| Voice of America | - |
"Birdman"
won the top prize at the 87th Academy Awards, a night of firsts for
many of the nominees and the show's host which proved predictable as
heavy favorites won in all the major categories.
News / Arts & Entertainment
'Birdman' Takes Top Prize at Oscars
Director Alejandro Inarritu accepts the Oscar for Best Director for his film "Birdman" at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, Feb. 22, 2015.
Last updated on: February 23, 2015 12:52 AM
First-time host Neil Patrick Harris opened the night with a quip about the lack of diversity among the nominees for the film industry's highest honors and later came out in his underwear in a spoof of best picture favorite "Birdman.''
Mexican filmmaker Alejandro G. Inarritu won the most coveted awards of the night: the Oscar for best director and best picture for "Birdman,'' his darkly satirical take on show business.
It was the first Academy Award for Inarritu, 51, whose film stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up, former superhero actor trying to make an improbable comeback with his own Broadway play.
"I am very, very thankful, grateful, humbly honored by the Academy for this incredible recognition,'' he said during his acceptance speech. "This is crazy.''
Inarritu praised his fellow best director nominees, saying "our work will only be judged by time.''
Each of the eight best picture nominees went home with at least one award, but it was a disappointing night for Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" an unprecedented endeavor to depict the simple story of a boy growing up over 12 years, all with the same actors. It won one Oscar for its six nods.
Wes Anderson's colorful caper, "The Grand Budapest Hotel'' proved popular among the 6,100 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who vote for the Oscars, winning four awards on its nine nominations.
"Whiplash,'' the independent film about an aspiring jazz drummer and his tough mentor from young director Damien Chazelle, won three Oscars.
Best Foreign Language Film
Director
Pawel Pawlikowski holds his Oscar for best foreign language film at the
87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, Feb. 22, 2015.Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski, the stark black-and-white film was considered a favorite to win the honor. The film follows a novice nun in 1962 Poland who discovers she was born Jewish.
Pawlikowski pushed the 45-second acceptance speech limit to thank "my Polish friends who are in front of the TV, the crew who were in the trenches with us and who are totally drunk now, and you were fantastic.''
Best Actor, Actress
Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading role for "The Theory of Everything" in which he portrayed physicist Steven Hawking. The win robbed "Birdman'' lead and former "Batrman" actor Michael Keaton of a big comeback moment.
Five-time nominee Julianne Moore won best actress for her portrayal of a woman suffering from early onset Alzheimer's in ''Still Alice."
Best Supporting Actor, Actress
Patricia Arquette won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for "Boyhood" in which she played a single mother struggling to bring up two children.
It was the first Oscar win for Arquette, 46, who swept the movie awards this season for playing the ups and downs of an every day mom in the independent coming-of-age drama.
"It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and for equal rights for the women in the United States of America,'' Arquette told the audience during her acceptance speech.
The star-studded awards ceremony's first Oscar statuette went to actor J.K. Simmons for Best Actor in a Supporting role for his performance in "Whiplash".
It was the first Academy Award for Simmons, 60, who played Fletcher, a sharp-tongued brutally demanding jazz teacher at an elite music school who pushes a drummer to the edge.
He had been a favorite to win for the film, after sweeping the supporting actor category in all the major awards shows before Sunday.
In his acceptance speech, the actor thanked his wife and his children and then made a family-centered plea to the audience and those watching at home.
"If I may, call your mom everybody, call your mom, call your dad. If you're lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call them,'' Simmons said.
The son of a university professor of music, Simmons has previously said that he believes his obtaining the role was an instance of "kismet,'' or fate.
Controversy
It was a night during which the controversy over the lack of diversity among the nominees was front and center. Host Harris opened the telecast with the quip: "Tonight we honor Hollywood's best and whitest, I mean brightest.''
But the race theme resonated in a more serious way too, when Common and John Legend got a standing ovation and brought many in the audience to tears with their performance of "Glory'' from the 1960s civil rights drama "Selma.''
It won best song, delivering the sole victory to "Selma,'' the film at the center of the diversity debate, sparked by the exclusion of minority actors from the four acting categories. The nominations sparked the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
"Selma' is now, because the struggle for justice is right now,A" Legend said in the aftermath of recent racially-charged protests in America.
Best documentary went to ''Citizenfour," director Laura Poitras' feature about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who detailed the secret mass surveillance programs.
"The subject of 'Citizenfour,' Edward Snowden, could not be here for some treason," Harris joked.
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