The epic “12 years a Slave” won a hotly contested race for Best Picture, while one of its stars, newcomer Lupita Nyong’o, won Best Supporting Actress at Sunday’s 86th annual Academy Awards.  Nyong’o — born in Mexico, raised partly in Kenya and now a resident of Brooklyn — won a day after her 31st birthday.  PHOTOS: TOP MOMENTS FROM THE 2014 ACADEMY AWARDS  “Every time I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid,” Nyong’O said between tears.  Matthew McConaughey, in his first nomination ever, won Best Actor for playing an AIDS-afflicted rodeo cowboy in “Dallas Buyers Club.”  RELATED: ELLEN DEGENERES WAS A SAFE HOST  It capped off a recent comeback from the Hollywood doldrums for the Texas-born actor. Before he let out a joyous “All right, all right, all right!,” McConaughey thanked his father, who he imagined was doing a celebratory dance in Heaven “with a big plate of gumbo.”  Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for “Blue Jasmine.”  RELATED: DEGENERES’ ALL-STAR OSCAR SELFIE SETS TWITTER RECORD  “Films with women as the main characters are not niche, and in fact, they make money!” the Australian actress declared.  Jared Leto — known primarily for his role on TV’s “My So-Called Life” in the ’90s — won Best Supporting Actor for playing a transgendered AIDS sufferer in “Dallas Buyers Club.”  “To all the dreamers out there watching this tonight in places like the Ukraine, as you struggle to make your dreams happen and live the impossible, we’re thinking of you tonight,” said Leto.  He then dedicated his award to “The millions of people who have lost the battle to AIDS, and people who have lost a battle due to injustice due to who they are and who they love.”  RELATED: LETO TALKS ABOUT LOCKING EYES WITH DE NIRO  Best Director, another one of the night’s tight races, went to Mexican-born Alfonso Cuarón for “Gravity,” the first Latino to win the award. He bested “12 Years a Slave” filmmaker Steve McQueen.  John Ridley won Best Adapted Screenplay for “12 years a Slave.”  RELATED: NYONG’O CALLS OSCAR WIN ‘OVERWHELMING’  “All the praise goes to Solomon Northrup,” Ridley said, acknowledging the man whose 1853 memoir was turned into the film. “Those were his words, that was his life.”  Spike Jonze won Best Original Screenplay for the man-meets-computer system love story “Her.”  RELATED: JARED LETO THANKS HIS MOTHER IN OSCAR SPEECH  Along with Best Director, “Gravity” garnered another six awards — Best Visual Effects, Cinematography, Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Musical Score.  “Frozen,” as expected, was anointed the Best Animated Feature Film; “Mr. Hublot” busted some Oscar pool ballots as the Best Animated Short Film.  PHOTOS: ACADEMY AWARDS RED CARPET 2014  The popular anthem “Let It Go,” from “Frozen,” won Best Song for the husband-and-wife team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who also did Broadway’s “Avenue Q.”  “The Great Beauty,” from Italy, won Best Foreign Language Film, and “20 Feet From Stardom,” about backup singers, nabbed Best Documentary.  RELATED: OSCARS' BEST-DRESSED: LUPITA NYONG’O, CHARLIZE THERON AND KATE HUDSON  Best Costume Design went to “The Great Gatsby.” “Dallas Buyers Club” won Best Makeup and Hairstyling, making the best of a reported $250 budget.  Though Nyong’o was a favorite to win Best Supporting Actress, she was still in shock as she cradled her “golden man” backstage.  “I’m a little dazed, I can’t believe this is in my hands. I can’t believe this is real life,” she said.  “It hasn’t sunk in that I’m holding this thing, and it’s in my hands .... But I’m so happy to be holding this golden man.”  She said her Oscar journey has been one of self-discovery.  “What I have learned from myself is that I don’t have to be anybody else, and that myself is good enough,” she said. “And that when I’m being true to that self, then I can avail myself to extraordinary things such as this.”  Jared Leto is already an international rock star, but almost lost it Sunday when he locked eyes with a tough guy while accepting his Oscar.  “At one point in my speech, I found myself talking right to (Robert) De Niro, as if the room wasn’t intimidating enough,” he said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Bad choice! Let me go back over to my mom.’”
It's not looking so close after all. "Gravity" was in its own stratosphere at the 86th annual Academy Awards, dominating early with seven Oscars - including a Best Director Oscar for Alfonso Cuaron and a domination of the technical categories.