The Oscars came and went last night, and while some winners were highly expected, there were a few surprises here and there.  You can see a full list of winners below, with side notes on which films I predicted (back on January 15) would take home Oscar gold.  I actually got quite a few right, especially in the technical categories, but there’s almost always a few unexpected winners each year.  Neil Patrick Harris did an admirable albeit uneven job of hosting, at times really strong and at other moments just awkward.  One of his worst missteps came after Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry were accepting their Oscar for CRISIS HOTLINE, one of them wearing an admittedly exaggerated dress with furry balls hanging all over it – she even made an awkward joke about killing puppies to make the dress as she walked up to the microphone. At the close of their acceptance speech, the very serious subject of suicide was brought up in a sad and personal way, and the audience cheered sympathetically as they walked off… then Harris, likely backstage where he couldn’t hear what they had said, came out and made a somewhat tacky joke about the dress, which could not have been timed worse. There was also a running gag throughout the show of Harris having his personal Oscar “predictions” locked in a clear box visible on stage, building up to the show’s final moments where he then revealed his magically specific predictions of the night… it went over like a fart in church. Firstly, at this point in the show, which seemed to run forever (as the Oscars sometimes do), no one had any patience left for a mentalist gag, and poor Neil just had to see it through regardless. I never envy the Oscar hosts, as I’m sure being up there and having to keep things flowing is nerve-wracking and exhausting, so I give Harris props for doing his best – I just think this may not be the right crowd for his humor.

A few other thoughts on the night:

How does BIRDMAN win Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Screenplay but not Best Actor? Michael Keaton WAS that movie, and it’s easily his most impressive performance to date, reminding everyone just how great he could be. While I loved Eddie Redmayne in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, and thought he gave a stellar reading in the role, I didn’t feel the movie itself was that great… more of a wonderful performance in an okay film.  That said, Redmayne’s acceptance speech was one of the more honest and enjoyable moments of the evening.

How does INTERSTELLAR win Best Visual Effects over DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES? It likely had a fraction of effects shots by comparison, and there’s stuff in APES that many in the business consider revolutionary. That was a weird one. I think even GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY deserved the award before INTERSTELLAR did, and I say that as a fan of both movies.

How does Richard Linklater, a man who dedicated 12 years of his life to making a film unlike anything that’s ever been done, not get Best Director? I loved BIRDMAN, and Iñárritu directed the hell out of that film, doing things that were bold and impressive that would leave other directors drooling in jealousy, but I still feel Linklater’s movie was more of a directing and cinematic achievement. We will likely never see another movie like BOYHOOD… ever.

Let’s talk about the Best Original Song performances. Look, I love music as much as the next guy, and there were definitely some great songs this year, but can we please find a way to simplify this? Over the years the Best Original Song category has seen a lot of changes, and there were even a few shows where no songs were performed at all, just the award given out when the time came. But last night we had each song performed individually which is only making this very long award show feel that much longer. “Everything is Awesome” from THE LEGO MOVIE and “Glory” from SELMA were magnificently done on stage, but I really think moving forward they should do ONE segment with a small section of each song performed back to back, and save just a bit of precious time in the proceedings.

Let’s also talk about getting real with acceptance speeches.  Some of the most powerful acceptance speeches of the night came from Patricia Arquette (who won Best Supporting Actress for BOYHOOD) and Graham Moore (who won Best Adapted Screenplay for THE IMITATION GAME).  Arquette (who I actually know and adore – here’s my exclusive interview with her last year) said her thank yous pretty quickly, and then passionately screamed out for gender equality, which is definitely an issue in the Hollywood system.  The responses were incredible, even bringing Meryl Streep to her feet in support.  Then there was Graham Moore, who boldly admitted at the age of 16 he was going to kill himself because he felt weird and out of place… and in that moment last night, he stood before the most powerful people in show business, accepting a well-deserved award for a stellar screenplay about a gay man who helped win World War II with his work, only to be persecuted for his sexuality – Moore explained that moment should serve as inspiration to any 16-year-old out there who feels weird, and how they should stay “weird” and love life.  Both speeches were great examples of how wonderful it is to hear celebrities speak from the heart and be passionate, instead of just thanking agents and producers.  I want to see more of this.

People to watch for after this.  Emmanuel Lubezki, who won the award for Best Cinematography for BIRDMAN, will very likely be offered a feature directing gig after last night.  He’s actually been the cinematographer on great films like CHILDREN OF MEN and GRAVITY, though to date has only directed short films so far.  He’s been nominated several times, and won last year for GRAVITY and this year for BIRDMAN, so don’t be surprised if he’s soon seen sitting in the director chair.  Also watch to see what happens with J.K. Simmons after his well-deserved Best Supporting Actor win for WHIPLASH.  Primarily known as a character actor, and (unbeknownst to some) the voice of The Yellow M&M, this moment will likely propel him to a more prominent status, and rightfully so.  Simmons is great is pretty much everything he does, and if you haven’t seen WHIPLASH yet, find a way to remedy that as quickly as possible.

Full list of winners below, along with my predictions from January.  Tell us in the comments what you thought of this year’s Oscars.  Did anyone get robbed?  Who should have been nominated that wasn’t?  Sound off and let yourself be heard!

Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman – THE WINNER
Boyhood – my prediction to win
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Director
Alexandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman – THE WINNER
Richard Linklater – Boyhood – my prediction to win
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Best Actor
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman – my prediction to win
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything – THE WINNER

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard – Two Days One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash – my prediction to win – THE WINNER

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Laura Dern – Wild
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Robert Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski – Ida
Dick Pope – Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins – Unbroken

Best Foreign Language Film
Ida – Poland – THE WINNER
Leviathan – Russia – my prediction to win
Tangerines – Estonia
Timbuktu – Mauritania
Wild Tales – Argentina

Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper – Jason Hall
The Imitation Game – Graham Moore – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

Best Original Screenplay
Birdman – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher – E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard – Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – The Grand Budapest Hotel – THE WINNER
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White – Guardians of the Galaxy – my prediction to win

Best Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel – THE WINNER
The Imitation Game – my prediction to win
Interstellar
Mr. Turner
The Theory of Everything

Best Original Song
“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie; Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma; Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me; Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again; Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6 – THE WINNER
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – my prediction to win
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Documentary—Short
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – THE WINNER
Joanna – my prediction to win
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

Best Film Editing
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach – American Sniper – my prediction to win
Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Barney Pilling – The Grand Budapest Hotel
William Goldenberg – The Imitation Game
Tom Cross – Whiplash – THE WINNER

Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
The Imitation Game – Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar – Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Into the Woods – Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner – Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best Animated Short
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best Live Action Short
Aya – my prediction to win
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call – THE WINNER

Best Sound Editing
American Sniper – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Birdman – Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
Interstellar – Richard King
Unbroken – Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Interstellar – Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley – my prediction to win – THE WINNER

Best Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist – my prediction to win
Guardians of the Galaxy – Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
Interstellar, Paul Franklin – Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher – THE WINNER
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Best Documentary — Feature
Citizenfour – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Finding Vivien Maier
Last Days of Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Best Costume Design
Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel – my prediction to win – THE WINNER
Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood – Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive – Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran – Mr. Turner

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