Hollywood’s biggest night has come and gone. So…who were the big winners of awards, and what were the highlights of the 87th Oscars? The night began with host Neil Patrick Harris coming out and performing a musical number about the joys of “moving pictures”, alongside Anna Kendrick and Jack Black.
It was a cute and concise way of introducing all the Best Picture nominees: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Selma, and Whiplash.
J.K. Simmons ended up taking home the first award of the night for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a hellacious jazz instructor in Whiplash. Simmons – one of America’s best character actors – kept his speech short, concise and sweet.
For about the next hour or so, the show went on. Most of the awards handed out in that time frame fell into the more technical categories (makeup, special effects, etc.). While most of the home audience has never heard of any of these people, Harris kept the show rolling at a decent clip with some amusing gags (including a hilarious parody of a scene in Birdman, where Michael Keaton’s character is left in his underwear) and some gags that just weren’t there.
Harris had a gag going the whole night that he’d predicted the show’s results a head of time and was keeping them under lock and key. At the end of the show, when his predictions were revealed, the joke was so dead I figured it should just be buried already.
Patricia Arquette was the next major star to take an award home. Arquette deservedly took home the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her turn as a single mother in Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. Arquette’s speech, which included talking points about ecology and equal pay for women, set a sort of quasi precedent for the night with most major winners talking about the cause associated with them personally or the movie they won for.
John Travolta had a nice moment with Idina Menzel about a little over half-way through the broadcast in which he apologized for butchering her name (“Please welcome, the wickedly talented…Adele Dazeem!”) at last year’s Oscars, and made light of the fact he’d been catching heck for it for about a year.
Two of the show’s brightest highlights came when with the performances of two of the Best Original Song nominees: “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie and “Glory” from Selma.
The first performance featured the catchy pop-tune that helped define what made The Lego Movie so successful. Jo Li and the Lonely Island came out on stage complete with Lego Oscar statuettes, dancing construction workers, and someone in a possum costume.
John Legend and Common brought the crowd to its feet, however, with a beautiful performance of “Glory” – a reflection on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the fight that still exists for equal rights in this country today. Many were moved to tears (Chris Pine in particular seemed moved) and it was a well-deserved win when John Legend and Common took home the Best Original Song trophy.
One of the most surprising moments of the night, for me at least, came when Lady Gaga paid tribute to The Sound of Music – now 50 years-old. I was completely bored during last year’s ceremony when the Academy paid tribute to The Wizard of Oz by having Pink sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. However, Lady Gaga’s brilliant medley of “The Sound of Music/My Favorite Things/Climb Every Mountain” was elegant, subtle and touching. It was even more touching when following Gaga’s performance Julie Andrews came out, embraced the pop star and spoke briefly about the ground-breaking musical before presenting the Oscar for Best Score.
Another touching moment came when Graham Moore took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for penning The Imitation Game. He spoke about contemplating suicide at the age of 16 and urged any kid out there who felt “weird” to stay that way and one day they would find their place. It was a very human moment amongst the grandeur of the ceremony.
Eddie Redmayne was the next big winner, taking home the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Redmayne seemed genuinely touched by the award and incredibly nervous and excited to be standing on the stage at the Dolby Theater.
Julianne Moore won Best Actress for her performance as a woman with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease in the independent movie Still Alice. When Redmayne accepted his award he acknowledged those struggling with ALS and Moore did likewise and acknowledged those suffering with Alzheimer’s.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night came at the near end of the broadcast. Boyhood – a tale of a boy’s adolescence in rural Texas shot over 12 years – and Birdman – a very meta story about an actor (Michael Keaton) who was once famous for playing a superhero now trying to stage a comeback – had been trading the Best Picture award at almost every other award show.
But when Birdman took home both Best Original Screenplay and director Alejandro G. Inarritu won Best Director (though not before taking part in a group hug with Boyhood director Richard Linklater and Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller), it became inevitable that Birdman would take Best Picture.
Many were expecting the 12 year dedication of the cast and crew of Boyhood to put that film over the edge to win, but it appears Hollywood decided to reward the Avant-garde film that seems like it happens in only one long take. Both films were very good and either could’ve won and I appreciate the Academy’s decision to go with a movie that is a bit quirkier than average fare.
Brian Laughran
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