The most awaited award function finally gets underway on 3rd March 2014 (IST). The host of the show was Ellen DeGeneres (the person who voiced for Dory in Finding Nemo). She was brilliant as a host, I must say; very rarely did I feel bored. With her funny one-liners and lively commentary, she really gave a new life to this award ceremony. But some jokes were crude, and at many times, I felt that DeGeneres was focusing more on herself than the award-winners and nominees. Of course, not all the presenters were good. Some like Kim Novak and (surprisingly!) Harrison Ford seemed utterly bored. The real Philomena and the real Captain Richard Phillips were present for the ceremony (but couldn't spot Judi Dench or Tom Hanks! And for those who don't know what I mean, Dench and Hanks played the respective characters in the films). And importantly, if you had followed the Rotten Tomatoes predictions for the Oscars, you will realize that they were spot on!
Best Picture Winner: 12 Years a Slave (Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas)
No surprise here. Steve McQueen has made only three feature films thus far, but these are films that really scorch you…he has become the Charles Dickens of today’s cinema. He takes a harsh aspect of life (in this case, slavery) and shows it in the darkest way possible. Not for the faint-hearted, but his films give you an unforgettable, thought-provoking experience. In his acceptance speech, McQueen gave a shout out to all those who endured slavery, and the 21 million people still experiencing it. My choice was Gravity, but maybe it would have changed had I seen this film. By winning the award, 12 Years a Slave becomes the first film made by a black director to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Best Director Winner: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)
The man who made the next-gen science fiction film, Alfonso Cuarón takes home the Best Director Award. His direction and the work of the other crew members made Gravity win the most nominations, and the most number of awards in this ceremony. McQueen (who was the toughest competition) made the viewers really feel the harshness of slavery, but the man who made science interesting and visually breathtaking, won. Cuarón was also my personal choice.
Best Actor Winner: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
So Leonardo DiCaprio still remains without an Oscar… but it is, McConaughey, who plays Ron Woodroof, a person infected with AIDS, who wins the Best Actor Oscar. The man who was in obscurity has made a big leap with Mud, a stylish cameo in The Wolf of Wall Street, and finally this magnum opus: Dallas Buyers Club. In his acceptance speech, he said that his role model (the person he wished to chase) was himself! There was tough competition from DiCaprio (who was my pick) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), but this man takes the award.
Best Actress Winner: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
She was the critics’ pick from the very beginning, and they said she was a sure winner. She plays a rich socialite, who falls into poverty and homelessness. By winning the Oscar, she beats veteran actress Meryl Streep, who got her 18th nomination for acting. In her acceptance speech, she praised all the other nominees as well. She also said that she was happy to see films with women as the lead were running well and also making money! My pick was Sandra Bullock, whom I believed had done extremely well. Cuarón also praised Bullock in his acceptance speech, saying ‘she was the heart and soul of Gravity’.
Best Supporting Actor Winner: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
The person whom DeGeneres called ‘the prettiest’ person in the auditorium, Jared Leto wins the first award of the night: Best Supporting Actor for Dallas Buyers Club. He plays an HIV-positive transgender woman. Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) won the BAFTA award, and my personal pick was Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), but it is Jared Leto who may have had the most challenging role and who eventually picked up the Oscar. He gave a shout out to all those who have perished, and those who are suffering, from AIDS.
Best Supporting Actress Winner: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Jennifer Lawrence was my pick, and she did win the BAFTA award as well, but it is this woman from Kenya who wins the Academy Award. She plays a young female slave in the film. She was the most surprised of all the other winners today, and one line she said in her acceptance speech was quite valuable. She said (and I quote) “No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”
Best Original Screenplay Winner: Spike Jonze (Her)
The most innovative script among all takes home the award, and it is Spike Jonze who wrote it. Giving a glimpse of futuristic scenarios, with the main theme of a heart-warming and sweet love story, Her is an excellent film about modern relationships. Jonze’s script deserved the award, and was my pick too, along with the script of American Hustle.
Best Adapted Screenplay Winner: John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
No surprises here either. The film won Best Picture, and so, obviously, the script also should win. Billy Ray (Captain Phillips) and Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street) had done quite well too, but well, the story based on the life of Solomon Northup wins the award. Ridley, in his acceptance speech, gave the credits to Northup, saying ‘it was all his words’.
Best Visual Effects: Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk and Neil Corbould (Gravity)
Anyone surprised? Didn't think so. Visual effects are something I have always loved, and this year too, my pick wins the award. The space disasters, the sophisticated space equipment and machines were shown brilliantly, and Gravity rightly wins the award. It was dazzling in 2D and would have been spectacular in 3D as well.
Best Music: Steven Price (Gravity)
Price was easily the winner for this category. His score was eerie, suspenseful and it gave a big boost to the film. Price was also new to the world of cinema, compared to Thomas Newman and John Williams, but it was a deserved win for Price.
Best Make-up and Hairstyling: Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews (Dallas Buyers Club)
Okay, now this category is not usually given importance to, but why I am specifically mentioning the winners of this category, is because of an interesting fact: the entire cost of make-up was only $250!
The other winners:
Best Animated Feature film: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho (Frozen)
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)
Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin (The Great Gatsby)
Best Film Editing: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger (Gravity)
Best Original Song: ‘Let it Go’ (Frozen) Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Best Production Design: Catherine Martin (Production Design); Beverley Dunn (Set Decoration) (The Great Gatsby)
Best Sound Editing: Glenn Freemantle (Gravity)
Best Sound Mixing: Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro (Gravity)
Best Live Action Short film: Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson (Helium)
Best Documentary Short Subject: Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed (The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life)
Best Animated Short: Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares (Mr. Hublot)
Best Documentary Feature: Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers (20 Feet from Stardom)
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty (Italy)
So American Hustle and Gravity emerged as the films with the maximum nominations, with 10 each, and Gravity ends with the maximum number of wins: seven. The film took away most of the awards given to the technical categories, and of course, Best Director as well. The film with nominations in all four acting categories (and 10 overall), American Hustle, ended up with no wins. 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club took away three awards each, and other favourites like The Wolf of Wall Street didn’t win any awards either. Yet, while I am disappointed that DiCaprio is still without an Oscar, I am happy that my favourite film, Gravity, did so well.
#oscar2014 #oscars2014 #academyawardwinners #oscarwinners
Best Picture Winner: 12 Years a Slave (Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas)
 |
| Best Picture |
No surprise here. Steve McQueen has made only three feature films thus far, but these are films that really scorch you…he has become the Charles Dickens of today’s cinema. He takes a harsh aspect of life (in this case, slavery) and shows it in the darkest way possible. Not for the faint-hearted, but his films give you an unforgettable, thought-provoking experience. In his acceptance speech, McQueen gave a shout out to all those who endured slavery, and the 21 million people still experiencing it. My choice was Gravity, but maybe it would have changed had I seen this film. By winning the award, 12 Years a Slave becomes the first film made by a black director to win the Best Picture Oscar.
 |
| Best Director |
Best Director Winner: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)
The man who made the next-gen science fiction film, Alfonso Cuarón takes home the Best Director Award. His direction and the work of the other crew members made Gravity win the most nominations, and the most number of awards in this ceremony. McQueen (who was the toughest competition) made the viewers really feel the harshness of slavery, but the man who made science interesting and visually breathtaking, won. Cuarón was also my personal choice.
 |
| Best Actor |
Best Actor Winner: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
So Leonardo DiCaprio still remains without an Oscar… but it is, McConaughey, who plays Ron Woodroof, a person infected with AIDS, who wins the Best Actor Oscar. The man who was in obscurity has made a big leap with Mud, a stylish cameo in The Wolf of Wall Street, and finally this magnum opus: Dallas Buyers Club. In his acceptance speech, he said that his role model (the person he wished to chase) was himself! There was tough competition from DiCaprio (who was my pick) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), but this man takes the award.
Best Actress Winner: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
 |
| Best Actress |
Best Supporting Actor Winner: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
 |
| Best Supporting Actor |
The person whom DeGeneres called ‘the prettiest’ person in the auditorium, Jared Leto wins the first award of the night: Best Supporting Actor for Dallas Buyers Club. He plays an HIV-positive transgender woman. Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) won the BAFTA award, and my personal pick was Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), but it is Jared Leto who may have had the most challenging role and who eventually picked up the Oscar. He gave a shout out to all those who have perished, and those who are suffering, from AIDS.
Best Supporting Actress Winner: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
 |
| Best Supporting Actress |
Best Original Screenplay Winner: Spike Jonze (Her)
The most innovative script among all takes home the award, and it is Spike Jonze who wrote it. Giving a glimpse of futuristic scenarios, with the main theme of a heart-warming and sweet love story, Her is an excellent film about modern relationships. Jonze’s script deserved the award, and was my pick too, along with the script of American Hustle.
 |
| Best Animated Feature Film |
Best Adapted Screenplay Winner: John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
No surprises here either. The film won Best Picture, and so, obviously, the script also should win. Billy Ray (Captain Phillips) and Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street) had done quite well too, but well, the story based on the life of Solomon Northup wins the award. Ridley, in his acceptance speech, gave the credits to Northup, saying ‘it was all his words’.
Best Visual Effects: Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk and Neil Corbould (Gravity)
Anyone surprised? Didn't think so. Visual effects are something I have always loved, and this year too, my pick wins the award. The space disasters, the sophisticated space equipment and machines were shown brilliantly, and Gravity rightly wins the award. It was dazzling in 2D and would have been spectacular in 3D as well.
Best Music: Steven Price (Gravity)
Price was easily the winner for this category. His score was eerie, suspenseful and it gave a big boost to the film. Price was also new to the world of cinema, compared to Thomas Newman and John Williams, but it was a deserved win for Price.
Best Make-up and Hairstyling: Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews (Dallas Buyers Club)
Okay, now this category is not usually given importance to, but why I am specifically mentioning the winners of this category, is because of an interesting fact: the entire cost of make-up was only $250!
 |
| Not to forget the host: Ellen DeGeneres |
The other winners:
Best Animated Feature film: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho (Frozen)
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)
Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin (The Great Gatsby)
Best Film Editing: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger (Gravity)
Best Original Song: ‘Let it Go’ (Frozen) Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Best Production Design: Catherine Martin (Production Design); Beverley Dunn (Set Decoration) (The Great Gatsby)
Best Sound Editing: Glenn Freemantle (Gravity)
Best Sound Mixing: Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro (Gravity)
 |
| The winners in the acting categories: McConaughey, Blanchett, Lupita and Leto (from left) |
Best Live Action Short film: Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson (Helium)
Best Documentary Short Subject: Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed (The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life)
Best Animated Short: Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares (Mr. Hublot)
Best Documentary Feature: Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers (20 Feet from Stardom)
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty (Italy)
So American Hustle and Gravity emerged as the films with the maximum nominations, with 10 each, and Gravity ends with the maximum number of wins: seven. The film took away most of the awards given to the technical categories, and of course, Best Director as well. The film with nominations in all four acting categories (and 10 overall), American Hustle, ended up with no wins. 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club took away three awards each, and other favourites like The Wolf of Wall Street didn’t win any awards either. Yet, while I am disappointed that DiCaprio is still without an Oscar, I am happy that my favourite film, Gravity, did so well.
#oscar2014 #oscars2014 #academyawardwinners #oscarwinners
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