The King’s Speech and Inception tie with 4 Oscars

Oscar bowed four times for The King's Speech at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood last night. The one about the stuttering sovereign won best picture, acting honors for Colin Firth as the title character, England's George VI, director Tom Hooper, who thanked his mother for telling him about the original property and screenwriter David Seidler, a onetime stutterer who won for original screenplay. In number of awards won, it tied with Inception, which won a quartet of technical honors.

Oscar likewise friended The Social Network, the one about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. It took a total of three awards: adapted screenplay honors for Aaron Sorkin's supersonic dialogue, Trent Reznor's and Atticus Finch's electronica score and its lightning-paced editing.Natalie Portman, 29, accepted best actress honors for the physically and psychically demanding role of Nina, the unstable ballerina of Black Swan. She thanked her numerous colleagues including dancer/choreographer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she is expecting a baby. Firth, 50, who played the monarch eloquently struggling to speak, took the podium by saying, "I have a feeling my career just peaked."

The Fighter, about boxer brothers, took both prizes in the supporting categories. Melissa Leo won for her role as Alice Ward, pugnacious mother of boxers Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund. Christian Bale for his part as crack-addicted Dicky. Accepting her prize Leo, 50, dropped the F-bomb in her thanks, reportedly the first time it was uttered in Academy history,; Bale, 37, exclaimed: "Bloody hell!"

Toy Story 3, the most popular movie of 2010, and the sequel to one of the most successful franchises of all time, was named the best animated feature, suggesting that like its hero, Buzz Lightyear, it might go to infinity and beyond. It took a second prize for best song, Randy Newman's "We Belong Together," the composer's second win in 20 nominations.

Inception, Chris Nolan's high-tech thriller about dream invaders, had eight nominations and won four awards, for cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing and its dazzling special effects. Tim Burton's phantasmagoric Alice in Wonderland took two statuettes, for art direction and costume. The evening was a pageant of youth that moved at a youthful clip. Nine of the 20 acting nominees were 40 or under. Co-hosts James Franco, 32, and Anne Hathaway, 28, of the matching widescreen smiles, shared the distinction of being the youngest emcees since awards for 1975 films when Goldie Hawn, 30, shared the dais.Hathaway reinforced the theme, teasing her co-host, "You look very appealing to a younger demographic."

The broadcast began with a bang, a montage of the ten best-picture nominees set to the music of Edward Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" that created excitement and suspense. This was followed by a comic montage of the emcees digitized into scenes from the best-picture nominees.

The attractive co-hosts, Franco doing double duty as a nominee and emcee, charmed each other and the guests in the Kodak Theatre. As the night wore on, Hathaway sparkled while Franco grew dull and duller. Both acknowledged relatives in the audience: Hathaway's mother instructed her to stand up straight; Franco's grandmother announced she was excited to see Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg, star of the nominated film The Fighter.) The evening was something of a mamathon, with winners and presenters honoring their mothers.

Smart money was on 24 statuettes distributed among the six top contenders, with almost everyone at the party going home with a goody bag.

Oddsmakers favored The King's Speech, with 12 nominations in all, expected to take best picture, actor and original screenplay. With eight nominations, The Social Network was a frontrunner for best director, adapted screenplay and original score.

The Fighter, with seven nominations, was favored to win both supporting actor trophies, and did. Toy Story 3, nominated in five categories, was a lock for best animated movie, the category Pixar built.

Inside Job, Charles Ferguson's hard-hitting look at the origins and fallout of the financial crisis of 2007, took best documentary honors. Accepting his statuette, Ferguson said that none of the bankers instrumental in the meltdown have, as yet, been indicted. "Our goal was to bring a fair and thoughtful presentation of the actions that led to the financial collapse and show how it has negatively impacted millions of lives across the globe," said Jeffrey and Christina Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles owners and the film's executive producers.

Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier took the foreign film award for her drama In a Better World.

Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com. Read her blog, Flickgrrl, at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/flickgrrl/