The 86th Annual Academy Awards – Of Lupita, Selfies, Pizza and Moms
It was the selfie to end all selfies. Although it took Ellen DeGeneres some time to rally the A-List troops – and Lupita Nyongo’s brother – it was worth it just for the sheer amazingness that is the shot above. The return host also bought the entire audience pizza, and ran around offering slices to Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford. Only Ellen.
Earlier in the day, rain threatened to be the star of the 86th Annual Academy Awards’ red carpet, but thankfully not even the weather took away the shine from the gorgeous style of Lupita Nyong’o, Cate Blanchett and Charlize Theron.
And then there was this – while Pharrell Williams performed Happy, Meryl Streep and Lupita got on down…
Women took centre stage in most of the acceptance speeches, and many a mother was thanked. Jared Leto showed what the perfect acceptance speech looks like, when he paid tribute to his mom, thanked his co-stars, mentioned Venezuela and the Ukraine, and also spoke about those who’ve lost their lives to HIV/Aids – the subject of Dallas Buyers Club.
Lupita’s speech, too, was moving, as she admitted, “it’s doesn’t escape me that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s.” When she and the rest of the cast went on stage to accept Best Picture, director Steve McQueen dedicated the film to those who’ve suffered because of slavery, but he also showed his softer side, by literally jumping up and down for joy.
Adding to the emotion of the night, Bette Midler sang a stirring rendition of her song Wind Beneath My Wings for the In Memoriam part of the show. It was truly beautiful.
For the most part though, this was an as-predicted Oscars, except that all-coveted Best Picture prize still had some waiting in nervous anticipation. Thankfully, the Academy got it right.
The winners then…
Picture – 12 Years a Slave
Director – Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Actor – Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Actress – Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Supporting Actor – Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Supporting Actress – Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Costume Design – Catherine Martin, The Great Gatsby
Hair & Make-up – Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews)
Production Design – The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn)
Visual Effects – Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk and Neil Corbould)
Sound Editing – Gravity
Sound Mixing – Gravity
Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Adapted Screenplay – John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Original Screenplay – Spike Jonze, Her
Animated Short – Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares)
Animated Feature – Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho)
Original Score – Steven Price, Gravity
Original Song – Let It Go from Frozen (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
Documentary – 20 Feet from Stardom (Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers)
Foreign Language – Italian director Paulo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty