The 86th Annual Academy Awards took place last night at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and the stars showed up in droves to have the opportunity to win Oscar gold as well as cheer on their co-stars.
The awards were hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and overall it was quite a dull ceremony. The usually very funny DeGeneres instead was very bland and it seemed like her usual writers were on strike as she barely cracked any jokes after her opening monologue.
There were some fun aspects to the show as many films that I loved got the recognition they deserved. But what were the highlights for me besides the awards?
Well, in non-award-related items there was Meryl Streep dancing with Pharrell Williams as he performed his nominated original song “Happy” from “Despicable Me 2” and the second funniest moment was when John Travolta mispronounced Idina Menzel’s name as he introduced her to perform the nominated song “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen.” Within minutes there were multiple fake accounts added to Twitter with the name Adelle Dazeem and everyone was joking about whether Travolta was having a stroke onstage or needed glasses.
On the actual awards side of the show, things went pretty much as planned. I wrote up my Oscar Predictions and out of 24 categories, I got 22 correct (and the two I missed went to my choices for surprise winners). So the querstion remains of whether the Academy voters are too predictable and should they maybe think about adding some more diversity to the mix Even with a new system of calculating points for the possible winners, there wasn’t a single major upset.
So, who were the biggest winners of the night? Well, the film with the most awards didn’t win Best Picture. “Gravity” took home seven statuettes, including Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Original Score, and all the technical awards including Film Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and, of course, Special Effects. “12 Years A Slave” won the biggest award of the night with “Best Picture” along with acting newcomer Lupita Nyong’o nabbing an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in her very first film ever. The third and final award it won was for Best Adapted Screenplay written by John Ridley.
“Dallas Buyers Club” also score three wins, including Matthew McConaughey for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Jared Leto for Best Actor in a Supporting Role as well as Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Disney’s very popular film “Frozen” won both its categories, winning “Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song “Let It Go.” The final film to win multiple awards was “The Great Gatsby” for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Cate Blanchett won Best Actress in a Leading Role for her amazing performance in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine. And even though it only won a single award, I was happy to see the movie “Her” win for Best Original Screenplay because that film was very well done.
Once again, Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t win and the controversial but great film “The Wolf of Wall Street” was completely shut out from winning a single Oscar in its categories, but besides that the awards seemed to be distributed pretty evenly among the nominees.
While I was happy with the results, the show itself was lackluster and boring – even the competition between my friends and I to see who picked the most winners couldn’t keep the show interesting from start to finish. My suggestion for next year is to bring back a performer who can sing and dance and keep the three-hour-plus broadcast captivating instead of a chore to watch.
Here are all of the categories, with the winners in italics.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Achievement in Directing
David O. Russell for American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity
Alexander Payne for Nebraska
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese for Wolf of Wall Street
Best Performance by Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale for American Hustle
Bruce Dern for Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Amy Adams for American Hustle
Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock for Gravity
Judi Dench for Philomena
Meryl Streep for August Osage County
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper for American Hustle
Michael Fassbender for 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill in the Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club
Best Performance of an Actress in a Supporting Role
Sally Hawkins for Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts for August Osage County
June Squibb for Nebraska
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest and Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Missing Picture
Omar
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Dallas Buyers Club
Her
Nebraska
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
12 Years a Slave
Before Midnight
Captain Phillips
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Achievement in Costume Design
American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
12 Years a Slave
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Despicable Me 2: Pharrell Williams (“Happy”)
Frozen: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (“Let It Go”)
Her: Karen O. and Spike Jonze (“The Moon Song”)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom: Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen (“Ordinary Love”)
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
John Williams for The Book Thief
Stephen Price for Gravity
William Butler and Owen Pallett for Her
Alexandre Desplat for Philomena
Thomas Newman for Saving Mr. Banks
Best Documentary, Feature
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet From Stardom
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Best Achievement in Makeup & Hairstyling
Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger
Best Achievement in Production Design
American Hustle
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
Her
12 Years a Slave
Best Achievement in Film Editing
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
Best Achievement in Cinematography
The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Prisoners
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
The Lone Ranger
Star Trek into Darkness
Best Short Film, Animated
Feral
Get a Horse!
Mr. Hublot
Possessions
Room on the Broom
Best Short Film, Live Action
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Helium
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything!)
The Voorman Problem
So what were your thoughts on the overall show? Were there any highlights or moments that you loved and did your favorite performances or films win? Leave a comment and let us know.
. . .
Follow Adam Poynter on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CCWGGuy.
And don’t forget to “Like” It’s Just Movies on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/itsjustmovies.