Tightest, most competitive Oscars in more than a decade

CEBU, Philippines - With seven Oscars including a history-making best director award for Alfonso Cuaron, the force of “Gravity” exerted itself at the 86th annual Academy Awards.

Even with several awards to go, the 3-D space spectacle was assured to be the most honored film at the Dolby Theatre ceremony hosted nimbly by Ellen DeGeneres. The Mexican Cuaron is the first Latino filmmaker to take best director.

“It was a transformative experience,” said Cuaron, who spent some five years making the film and developing its visual effects. “For a lot of people, that transformation was wisdom. For me, it was the color of my hair.”

He thanked his star, Sanda Bullock, the sole person on screen for much of the lost-in-space drama: “Sandra, you are ‘Gravity.’” Bullock lost the best actress award to Cate Blanchett, the star of Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine.”

DeGeneres’ second stint was a kind of amiable, light-footed correction from last year’s “We Saw Your Boob”-singing host Seth MacFarlane.

After warmly needling stars in a dance-free opening monologue, she circulated freely in the crowd.  DeGeneres had pizza delivered, appealing to Harvey Weinstein to pitch in, and gathered stars to snap a selfie she hoped would be a record-setter on Twitter, (1.4 million tweets in an hour and still counting). One participant, Meryl Streep, giddily exclaimed: “I’ve never tweeted before!”

The 2014 Oscars hung on a nail-biter of a finish, with the best picture race believed to be between the historical drama “12 Years a Slave,” the 3-D space spectacle “Gravity” and the con-artist comedy “American Hustle.” DeGeneres alluded to the options in her opening monologue.

“Possibility number one: ‘12 Years a Slave’ wins best picture,” she said. “Possibility number two: You’re all racists.”(FREEMAN)