When Gervais gave his opening monologue, the audience saw a less ruthless host than in 2011. Lacking the same harsh jokes at stars like Johnny Depp and Mel Gibson as in 2011, Gervais still poked fun at The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (who selects the winners) and NBC (which broadcasts the show), remarking that “Britain’s biggest comedian [is] hosting the world’s second-biggest awards show on America’s third-biggest network.”

After humorously reading a list of rules supposedly given to him by The Hollywood Foreign Press to follow, Gervais threw in a quick Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber joke before introducing the first presenter of the night. After his monologue, Gervais made few appearances back on stage, leaving the night to big winners like the silent film “The Artist” and ABC comedy “Modern Family”.

Listed below are the winners for each category presented during Sunday night’s broadcast.

Motion Pictures
Best Motion Picture–Drama-”The Descendents”
Best Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy- “The Artist”
Best Director- Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Best Actor–Drama- George Clooney, “The Descendents”
Best Actress–Drama- Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Best Actress–Comedy or Musical- Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”
Best Actor–Comedy or Musical- Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Best Supporting Actor- Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Best Supporting Actress- Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Best Foreign Language Film- “A Separation”
Best Animated Film- “The Adventures of Tintin”
Best Screenplay- Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Best Original Score- Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
Best Original Song- Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry, “Masterpiece”

Television
Best Series–Drama- “Homeland,” Showtime.
Best Series–Comedy or Musical- “Modern Family,” ABC,
Best Actor–Drama- Kelsey Grammer, “Boss”
Best Actress–Drama- Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Best Actress–Comedy or Musical- Laura Dern, “Enlightened”
Best Actor–Miniseries or Movie- Idris Elba, “Luther”
Best Actress–Miniseries or Movie- Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce”
Best Miniseries or Movie- “Downtown Abbey,” PBS
Best Supporting Actress–Series, Miniseries or Movie- Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story”
Best Supporting Actor–Series, Miniseries or Movie-Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award-Morgan Freeman

Over this past decade, the first-person shooter genre has become the most crowded in video games flooded with awesome titles like Gears of War 3, Halo Combat Evolved Legendary and the previously mentioned Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Battlefield 3, with its stunning graphics, magnificent multi-player and flyable fighter jets to the mix, puts forth its claim as king of the genre.

Battlefield 3’s graphics are too good for one disk. The guns are well-detailed, with every notch or scratch noticeable, and environments are stunning: the streets of Paris are robustly realistic, the deserts seem inhabitable, and the underground of New York City terrifies. The new graphics engine developer Dice made for the game looks amazing, but it does not run the best. Glitches mar both the campaign and online mode. If these do detract from the online game play however, they are the only things that do.

Battlefield 3’s multi-player alone justifies the price. Game play is slower and more team oriented then Modern Warfare 3. Players drive dune buggies, amphibious transports and tanks, and the maps are perfectly balanced to handle these vehicles with up to 64 combatants. Players can now also suppressively fire on an opponent, who will experience a blurry screen and decreased accuracy. If teammates kill the opponent, the suppressor earns points as well. These rewards for teamwork make Battlefield 3’s multi-player friendly and fun.

While Battlefield 3’s multi-player is reason to buy the game, the campaign is reason to not. Earlier Battlefields’  had free roaming missions that gave the player a level of freedom not often experienced in first person shooter games. Unfortunately, Dice decided to constrain Battlefield 3 to a typical point A to B mission style. The game also suffers from a bland story, and repetitive enemies make fire fights boring as household chores. While the campaign keeps Battlefield 3 from completely ruling the first person shooter roost, the multi-player is the best of the year and gives it at least a share of the crown.

Modern Warfare 3

Thanksgiving food on the dinner table and pleasant conversation over it between family puts most people in the holiday mood, but gamers require a little extra stuffing: the newest Call of Duty game sitting in their game system. For the past five Novembers, Call of Duty has released its newest edition to record-breaking sales. The sister developers of the franchise, Infinity Ward and Treyarch, have a simple formula: theatrical campaigns, fast-paced multi-player, and side games to keep you busy once the credits roll on the campaign.

The Infinity Ward-developed Modern Warfare 3 stays true to this blueprint. The campaign begins with Sgt. McTavish being evacuated by the venerable Captain Price and Nikolai from where he lay at the end of Modern Warfare 2. From there the story sends the player on an exhilarating but short ride to the finish, saving time for the main course, multi-player.

In edition to Special Ops mode, an MW2 holdover where players complete snippets of missions from the campaign, the new Survival mode adds hours of game-play. Similar to Nazi Zombies from Treyarch’s Call of Dutys, players face increasingly difficult waves of enemies while earning money and points. While these two modes are a nice distraction, the standout game mode of Call of Duty is the online multi-player.

The bread and butter of the Call of Duty franchise, multi-player feels similar to MW2: fast paced with lots of crazy killstreaks like helicopters, turrets and juggernaut suits and another great arsenal of guns to use. Big changes come with the leveling up system, however. Every kill earns points toward unlocking perks for guns, such as reduced kick or two attachments. Changes to other perks make the game feel much less camper friendly and play at a more exciting pace. While some gamers may bite into MW3 for the campaign or survival modes, they’ll be left savoring the online multi-player long after holiday leftovers have gone bad.

Skyrim

If these three games were rated for time consumption, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim would without a doubt win. Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare’s online multi-player game modes add replay value, but it’s the same thing over again with different five-year old opponents. Skyrim has hundreds of unique missions that can take day’s to complete, and an epically engrossing storyline. The protagonist must save Skyrim from the oncoming apocalypse of Alduin, a black dragon set to consume the world. Smooth dialogue and staggering amounts of subplots immerse the player into a game with nuances fit for a fantasy novel.

The level of detail and craftsmanship went in the story extends to the visuals. Every inch of ground was hand created (not auto-generated), every object can be viewed in 3-D, and both dandelions and dragons look equally gorgeous on the all new graphics engine. Developer Bethesda’s menu navigation astonishes as well, with a 3-D world maps similar to Google Earth and a leveling up system that creates a constellation representing your abilities within a 360-degree viewable galaxy.

For gamers who want to play Skyrim as well as look at it, the game-play shines brighter than the visuals.. Players choose a race at the beginning of the game, ranging from the brutal Orc to the magical High Elf to the mysterious Khajit. Each race can do different things well, from spell casting to archery to swordplay. These skills can be combined through Skyrim’s dual wielding weapon system and an innovative hot key system that allows you to map spells and weapons to certain buttons and spice up a battle at any time. The best part about Skyrim’s game-play, though, is the enemies. The dragonborn can be fending off giants and woolly mammoths, only to have an ice-dragon ruin his day by swooping him up from behind. The game-play variety and attention to detail evident in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are superb, and make it the best non-first person shooter of the holiday season, if not the year.

The song has taken on an incredible transformation from the original quiet ballad with the addition of a heart-pounding drum track and the gradual build ups and breakdowns that make electronic music so enjoyable. All the right pieces fall into place here; the track features an eclectic mix of saxophone, synthesizers and soaring vocals that give Islands just what it needed to become a sonic masterpiece.

Be sure to check out http://youngthegiant.heroku.com/ for the opportunity to download the other remixes that have been submitted.

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The album, named for his favorite childhood hangout, opens with the soft, nonchalant “English Lane”, as listeners are greeted by the sounds of children playing outdoors. It is in this opening track that Miller first develops his album’s message. “They thought the money should’ve changed it/ Slide still blue, why the world keep trying to paint it?” he raps in a distant, nearly monotone voice.

This track is followed by an array of songs boasting different musical styles. Miller achieves his goal of appealing to different audiences; from the old-school party anthems “Up All Night” and “Party on Fifth Ave.”, to the trance-like “Of the Soul” and the electronic “Frick Park Market” and “Loitering.”

Miller’s lyrical substance hardly differs from his pre-album styles and flow. He continues to rap about his growing bank account, girls, and partying: keeping true to what his fans love. He does add new material however; rapping about how his growing fame has given him a newfound urge to return to his modest life back in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. On the closing track “One Last Thing”, Miller repeatedly chants “I want to go back home.”

Miller’s highly anticipated album delivers a broad spectrum of musical talent. He pulls various musical tastes together to craft an album worthy of all audiences, but also embeds a message and theme so listeners can form a relationship with him. As well as maintaining his classic flow and lyricism, he also adds depth and meaning to his album: a perfect combination of old and new. “No matter what happens in life, no matter where you go, where you’re off to, what happens with the park, that slide will always be blue,” Miller told MTV News in July. “That will always be Blue Slide Park no matter what.

Hip-hop’s preminent brothers from other mothers have taken turns appearing on each other’s albums since Jay-Z launched Kanye West’s career as a producer on The Blueprint. On Watch the Throne, the dynamic duo address topics of fame, fatherhood, religion and racism while simultaneously spitting over-the-top luxury lines. The production value oozes Kanye, everything from gritty hip-hop ruckus to glammed-out synth-pop. The stable of samples includes dubstep group Flux Pavilion, Will Ferrell’s Chazz Michaels in Blades of Glory and the soulful Curtis Mayfield. Other producers also shine. Wu-Tang clan leader The RZA contributes “New Day,” a heavenly, uplifting ballad over which the two rap moguls voice tender fears for their future sons. The Frank Ocean-penned opener, “No Church in the Wild,” has the freshly signed Def Jam artist crooning about the dissonance of religious faith and the excesses of fame all over moody synthesizers. The best rapping on the album comes at the end on “Why I Love You.” Jay-Z and Kanye launch into a vicious call and response verse over staccato strings to bring the album to a close. From the solid gold cover to the 24-karat production within, Watch the Throne establishes itself and a new genre: luxury rap.

After leaving jail in Nov. 2010, Lil Wayne needed to re-establish himself atop the rap scrap heap with Tha Carter IV. Preluding singles such as “6 foot, 7 foot” showed Weezy was up to his old tricks. As he says throughout, this album is Wayne welcoming himself home to the top of the Billboard charts. The album packs beats and raps that hit like bullets.  Lil Tunechi raps about alien invasion and John Lennon with Rick Ross on the bumper “Jon,” and keeps it simple and vicious on “Megaman.” The highlights of the album, however, occur when Weazy steps outside his comfort zone. The best song on Tha Carter IV might be “How to Love.” Lil Wayne has tried to make guitar-oriented music before with Rebirth to largely negative reviews. On this track, however, he goes for more of a singer-songwriter vibe, and tells a touching story that provides a beautiful counterpoint to the rest of the album. Another strength of Tha Carter IV are the collaborations. “Intro,” “Interlude” and “Outro,” occur throughout the album and all have the same beat. When listened to consecutively, it sounds like one song feature rappers as different as Tech N9ne, NAS and Bun B. Despite giving other rappers their due, there is no mistaking what Tha Carter IV is: Lil Wayne re-establishing himself atop the hip hop world.

Tha Carter IV features some great rapping, but Lil Wayne is sometimes outdone by rappers in his own corner. Kanye West and Jay-Z on the other hand are all alone on Watch the Throne, but their call-and-response verses set the album apart. The production contest is a little closer, but Kanye edges Weezy’s crew with his uniqueness.  Great production and chemistry leave Tha Carter IV with no option but to Watch the Throne.

Video by: Zach Beuckman