Oscar Report #3: 05.15am

More than two hours into this year's Oscars and there are no signs that this is a vintage year. Finally Steve Martin cracked his first truly successful joke of the night, coming out on stage to state; 'The FBI have come up with a name behind the plot to kidnap Russell Crowe... and all I have to say it that you should be ashamed of yourself, Tom Hanks.' Cue a close-up of a contrite-looking Hanks in the front row of the auditorium, mouthing the word sorry. The audience loved it, but it marked the first real burst of fun in tonight's ceremony. On to the real business of the evening and the awards. The key award of this section was Best Actor which went to Russell Crowe who was buoyed on to the stage with the applause from co-star Joaquin Phoenix. 'Really folks I owe this to one bloke and his name's Ridley Scott.' said Crowe who went on to say that this moment proved to everyone that even the most 'ludicrous' of dreams could come true. The stunning special effects that recreated Ancient Rome won the Best Visual Effects for the Gladiator team while Crouching Tiger notched its third prize of the night with the Oscar for Best Original score going to Tan Dun. Anthony Hopkins took to the stage to present the Irving Thalberg award to Dino De Laurentiis - 'one of the most fascinating directors of all time.' Laurentiis gave his thanks to 'six beautiful women, my wife Martha, my daughters... I've been very lucky in my life.' Ang Lee accepted the award for Best Foreign Language Film to huge applause. It's the third time the director has been nominated the category at the Oscars, but he seemed as though he was holding his thanks in reserve for the last two awards. Does this mean that the film won't win for Best Picture? You'll have to wait and see. Best Documentary Feature: Into the Arms of Strangers Best Visual Effects: Gladiator Best Original Score: Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Best Foreign Language Film: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Best Original Song: Bob Dylan (The Wonder Boys) Best Actor: Russell Crowe