2015 Oscar Recap

By MATT GILBERT

After five months of limited releases, blockbuster disappointments, controversies and snubs, the 87th Academy Awards finally arrived Sunday, Feb. 22. Tensions ran high and the outfits were gorgeous. And at the center of it all, legendary awards host Neil Patrick Harris took the stage to lead 36.6 million viewers, according to Deadline, into a ceremony with more than a few surprises in store.

Harris and the Presenters

In true Neil Patrick Harris fashion, the Tony award winning actor kicked the night off with a lavish and extravagant musical number dedicated to the magic of moving pictures. Joining him, “Pitch Perfect”‘s Anna Kendrick complimented his part with a spoiler-filled reference to his role in “Gone Girl”, and Jack Black fake-got up from his seat to complain about the turn the film industry has taken toward superheroes and sequels.

Throughout the show, Harris periodically returned to make references to his box of impossible Oscar predictions to be opened at the end of the night, and to lay into the Academy for the now infamous “Selma” snubs. Various celebrities also took the stage to present the 24 awards for filmmaking of the year. In one memorable segment, Idina Menzel introduced “Glom Gazingo” (John Travolta) to help her present the award for Best Original Song, getting revenge for Travolta’s notorious flubbing of Menzel’s name last year.

The Awards

The Oscars always start with the award for Best Supporting Actor. Surprising no one, J.K. Simmons took the award home for the electrifying musical story, “Whiplash.” Not long after, Patricia Arquette was awarded Best Supporting Actress for her role as a mother in “Boyhood,” taking her acceptance speech as an opportunity to campaign for equal pay for women in America. Julianne Moore also received Best Actress for her role as a 50 year-old woman stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease in “Still Alice.”

Wes Anderson’s quirky comedy, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” took home four awards for Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup & Hairstyling. In the more technical awards, Emmanuel Lubezki’s single-take aesthetic won over the Academy to receive Best Cinematography for “Birdman.” “Whiplash” was awarded Best Editing and Sound Mixing bringing its total up to three. Christopher Nolan’s space epic, “Interstellar,” claimed the award for Best Visual Effects over Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Common and John Legend’s “Glory” won Best Original Song for “Selma,” and used their time onstage to bring to light how “Selma’s” struggle for the right to vote is not over. “American Sniper” won one award for Best Sound Editing and Graham Moore brought tears to the audience’s eyes after receiving Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Imitation Game.”

The Surprises

The real upsets of the night occurred later in the evening toward the more substantial awards. Shocking many, Disney’s “Big Hero 6” was given Best Animated Feature when many expected Dreamworks to earn their first Oscar in almost a decade for “How to Train Your Dragon 2.” Then, Best Original Screenplay, which most considered a slam-dunk for Wes Anderson, went instead to Alejandro González-Iñárritu for “Birdman,” its first win of the night. Iñárritu went on to surprise for a second time when he picked up the award for Best Director, which many believed would go to Richard Linklater for “Boyhood” instead. In the penultimate award of the night, “The Theory of Everything’s” Eddie Redmayne bested “Birdman’s” Michael Keaton for Best Actor, surprising no one more than himself.

Best Picture of the Year

Finally, after all the technical awards were given out and the fun was had, the ceremony got to the coveted and controversial award Best Picture of the Year. Going into the night, it was clear that the real competition was only between front runners “Boyhood and “Birdman.” Sean Penn stepped out onto the stage, opened the envelope and proclaimed “Who gave this son of a b**** his green card? ‘Birdman!’“, a joke that many on social media took offense to. After over a month of Golden Globes and Guild Awards, “Birdman” continued its near-perfect sweep taking nearly all the steam from “Boyhood’s” engines.

The ceremony ran an exhaustive 3.5 hours from 8:30 pm to midnight, and many found Neil Patrick Harris’ hosting fell disappointingly flat. Many went home disappointed with the results of the evening, but there was much to celebrate for the 24 winners as the nail-biting 2015 movie Awards Season drew to a close.