The glitz and glamor of Hollywood was again on display as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gathered to honor the best work of 2014. There were phenomenal speeches from the likes of first time Oscar winners J.K. Simmons and Julianne Moore, along with a surprising bevy of calls to action, namely from winners Patricia Arquette, John Legend, and Graham Moore.
As for the films themselves, tonight had been billed for some time as a showdown between heavyweights Birdman and Boyhood; well, the Academy has had their say, coming down firmly in the Birdman camp. A best picture win was complimented by wins for Alejandro Inarritu in the Best Director category as well as wins for Cinematography and Original Screenplay. Boyhood, by comparison, managed just one win, for Patricia Arquette in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Instead, it was the duo of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash that rose to the occasion of the evening. Wes Anderson’s latest visual treat took home prizes for Costume Design, Makeup, Production Design, and Score; while the first three were all categories it was somewhat favored in, the Score win in a tight category was a nice surprise that certainly seemed to be building a lot of momentum until Birdman reasserted itself later in the evening. Whiplash, meanwhile, has long been considered a Best Supporting Actor lock with J.K. Simmons, but wins for Editing and Sound Mixing ensured a night of highs for the indie pic.
Which brings us to the Best Animated Feature category, where we saw the only true surprise of the night. Despite strong buzz for several, if not all the other nominees in its category, it was the Disney/Marvel collaboration Big Hero 6 that walked away with the top prize. Aside from the already much-discussed snub of The LEGO Movie (the performance of Best Original Song nominee “Everything is Awesome,” though it eventually lost to Selma‘s “Glory,” was a highlight of the show), most considered Big Hero 6 the long shot in a crowded field that included Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon 2, Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and Laika’s The Boxtrolls.
Here’s the full list of winners and nominees:
BEST PICTURE
WINNER – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
BEST ACTOR
WINNER – Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST ACTRESS
WINNER – Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER – J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER – Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WINNER – Birdman of (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicola’s Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher – E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
WINNER – The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
American Sniper – Jason Hall
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
WINNER – Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
BEST DOCUMENTARY
WINNER – Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
BEST FOREIGN FILM
WINNER – Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Ida – Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
WINNER – The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard, Jane Clive
Mr. Turner – Jacqueline Durran
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
WINNER – The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game – Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
Interstellar – Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Into the Woods – Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner – Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts
BEST FILM EDITING
WINNER – Whiplash – Tom Cross
American Sniper – Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach
Boyhood – Sandra Adair
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game – William Goldenberg
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
WINNER – The Grand Budapest Hotel – Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game – Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar – Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner – Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything – Jóhann Jóhannsson
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
WINNER – “Glory,” Selma
“Everything is Awesome,” The LEGO Movie
“Grateful,” Beyond the Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me
“Lost Stars,” Begin Again
BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING
WINNER – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
BEST SOUND EDITING
WINNER – American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken
BEST SOUND MIXING
WINNER – Whiplash
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Interstellar
Unbroken
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
WINNER – Interstellar
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
X-Men: Days of Future Past
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
WINNER – Feast
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
WINNER – The Phone Call
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Parvaneh
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
WINNER – Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth
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