The 86th Academy Awards have come to a close and the Oscars have been given out. It was a very interesting night with Gravity taking home the majority of the awards including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón and a number of wins related to visuals and sound. 12 Years a Slave took the Best Picture prize which is surprising, not because it was undeserving but because the Academy is progressively leaning away from the trend of pairing Best Director with Best Picture as reinforced with last year’s results with Argo and Ben Affleck.
Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey both snagged their first Oscar for Dallas Buyer’s Club which was extremely well deserved. While this could be a huge launching point for Jared Leto’s acting career, I unfortunately think that we will see his focus placed on his music and his big screen appearances will be scarce. Matthew McConaughey, on the other hand, is on the verge of movie greatness. I remember the man who had generated so much critical buzz for his role in 1994’s A Time to Kill then unfortunately became the go to man for “chick flicks” that sent his career on a downward spiral. He’s had the ability to triumph for quite some time and I’m glad to see him have his moment to show the world what he is capable of as an actor.
Leto and McConaughey also shared some of the most heartfelt and inspirational speeches alongside Best Supporting Actress Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave). Jared Leto honored his mother with a warm speech regarding her being the source for his creativity and inspiration, Lupita Nyong’o gave an awe-inspiring speech regarding her rags to riches story asking others to follow their dreams despite adversity, and Matthew McConaughey stole the show with an inspirational and motivational speech about growing as an individual then ending with his signature “Alright, Alright, Alright” for a light chuckle at the end.
Lupita Nyong’o had an inspirational speech
There were many unexpected moments throughout the night. Ellen DeGeneres actually took down Twitter taking a “selfie” in the middle of the show with a ton of A-List actors and now holds the record for the most retweeted photo of all time. She also hilariously ordered pizza that she shared with a number of celebrities then asked Harvey Weinstein and Brad Pitt to throw in some money to tip the delivery person. Bill Murray threw in a quick shout out to long time friend Harold Ramis during his presentation for Best Cinematography nominees by shouting out, “We forgot one, Harold Ramis for Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day,” which was followed with a strong applause from the audience. While most of these unexpected moments brought positive laughter and applause, it was John Travolta who had the most embarrassing slip. During his introduction for Idina Menzel’s performance of “Let it Go” from Frozen he mispronounced her name so badly that it sounded more like jibberish than any conceivable name.
Ellen took down Twitter with this selfie!
On a personal note, I was very delighted to see Her being recognized for its creativity. Spike Jonze took home an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay which I believe to be more than well deserved. I could spend an entire post on my soapbox preaching about the film but I had expected it to win nothing and I was thankful to see it gain at least some recognition.
And the results…
Best Picture – 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Best Animated Feature – Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho)
Best Cinematography – Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Best Costume Design – The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin)
Best Directing – Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
Best Documentary Feature – 20 Feet from Stardom (Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen, Caitrin Rogers)
Best Documentary Short – The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (Malcolm Clarke, Nicholas Reed)
Best Film Editing – Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger)
Best Foreign Language Film – The Great Beauty (Italy)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling – Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews)
Best Original Score – Gravity (Steven Price)
Best Original Song – Let It Go – Frozen
Best Production Design – The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn)
Best Animated Short Film – Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares)
Best Live Action Short Film – Helium (Anders Walter, Kim Magnusson)
Best Sound Editing – Gravity (Glenn Freemantle)
Best Sound Mixing – Gravity (Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro)
Best Visual Effects – Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)
Best Adapted Screenplay – 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
Best Original Screenplay – Her (Spike Jonze)
