Out of this world results for Gravity

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Alfonso Cuaron accepts the award for best director of the year for "Gravity" during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

"12 Years a Slave" took the top prize at the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday night, but the force of "Gravity" exerted itself as the space drama won seven Oscars including a history-making best director award for Alfonso Cuaron.

The 3-D space spectacle was the most honoured film at the Dolby Theatre ceremony hosted nimbly by Ellen DeGeneres. The Mexican Cuaron is the first Latino filmmaker to take best director.

Matthew McConaughey won best actor honours while Lupita Nyong'o and Jared Leto took supporting acting prizes in a smooth if safe Oscar ceremony Sunday punctuated by politics, pizza and photo-bombing.

Wearing a dress of Nairobi blue, the 31-year-old Nyong'o, breakout star of the historical drama "12 Years a Slave," accepted the award for best supporting actress. In her feature film debut, Nyong'o made an indelible impression as the tortured slave Patsey.

"It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's, and so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance," said Nyong'o. Glowing backstage, she cradled her statuette: "I'm so happy to be holding this golden man."

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

Leto won best supporting actor for his acclaimed, gaunt performance as a theatrical transgender suffering from AIDS in the Texas drama "Dallas Buyers Club." He thanked his mother, his date on the night.

"Thank you for teaching me to dream," said Leto. Later backstage, he passed around his Oscar to members of the press, urging them to "fondle" it. The long-haired actor, who has devoted himself in recent years to his rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, gravely vowed: "I will revel tonight."

Italy's "The Great Beauty" won the Oscar for best foreign language film. In accepting the award for his rumination on life and Rome's decadence, director Paolo Sorrentino thanked his heroes, including Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese and soccer star Diego Maradona.

In her opening, DeGeneres gently mocked Hollywood's insularity, referring to the headlines that have swamped the Los Angeles area lately with a slightly less serious news event.

"It has been raining," said DeGeneres. "We're fine. Thank you for your prayers."

There was a sense of deja vu Saturday. Just as she hit the red carpet, Jennifer Lawrence briefly collapsed in a heap of laughter, just as she tripped ascending the stairs last year to accept best actress for "Silver Linings Playbook."

"If you win tonight," said DeGeneres, "I think we should bring you the Oscar."

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Associated Press writers Andrew Dalton, Nekesa Mumbi Moody and E.J.Tamara contributed to this report.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle