"Birdman" was the big winner at last night's Oscars. It took home four Oscars . . . Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. Michael Keaton lost the Best Actor award to Eddie Redmayne, the guy who played Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything". Meanwhile, Julianne Moore took Best Actress for "Still Alice", which is a movie about Alzheimer's disease. J.K. Simmons won Best Supporting Actor for "Whiplash", and Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for "Boyhood". Her speech demanding equal pay for women brought Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez to their feet. Tragically, one of the awards that "Birdman" STOLE meant that cinematographer Dick Poop went home empty-handed. For those of you who might be a little confused, "Dick Poop" is actually DICK POPE. He was nominated for the cinematography he did on the movie "Mr. Turner". But his name was accidentally announced as Dick POOP last month.
Here are a few other highlights from last night's awards:
1. LADY GAGA's tribute to "The Sound of Music". She absolutely CRUSHED it, which is not surprising, because Gaga is that rare breed of pop star who can actually SING.
JULIE ANDREWS was there, and she LOVED it. (Here's video. A lot of celebrities dug it, too.)
2. TERRENCE HOWARD introduced some of the Best Picture nominees, and SOMETHING was up. There were a lot of weird pauses in his speech, and at one point he grabbed the microphone, which made a loud noise. He played it off like he was just so blown away by the movies. And maybe that was the case. But maybe he was DRUNK . . . or having Teleprompter issues. (Check it out here.)
3. "Glory" won the Oscar for Best Original Song . . . that's the song COMMON and JOHN LEGEND wrote for the movie "Selma". Their performance got a standing ovation, and a few tears in the audience. Then they gave a speech worthy of MARTIN LUTHER KING's memory while accepting their award. It was actually the only award that "Selma" won. (Speech)
4. COMMON totally left OPRAH hanging on a high-five after he and JOHN LEGEND won the Oscar for "Glory", their song from "Selma". And their performance of the song brought David Oyelowo and, randomly, Chris Pine, to tears. (Full Story)
5. Things got a little awkward between DAKOTA JOHNSON and her mom MELANIE GRIFFITH on the red carpet, after Melanie said she probably won't see "Fifty Shades of Grey". It sounds like Dakota WANTS her to see it.
(And here's a classic clip of Dakota with her mom at the Oscars in 2000 . . . when she was 10 YEARS OLD.)
6. NEIL PATRICK HARRIS started off the show with a joke about the lack of color at the Oscars. He said, quote, "Tonight we honor Hollywood's best and WHITEST . . . sorry, brightest.
It was followed by the obligatory song and dance number, featuring ANNA KENDRICK and JACK BLACK. (Check it out here.) He did another bit later on in the show, where he showed up on stage wearing only his tighty-whities, like Michael Keaton in "Birdman". And some people onlne were commenting about the rather impressive BULGE he was sporting. But overall, the consensus is that he was probably just 'okay' as a host . . . some things worked, some things didn't.
7. And in case you were wondering, it really WAS WILL ARNETT in the Batman costume during the performance of "Everything is Awesome". Arnett voiced Batman in the "Lego Movie". (Full Story)
The Complete Oscars Winners List
Best Picture: "Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
Best Animated Feature Film: "Big Hero 6"
Best Director: Alejandro Inarritu for "Birdman"
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne for "The Theory of Everything"
Best Actress: Julianne Moore for "Still Alice"
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons for "Whiplash"
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette for "Boyhood"
Best Documentary Feature: "CitizenFour"
Best Documentary (Short Subject): "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Imitation Game"
Best Original Screenplay: "Birdman"
Best Foreign Film: "Ida" (Poland)
Best Film Editing: "Whiplash"
Best Costume Design: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Best Visual Effects: "Interstellar"
Best Sound Mixing: "Whiplash"
Best Sound Editing: "American Sniper"
Best Production Design: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Best Cinematography: "Birdman"
Best Original Score: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Best Original Song: "Glory" from "Selma"
Best Short Film (Animated): "Feast"
Best Short Film (Live Action): "The Phone Call"
(You can find videos from last night's ceremony at the Oscars website, here.)
