20 years of memorable moments from the Academy Awards.

February 29, 2016

Can you believe it’s been nearly 20 years since Boston besties Matt Damon and Ben Affleck picked up their first Oscar?

What if I told you it’s been 16 years since Angelina Jolie creeped out the world by smooching her brother, 14 years since Halle Berry became the first black woman to win best actress, 11 years since an underdog beat Brokeback Mountain for best picture, seven years since Heath Ledger died and nowhere near long enough since Anne Hathaway and James Franco were hosts.

Feeling old yet? Relive the best, the worst and the weirdest Academy Award moments of the past 20 years.

2015: NPH brings musicals back

Host Neil Patrick Harris delivers the best opening number in years, and later strips down to his jocks for a sketch poking fun at nominated film Birdman.

The surreal drama about a former superhero movie star seeking redemption on Broadway, dominates the awards and scores a best director gong for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

If he wins this year for The Revenant he will be the first director since 1950 to win two years in a row.

2014: One selfie to rule them all

Image: Twitter/@ellendegeneres.

This year sees 12 Years A Slave walk away with best picture, a historic moment for black filmmaker Steve McQueen. Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong'o and Jared Leto join the ranks of Oscar winners and Gravity sweeps the technical awards.

McConaughey gives us a memorable moment with his "all right, all right, all right" acceptance speech, and John Travolta botches Idina Menzel's name, instead calling her "Adele Dazeem"... but it is really all about host Ellen DeGeneres' epic A-list selfie.

2013: J-Law trips, Affleck snubbed

Jennifer Lawrence lives out a scenario that must be pretty high on her nightmare list: she trips and falls while walking to the stage to claim the best actress Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook. The win sees Lawrence, then 22, become the second youngest winner in the category, after Children of a Lesser God's Marlee Matlin, who won at 21 in 1986.

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Lawrence makes a graceful recovery after the fall. The same cannot be said for host Seth Macfarlane, whose widely-panned stint as host reaches a low point with the "We Saw Your Boobs" medley, with each line more excruciating than the last.

Other notable moments: Ben Affleck is snubbed in the best director stakes for Argo, but finds redemption when the Iranian hostage drama wins best picture and producers quickly hand over the microphone to give him a moment in the spotlight.

2012: Angelina's right leg

This year the big wins belong to The Artist — the first silent best picture winner since the first ever Oscars ceremony way back in 1929.

It is also the year of the red carpet. Sacha Baron Cohen, in character to promote The Dictator, pours an urn purporting to contain the ashes of Kim Jong-il over Ryan Seacrest. And Angelina Jolie's right leg ends up becoming a meme that just keeps on giving.

2011: Franco and Hathaway tank

There's good Oscars hosts, bad Oscars hosts... and then there's James Franco and Anne Hathaway. In 2011, they re-define what it means to bomb.

Close second for the most memorable moment of the year: Melissa Leo makes Oscars history by blurting out the F-word, which reportedly had never been uttered in the previous 82 years.

2010: Kathryn Bigelow makes history

Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman to win best director for The Hurt Locker, a low-budget film about the Iraq war which also won best picture and best original screenplay.

The Hurt Locker triumphs the over 3D blockbuster Avatar, directed by Bigelow's former husband, James Cameron.

Bigelow was only the fourth woman to be nominated for best director in the 82-year history of the Oscars. The previous female nominees were Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003), Jane Campion for The Piano (1993), and Lina Wertmuller for Seven Beauties (1975).

2009: Heath Ledger wins posthumous honour

The young Australian actor's tragic death in 2008, which was attributed to an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, shook Hollywood and the world.

The Academy honours him with a posthumous best supporting actor Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of the twisted Joker in Dark Knight. Ledger's family accept the award in his name.

"This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here, his peers, within an industry he so loved," his father Kim Ledger says.

Honourable mention: Everything about host Hugh Jackman.

2008: Jon Stewart saves the day

Songwriters Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova win the best song Oscar for Falling Slowly, from the movie Once. Hansard gives a wonderful speech, but just as Irglova steps up to the microphone, the wrap-up music kicks in and it cuts to a commercial.

She's missed out on her chance to speak, right? Maybe — if it wasn't for Jon Stewart, who shows he is full of class, bringing her back to make her own acceptance speech.

"The fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible," she says.

Runner up: Watching the after-effects of a writers' strike unfold.

2007: Scorsese finally wins an Oscar

Legendary director Martin Scorsese scored his first Oscar nomination in 1981, and was nominated another four times before finally receiving the gong in 2007.

"Could you double-check the envelope?" the director jokes after being presented the award by his "old friends" Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

2006: Tryin' to get this money for the rent

The Oscars — and the Academy voters — aren't exactly famous for their street cred or gangsta roots.

So when It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp, Three 6 Mafia's song on the Hustle & Flow soundtrack, picked up the best original song Oscar, it was a huge shock.

2005: Crash pips Brokeback Mountain at the post

After barely getting a look-in at the Golden Globes, viewed by many as a predictor to the Oscars, Crash won the best picture Academy Award — knocking out Brokeback Mountain.

The win sparks accusations of homophobia in the Academy, and has gone down in history as one of the biggest upsets of all time.

Host Jack Nicholson sums up the mood with his eyebrows-raised delivery and the word "whoa!"

2004: The return of Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal and the Academy Awards go together like Batman and Robin — he has hosted a whopping eight times, topped only by Bob Hope, who is way ahead at 18.

In 2004 he returned as host after a three-year hiatus, and brought back his hilarious "What the Stars Are Thinking" gag.

2003: Adrien Brody steals a kiss

After winning best actor for The Pianist in 2003, Adrien Brody can not contain his excitement. In an Oscar first, he steals a six-second kiss from presenter Halle Berry.

"I bet they didn't tell you that was in the gift bag," he jokes to her after.

2002: Halle Berry makes history

To this day, Halle Berry is the only African American actress to win the best actress trophy. That piece of history was made in 2002, when she won for Monster's Ball.

"This moment is so much bigger than me," she says in a speech that outdoes Gwyneth Paltrow's infamous 1999 epic in terms of raw emotion.

"This is for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened."

The 74th Academy Awards also see Denzel Washington pick up the best actor gong for Training Day.

Also of note: Director Woody Allen making his first appearance ever at the Academy Awards, despite many previous wins. The events of 9/11 coupled with a special invitation to the awards finally entice him to the ceremony, where he introduces a film clip retrospective of various films shot in New York City, reminding viewers of the beauty of the city that lived through hell that year.

2001: Julia Roberts forgets to thank Erin Brockovich

When Julia Roberts wins the best actress award for legal drama Erin Brockovich, she goes way over the time limit (it wasn't always as short as 45 seconds) and asks the Academy to turn off the clock.

But even with the extra time, she forgets to mention the woman whose life inspired the film.

2000: Angelina kisses her brother

These days Angelina Jolie is a revered actress, filmmaker and humanitarian. She's married to Brad Pitt and is the proud mother of six children (and counting).

But that wasn't always the case. At the 2000 Oscars, she sparked controversy by kissing her brother James — an open-mouthed kiss, too — in front of the cameras.

As she accepted her best supporting actress award for Girl, Interrupted, she gushed about how "in love" she was with James, sparking talk of an incestuous affair.

1999: That speech by Gwyneth Paltrow

The 71st Academy Awards see Gwyneth Paltrow claim a shock win in the best actress stakes for Shakespeare in Love.

What results is a tearful, hiccup-filled acceptance speech (stick with it until the three-minute mark), and genuine shock that she beat Australian star Cate Blanchett and "the greatest one who ever was", Meryl Streep.

Honourable mention: Italian director Roberto Benigni, who goes a little bit crazy after winning best foreign language film for Life Is Beautiful, climbing over seats and babbling in a hilarious — and sincere — way.

1998: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck win best screenplay

Matt Damon, Robin Williams and Ben Affleck all won for Good Will Hunting. Image: ABC.

Before they were Hollywood superstars, they were just two best friends from Boston who won an Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting.

1997: 'You really like me'

You know who loves Tom Cruise? Cuba Gooding Jr loves Tom Cruise.

The actor was over the moon while accepting his statue for best supporting actor for Jerry Maguire. His speech is one of the most searingly joyful in history.

1997 was back when Brad Pitt was dating Gwyneth Paltrow, and Wannabe by the Spice Girls topped the charts in Australia. Think about that for a moment.

1996: Christopher Reeve's surprise speech

Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman in the 1980s trilogy shot him into superstar territory. In 1995, he was thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition and became a quadriplegic.

In 1996, eight years before his death shocked the world, he makes a surprise appearance and talks about how Hollywood could help tackle social issues.

The speech sparked seemingly endless applause. Dare you not to tear up as you watch this touching moment.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.

Tags: current-affairs , entertainment-3