ANOTHER OSCAR CEREMONY COMES TO A CLOSE
Article by Adam Mast
The 87 Academy Awards telecast proved to be rather uneventful. Don’t get me wrong. There were great moments. Most of those moments came in the form of well executed musical numbers including a rousing (and classy) Neil Patrick/Anna Kendrick/Jack Black opener, a tear inducing rendition of “Glory” from John Legend and Common, an unforgettable and most unexpected “Sound of Music” tribute by Lady Gaga, and a colorfully spirited “Everything is Awesome” performance by an all-star onslaught of talent made up of Tegan and Sara, Andy Sanberg, and Mark Mothersbaugh, just to name a few.
Neil Patrick Harris was hit and miss as host, but the misses were no fault of his own. As previously mentioned, he positively nailed the opening musical number and his homage to “Birdman” is one for the record books. What was lacking though, was decent material, and as is often the case during award shows, there were times when the long winded ceremony almost didn’t feel like it even had a host at the helm.
As for the awards themselves, the only category that proved to offer up anything resembling a true upset was Best Animated Feature. Given the exclusion of “The Lego Movie”, it seemed like the general consensus was that “How to Train Your Dragon 2” was going to take home the gold. Instead, the likable but slightly less deserving “Big Hero 6″ swooped in for the kill. Interesting because if there was a dark horse in this category, I thought it would be “The Tale of the Princes Kaguya”, which many animation fans have hailed a masterpiece.
Some might call Eddie Redmayne’s win for “Theory of Everything” a bit of an upset, but in my humble opinion, it was always a two horse race between he and Michael Keaton for his stellar work in the night’s big winner, “Birdman”. Truth be told, if I were a member of the academy, I would have voted for Keaton but quite frankly, Redmayne was sensational in “The Theory of Everything” so it’s not like he wasn’t worthy of the win.
There were a lot of great speeches throughout the evening, J.K. Simmons and Eddie Redmayne immediately spring to mind, but it was Best Adapted Screenplay award winner Graham Moore’s touching and sincere words that were most moving. While accepting the gold for “The Imitation Game”, Moore–who attempted suicide at the age of 16– pleaded with those who struggle with feeling “different” to embrace their inner weirdness because we are all important and have something vital to offer. A great speech. It more than made up for the awkward Melanie Griffith/Dakota Johnson/”50 Shades of Grey” exchange that occurred during the Red Carpet event just before the Oscar ceremony.
The 87 Academy Awards telecast is now over and even though it’s just an awards show, political debates rage on. In terms of politics, let me just say this; If someone is going to question why Clint Eastwood wasn’t nominated for his “American Sniper” direction, then they should also ask themselves why Ava DuVernay wasn’t nominated for her “Selma” direction. Likewise, why wasn’t David Oyelowo nominated for his stellar turn as Martin Luther King.
In the end, I thought “American Sniper” and “Selma” were both excellent movies, but neither of those pictures affected me as much as “Whiplash”, “Birdman”, “Boyhood”, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. “American Sniper” and “Selma” may be more “important” and more “relevant” but that doesn’t necessarily make them stronger cinematic experiences. But then, like all art, this is purely subjective. It’s all a matter of personal preference and that’s one of the great things about movies and opinions in general. What a boring world it would be if we all loved the same stuff.
Here’s a list of those who took home the gold;
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons for “WHIPLASH”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL”
BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING
“THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL”
BEST FOREIGN FILM
“IDA”
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
“THE PHONE CALL”
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“CRISIS HOTLINE: PRESS 1”
BEST SOUND MIXING
“WHIPLASH”
BEST SOUND EDITING
“AMERICAN SNIPER”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette for “BOYHOOD”
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“INTERSTELLAR”
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
“FEAST”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“BIG HERO 6”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“BIRDMAN”
BEST EDITING
“WHIPLASH”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“CITIZENFOUR”
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Glory” from “SELMA”
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“BIRDMAN”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“THE IMITATION GAME”
BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro González Iñárritu or “BIRDMAN”
BEST ACTOR
Eddie Redmayne for “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING”
BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore for “STILL ALICE”
BEST PICTURE
“BIRDMAN”
