But
Boyhood...
So, the 87th Academy Awards have come and passed. On the whole, while I couldn't really complain about the winners, the entire ceremony seemed a lot more phoned in than last time. Even though 2014 was a filler year for film, the Oscars could have been a lot more energetic than they were this year. It wasn't bad, but the ceremony itself was passable. By the books passable. Still, there are some points worth talking about that happened last night, so let's discuss recap the whole show and the biggest news stories of the night.
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| A night of Hollywood's whitest stars |
Before we even go in to discuss the awards, we should at least address the controversy that every nominee for Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress were all incredibly white. There was not a single black man nominated for any of those awards, and
Selma was snubbed for best director or any other major award outside of Best Picture and Best Original Song, with
Selma winning the latter. Does it suck? Yeah, it's pretty unfortunate that
Selma was snubbed numerous times, especially after the racially charged ending last year had, but on a more optimistic note, there were several Latin American nominees and winners from last night, showing that the Oscars aren't completely white washed. In fact, this year alone had the most Latino wins I've ever seen at the Academy Awards, most of which coming from
Birdman. So while it does suck that not a single minority was nominated for acting awards, at least the spanish demographic was represented in spades. Speaking of...
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| Birdman wins!!! |
Oh my lord, you should have seen me when I heard that
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) won Best Picture last night. Not only that, but it also won Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Screenplay. Say what you will about last night, but the fact that my personal choice for Best Picture actually won is incredible. That's not to say that the other movies didn't deserve to win, but out of every movie that was nominated last night,
Birdman was probably the most relevant to the industry. It's a moving about acting, and as an aspiring actor I fell in love with it. Hell, I even named it my fourth best movie of 2014 (
which you should totally read about here). This was the one movie I was rooting for, and it sometimes shows that the best movie does in fact win sometimes. That being said...
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| Boyhood lost...? |
Umm... I honestly don't really know how to explain this. From nearly everyone I've talked to, they pegged
Boyhood to make a clean sweep of the awards. People were set that it was going to take Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and be an unstoppable monster at the Oscars. Instead, it just walked out with Best Supporting Actress. I wouldn't say that I'm disappointed, but more confused. I mean, I wasn't the biggest fan of
Boyhood, but I wouldn't call it Oscar-bait like some people have. Instead, it's just a movie with a gimmick. Usually the Academy loves gimmicks like
Boyhood. They ate up
The Artist for being a black and white silent film, and
Les Miserables was successful based on the fact that all of the actors sang their songs. Surprisingly enough though, this was the one movie that barely won because of its gimmick. It could have won at least one more award, but sunrise, sunset I guess.
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| NPH is a pun maestro |
Following up Ellen DeGeneres is always a tough act. It's even tougher when she breaks the internet with a single photo. Needless to say, Neil Patrick Harris had his work cut out for him. In the end though, he was okay. Not as bad as James Franco, but still pretty decent. Because of his theatrical background, there were a lot more sketches and quick puns, but they mostly worked. Whether it was his
Birdman sketch or his opening number, he delivered fast and furious puns that made you laugh, then move on without remembering it. Some of his puns were good, like with J.K Simmons winning Best Supporting Actor, but he was just... okay. His whole running joke of the night was a briefcase that he locked down with his predictions for the Oscars that was eerily right, but it wasn't enough to top Ellen. There was no pizza guy, selfies, or memes from this Oscars. It was all business with some fun, but mostly business. Based off the reactions online, people were miffed with NPH and his jokes, but he was harmless to me.
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| "Glory" brings down the house |
Everyone had a great time listening to "Everything is Awesome", and the rest of the songs performed at the Oscars were decent, but nothing could stop "Glory". This was a song from a movie that not many people have seen, but my God did this song hit everyone like a ton of bricks. It was moving, powerful, and garnered a standing ovation. This was a song that didn't win because it was popular; it won because it deserved its victory. "Glory" was the most powerful event of the evening. Yes Particia Arquette had a phenomenal speech about female empowerment and Julianna Moore gave a gracious and moving speech, but "Glory" brought people to tears. It gave everyone goosebumps just listening to the song and the giant chorus that appeared on stage to accompany John Legend and Common. Even though this was
Selma's only award the whole evening, it was a loud and proud statement about race in the United States and the world we currently live in. I applaud you "Glory".
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| Poor, poor, Leo |
Yes he had no movies release this year, but the Academy just plain hated him. Didn't even give him a pity nomination or a fake Lego Oscar. Come on Academy, throw the dog a bone.
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