We bring you the winners from the 2015 Oscars…
Tonight, the brightest and shiniest stars gathered at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood for the 87th Academy Awards, and Movies.ie stayed up all night to bring you the winners…
Neil Patrick Harris was on hosting duties – taking over from Ellen DeGeneres, who hosted last year, and dutifully took to the stage with grace and charm, and performed an opening composed by the team behind Disney’s smash hit, FROZEN. The song, which was charmingly funny and old school, celebrated movies, including CLUEDO, BACK TO THE FUTURE, THE WIZARD OF OZ and AVENGERS ASSEMBLE. Neil Patrick Harris also teased the chemistry between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, before being joined on stage by Anna Kendrick. Jack Black then stormed the stage in a classic Tenacious D-style move, before being replaced by dancing Stormtroopers. Yes, dancing Stormtroopers! This number paled, however, when compared to Tegan and Sara’s show stopping performance of Oscar nominated song Everything is Awesome, which filled the Dolby Theatre with colour, and Lego replicas of Oscar statues.
Ireland was represented with Cartoon Saloon being nominated for their film THE SONG OF THE SEA, and elsewhere, fans were divided between Teams BIRDMAN, BOYHOOD, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL and WHIPLASH. The big winner on the night was BIRDMAN, which took home four awards, including the gongs for Best Picture and Best Director. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL swept the board in the technical categories, also taking home four awards, and WHIPLASH came in third, with three awards.
The award for Best Picture was presented by Sean Penn. The award went to BIRDMAN. On accepting the award, director Alejandro González Iñárritu said ‘Maybe next year the government will implement some immigration laws onto the Academy, two Mexicans in a row, that’s suspicious, I think’. Michael Keaton also took a moment to say a few words; ‘This has been a tremendous experience. This guy is as bold as bold can be. Look, it’s great to be here, who am I kidding!?’
Ben Affleck presented the award for Best Director to Alejandro González Iñárritu for BIRDMAN. When accepting the award, the director said ‘Good luck charms worked… because tonight I am wearing the real Michael Keaton tighty whities. They are tight and they smell like balls, but I’m here’ went on to say ‘Our work will only be judged, as always, by time. I am humbly honoured by the Academy, which I thank for this incredible recognition’.
Cate Blanchett presented the award for Best Actor to Eddie Redmayne for his incredible performance in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING. Taking to the stage, Redmayne said ‘I don’t think I’m capable of articulating how I feel right now, but I am fully aware that I am a lucky, lucky man. This Oscar belongs to all those people around the world battling ALS, it belongs to one exceptional family; Stephen, Jane and the Hawking children, and I will be it’s custodian’.
Matthew McConaughey presented the award for Best Actress, having first quoted the late Roger Ebert. Julianne Moore scooped the award for her role in the highly anticipated STILL ALICE. On accepting her award, Moore said ‘I read an article that said that winning an Oscar can lead to living five years longer. If that’s true, I want to thank the Academy, because my husband is younger than me!’. Moore went on to express her delight at being able to shine a light on Alzheimer’s Disease, because it is so easy for these people to feel alone.
Last year’s winner for Best Supporting Actress, Lupita Nyong’o, presented the award for Best Supporting Actor to J.K. Simmons for his role in WHIPLASH. When accepting his award, Simmons paid tribute to his ‘above average children’ and reminded us all to call our mums more often; ‘Everybody, call your mum, if you’re lucky enough to have a parent alive on this planet, call them. Don’t text or email. Call them. Tell them you love them and thank them, and listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you’. Aww.
Jared Leto took to the stage to present the award for Best Supporting Actress, and to gently poke fun at Meryl Streep for her consistent Oscar nominations. Unsurprisingly, Patricia Arquette took home the award for her 12 years of work on BOYHOOD. Arquette graciously hugged fellow nominee Emma Stone on her way to the stage, and thanked her fellow collaborators on BOYHOOD, before giving an incredible call to feminism, saying ‘To every woman who gave birth, to every tax payer and citizen of this nation; we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights, it is time to have wage equality and equal rights for women in the United States of America!’. This gained Arquette a huge cheer from the assembled audience, with Jennifer Lopez and Meryl Streep whooping their approval.
Neil Patrick Harris recognised the fact that THE LEGO MOVIE was snubbed at this year’s Oscars, before introducing Dwayne Johnson and Zoe Saldana to present the award for Best Animated Feature. The Award went to BIG HERO 6 – meaning our own Cartoon Saloon missed out for their beautiful film SONG OF THE SEA. Director Don Hall paid tribute to John Lasseter, and the film’s cast and crew, before saying ‘Once upon a time there was a freckle faced little boy who told his Mom and Dad that he was going to work at Disney Animation, and they did something amazing; they supported him, so thank you’.
Pawel Pawlikowski’s beautiful IDA won Best Foreign Language Film. Pawlikowski was the first winner to be played off stage, twice, saying ‘How did I get here? I made a film about black and white; about the need for silence; withdrawal from the world and contemplation… Life is full of surprises.’ Pawlikowski also thanked his cast and crew, before playing tribute to his late wife.
The rest of the winners are as follows…
Best Adapted Screenplay
Graham Moore – THE IMITATION GAME
Best Original Screenplay
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo – BIRDMAN
Best Documentary Feature
Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky – CITIZENFOUR
Best Animated Short
Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed – FEAST
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki – BIRDMAN
Best Costume Design
Milena Canonero – THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Documentary Short
Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry – CRISIS HOTLINE: VETERANS PRESS 1
Best Film Editing
Tom Cross – WHIPLASH
Best Live Action Short
Mat Kirkby & James Lucas – THE PHONE CALL
Best Make-up & Hairstyling
Frances Hannon & Mark Coulier – THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat – THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Production Design
Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock – THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Original Song
John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn – ‘Glory’ from SELMA
Best Sound Editing
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman – AMERICAN SNIPER
Best Sound Mixing
Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley – WHIPLASH
Best Visual Effects
Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott Fisher – INTERSTELLAR
Words: Brogen Hayes