Oscars Wrap-Up

Well last night was the Oscars.  I watched about 20 minutes of it before I had to go to work but every now and then I checked Twitter to find out who won.  From what I saw of the show I thought Neil Patrick Harris did well as host.  The opening musical number he did with Anna Kendrick and Jack Black I thought was fun, and his occasional zingers I thought were pretty funny.  Looking through the Internet you'll find the opposite opinion but then again no matter who is hosting the lovely wonderful people of the Internet will not like them.

I correctly picked 18 of the 24 categories, which is one better than I did last year.  Surprisingly every movie that was nominated for Best Picture ended up winning at least one Oscar, with three in particular picking up even more than that.  Let's go over who won what.

'BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) (R)

OSCARS WON:  Best Picture, Best Director  - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Best Original Screenplay - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu & Nicolas Giacobone & Alexander Dinelaris Jr. & Armando Bo, Best Cinematography

'Birdman' came in to the ceremony tied with 'Grand Budapest Hotel' for the most nominations (9) and left the ceremony tied also with 'Grand Budapest Hotel' for the most wins (4).  In my personal opinion there were PLENTY of other movies that were better than 'Birdman', but the awards season momentum had swung in it's favor.  Kinda like how back in 2011 'The Social Network' was the early favorite but 'The King's Speech' ended up getting the late awards season momentum and won Best Picture.  Not gonna lie...it does bother me that 'Birdman' won, but I'll get over it.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Actor - Michael Keaton, Best Supporting Actor - Edward Norton, Best Supporting Actress - Emma Stone, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing

'THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL' (R)

OSCARS WON:  Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design

Wes Anderson's latest quirky, colorful movie swept a fair amount of the technical awards which I'll admit it truly does deserve.  Yep...that's about all I got for this movie.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Director - Wes Anderson, Best Original Screenplay - Wes Anderson, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing

'WHIPLASH' (R)

OSCARS WON:  Best Supporting Actor - J.K. Simmons, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing

Well...it's always good to see your favorite movie of the year get awarded.  J.K. Simmons' win for Best Supporting Actor has pretty much been a lock for quite some time, but a win for Sound Mixing as well as an upset win for Editing?  Sweet!  Looks like this movie was the Academy's tempo after all.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay - Damien Chazelle

'AMERICAN SNIPER' (R)

OSCAR WON:  Best Sound Editing

War movies and musicals tend to win the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.  Going by that logic, I ended up correctly picking this right.  This still is a pretty good movie...it's a shame that the baby doll didn't get properly awarded.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Actor - Bradley Cooper, Best Adapted Screenplay - Jason Hall, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing

'BOYHOOD' (R)

OSCAR WON:  Best Supporting Actress - Patricia Arquette

...without going into a huge rant let's just say I strongly believe that 'Boyhood' should NOT have ended the night with only one Oscar win...

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Director - Richard Linklater, Best Original Screenplay - Richard Linklater, Best Supporting Actor - Ethan Hawke, Best Film Editing

'THE IMITATION GAME' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Adapted Screenplay - Graham Moore

The only thing I really have to say is that I heard Moore gave one of the best acceptance speeches of the night.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Director - Morten Tyldum, Best Actor - Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actress - Keira Knightley, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design

'SELMA' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Original Song - "Glory"

After having finally seen 'Selma', did I feel like it had been snubbed in a lot of categories?  No.  Honestly for several of the categories (particularly Best Actor) it was just a year packed with great performances that MANY other actors were "snubbed" as well that many had thought would have been shoe-ins.

I actually liked 'Selma', and my review of it should be posted sometime this week.  My main problem, though, is with this song.  To me a gospel/rap song that contains a reference to Ferguson, Missouri has absolutely NO REASON to belong in a movie about MLK. 

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture

'THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Actor - Eddie Redmayne

Undergo a physical transformation and you too will win an Oscar!  Ugh....I really didn't like this movie.  I'm more mad at this movie winning an Oscar than I am about 'Birdman' winning Best Picture.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Actress - Felicity Jones, Best Adapted Screenplay - Anthony McCarten, Best Original Score

'STILL ALICE' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Actress - Julianne Moore

I haven't seen this movie...nor apparently has most of the country.  Apparently it's about a college professor played by Moore who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease.  Which brings me to my next point:  Play a person with a physical or mental disease and you too can win an Oscar!

'IDA' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Foreign Language Film

Apparently this is the first movie from Poland to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  'Ida' follows a young woman who is on the verge of taking her vows to be a Catholic nun when she embarks on a journey and discovers a dark family secret.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Cinematography

'CITIZENFOUR' (R)

OSCAR WON:  Best Documentary Feature

I haven't seen this, but I suppose whether you'd like this documentary or not will all depend on how you view Edward Snowden:  As a whistleblowing hero, or as a traitor.

'BIG HERO 6' (PG)

OSCAR WON:  Best Animated Feature

...didn't expect this movie to win.  But I am glad that it beat the likes of 'How To Train Your Dragon 2'.  But had 'The LEGO Movie' been rightfully nominated and NOT snubbed it would've been no competition.

'INTERSTELLAR' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Visual Effects

Glad to see this movie win something.  And indeed the visual effects for this movie were great.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Production Design



OTHER WINNERS:
BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT:  'Crisis Hotline:  Veterans Press 1'
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:  'The Phone Call'
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:  'Feast'