'Her' Wins Oscar for Best Original Screenplay

The race for Best Original Screenplay was bound to be a bit of a nail-biter this year, if not because of the neck-in-neck quality of the nominees — including Golden Globe-winner Her and the multi-nominated American Hustle — then at least because everyone's favorite op-ed subject, Woody Allen, was among them. The nominees were Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, American Hustle, Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine, Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack, Dallas Buyers Club, Bob Nelson, Nebraska. And the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay went to Spike Jonze, for Her.

Though Allen is notorious for never attending the Academy Awards himself, he's won his fair share, and writer/director aside, Blue Jasmine was certainly a powerhouse of a film, sharp and surprising in turn. Thankfully, though, bloggers the world over were spared the need for screed when Spike Jonze's name was called instead.

The writer/director of Her accepted the award with a gracious (if initially stumbly) speech, thanking friends and family whom he imagined standing onstage beside presenters Robert Deniro and Penelope Cruz. The film, which tells the story of one man's rather literal love affair with his phone, is a particularly 21st-century story about connection; the honor is well deserved. Ellen's accolade? "He's a guy who has hit his head against concrete countless times, so to be able to accomplish that is amazing." Yet another zinger for the host.

Congrats, Spike!