie the old Ben Hur record of 11.

Sigourney Weaver presented the clip for Best Picture nominee As Good As It Gets.

Warren Beatty then came out to present the Best Director award. And the winner is...James Cameron for Titanic. The ship is now 10 for 13. And according to himself he is the "King of the World."

12:35 a.m. EST and we're ready to hand out the Best Picture Award. The presenter is Sean Connery. AND THE WINNER IS: Titanic. The ship sails away with 11 Oscars, tying the old Ben Hur record. One of the film's producers, Jon Landau, went through a laundry list of thanks. In a moving speech, James Cameron said that the message of Titanic was that the unthinkable was possible and we only have today. He asked for a few seconds of silence to remember the over 1500 people who died on the Titanic.

Well, it's 12:43 EST and the show is finally over. We'll have a neater list of final results for you tomorrow. Thanks for joining us for our coverage of the 70th Annual Academy Awards®.

As promised, here's the neater list of winners for the 70th Annual Academy Awards®. Best Picture
Titanic

Best Director
James Cameron , Titanic

Best Actor
Jack Nicholson , As Good As It Gets

Best Actress
Helen Hunt , As Good As It Gets

Best Supporting Actor
Robin Williams , Good Will Hunting

Best Supporting Actress
Kim Basinger , L.A. Confidential

Best Adapted Screenplay
Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential

Best Original Screenplay
Ben Affleck & Matt Damon, Good Will Hunting

Best Foreign Film
Character, The Netherlands

Best Art Direction
Titanic

Best Cinematography
Titanic

Best Sound
Titanic

Best Sound Effects Editing
Titanic

Best Original Music or Comedy Score
The Full Monty, Anne Dudley

Best Dramatic Score
Titanic, James Horner

Best Original Song
"My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, James Horner & Will Jennings

Best Costume
Titanic

Best Documentary Feature
The Long Way Home

Best Documentary Short
A Story of Healing

Best Film Editing
Titanic

Best Makeup
Men in Black

Best Animated Short Film
Geri's Game

Best Live-Action Short Film
Visas and Virtue

Best Visual Effects
Titanic

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