1. Angelina Jolie

Monday-morning quarterbacking about red-carpet hits and misses inevitably turns to conversation about how someone looked so much better in person versus on TV, or vice versa. That can’t be said for Angelina Jolie: From the moment Brad Pitt (wearing a cunning three-piece Ferragamo tux) stepped out of his side of the limo to open the door for Jolie, jaws dropped on both sides of the television screen. In her sublimely curve-hugging white one-shoulder Atelier Versace gown, with its fold-over band of brilliant red at the neck, Jolie was nothing less than awe-inspiring. It might seem silly and somewhat dated to note that she took chances by exactly matching the red of that fold-over accent to her red lip color and red clutch, because her pulled-back hair and 25-carat Lorraine Schwartz ear studs drove home the notion that this was a look deeply rooted in the finest of old-Hollywood glamour. Jolie was Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Jayne Mansfield (that shoutout must happen for the bullet-bra bodice) all rolled into one. In short, she was the quintessential movie star. And for the first awards show of the 2012 season, she was nothing less than an utter delight.