By Meryl Gottlieb | mg986611@ohiou.edu | @buzzlightmeryl
The 86th Academy Awards had a lot of firsts: first time celebrities have probably ever eaten pizza, first time a host took time to snap some selfies with the stars and the first time the work of a black director took home the gold.
The show ended up nearly being four hours long — even Amy Adams was caught being a bit bored — and there were plenty of moments when it dragged. Nevertheless, host Ellen DeGeneres managed to still keep me engaged and laughing with the punchlines she does all too well. There aren't many people who can tackle monologues — look at just about any late night talk show, and you'll know what I'm talking about — however, Ellen is a masterful jokester. Here are some of my favorites:
"Who are we kidding? It’s the Hunger Games. I mean, there are cameras everywhere, you’re starving, Jennifer Lawrence won last year."
On Jennifer Lawrence’s tripping: “If you win tonight, I think we should bring you the Oscar."
"Things are so different now. Last time, for instance, when I was here Cate Blanchett was nominated, Meryl Streep was nominated, Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated, Martin Scorsese was nominated. So different."
"We should get started. It’s going to be an exciting night. Anything can happen, so many different possibilities. Possibility number one: 12 Years a Slave wins best picture. Possibility number two: You’re all racists. And now please welcome our first white presenter, Anne Hathaway."
She also called Liza Minnelli "sir," something I'm not too sure my queen appreciated.
Nevertheless, you can always count on Ellen to bring in the good times. Only Ellen could make ordering pizza for celebrities funny. Who else saw Kerry Washington's hand shoot up the second Ellen offered the award show snack? Brad Pitt passed out plates to his fellow celebs, and we got to see the likes of Kevin Spacey and Meryl Streep chowing down. Some may have thought this fell flat, but I loved it. Ellen totally committed to it and went around with Pharrell's hat to collect money later. I'm pretty surprised these people carry cash on them but was a bit turned off when they were all literally throwing money at her. Yay rich people. And sweet, sweet Lupita Nyong'o giving up her lip balm was adorable.
Ellen also took selfies, lots and lots of selfies. Sure, it was a plug for Samsung's new Galaxy phone, but if I were at the Oscars that is all I would want to do, so I related on a deep level with this. Meryl Streep participated in her first tweet (shown above) and actually broke Twitter. That tweet broke the record, crushing Obama's photo, as the most retweeted tweet ever, earning more than 2 million retweets. She also took a really unfortunate selfie with Liza Minnelli. It just wasn't Liza's night.
I think I loved Ellen's bits as much as I did because they were just fun and interactive. They weren't big planned bits. It was just Ellen being Ellen and having fun with the people we love to see candidly. It's not every day that you see Brad Pitt passing out plates.
Let's get to those winners. I think most were expecting 12 Years a Slave to sweep the show, but it was Gravity that took home seven awards. The space thriller won just about every production award, though it was 12 Years that took home the big prize of Best Picture. As predicted, Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto took home their respective awards, while McConaughey and Leto gave wonderful acceptance speeches. It was only the Best Supporting Actress award in which I felt the competition was truly stiff. In the end, Lupita Nyong'o became a true princess as she deservedly won and gave a majestic and profound speech. It was a race between Lupita and Jennifer Lawrence; so if JLaw had to lose, I'm glad it was to Lupita. Though I haven't seen Dallas Buyers Club or 12 Years, I know these wins are deserved. I also know the Internet will not quit weeping until Leonardo DiCaprio wins an Oscar. Poor man. I was thrilled when Spike Jonze won for Best Adapted Screenplay; Her was a spectacular film. I may have blown my lid when Frozen won not only the Best Animated Feature Film award but also for Best Original Song. Thank you, Academy, for having some sense. Also thank you to Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for writing an adorable acceptance speech. They should always rhyme; it makes them go by faster and be more bearable. Congrats to Robert Lopez for being the 12th member of the EGOT club!
"Happy" didn't win, but it won in every other sense because Pharrell got Meryl Streep to shimmy and also got to dance with Lupita Nyong'o and Amy Adams. It was amazing.
Though I did enjoy the majority of the show, even though it did drag, there were some moments I had to question. This year's theme was "Heroes," thus we were forced to sit through multiple montages of heroes in film. I love montages of my favorite things, but when the show is running long, I think it's time to cut a montage. Why hold Idina Menzel's performance of "Let It Go" so long? Not only did they push it so far into the show, they made her cut a verse and John Travolta BUTCHERED her name — Adele Nazeem?! The Wizard of Oz "tribute" was weird. Pink did a great job singing, but it didn't do the film justice. It's one of the biggest movies ever, and all they did was have Pink sing the song. Why did they even bother inviting Liza Minnelli and Lorna and Joey Luft — Judy Garland's children — to the show when they didn't do anything with them? However, Ellen saved it all when she came out dressed as Glinda. She can do anything. Bette Midler sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" and not "I'll Put a Spell on You."
Yes, it dragged on, but I enjoyed the Oscars. I think this is the first time in which there weren't any major upsets or snubs. All of the wins are deserved; there were some great nominees this year. I loved Ellen as the host, and I loved some of the crazy things she did. Hands down it was better than this year's Emmys and I'd rank it in the same league as the Golden Globes. What did you think? Let me know @buzzlightmeryl
Here is a full list of the nominees and winners:
Best Picture
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave - WINNER
The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Director
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity - WINNER
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Actress
Amy Adams, American Hustle
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine - WINNER
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Best Actor
Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club - WINNER
Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club - WINNER
Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave - WINNER
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Best Adapted Screenplay
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight
Billy Ray, Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave - WINNER
Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Original Screenplay
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, American Hustle
Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine
Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, Dallas Buyers Club
Spike Jonze, Her - WINNER
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Best Original Song
“Happy,” Despicable Me 2; music and lyrics by Pharrell Williams
“Let It Go,” Frozen; music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez - WINNER
“The Moon Song,” Her; music by Karen O., lyrics by Karen O. and Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love,” Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; music by Paul Hewson, Dan Evans, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, a.k.a. U2; lyrics by Paul Hewson, a.k.a. Bono
Best Animated Feature
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen - WINNER
The Wind Rises
Best Documentary — Feature
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom - WINNER
Best Foreign Language Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgium
The Great Beauty, Italy - WINNER
The Hunt, Denmark
The Missing Picture, Cambodia
Omar, Palestine
Best Original Score
John Williams, The Book Thief
Steven Price, Gravity - WINNER
William Butler and Owen Pallett, Her
Alexandre Desplat, Philomena
Thomas Newman, Saving Mr. Banks
Best Cinematography
Philippe Le Sourd, The Grandmaster
Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity - WINNER
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Phedon Papamichael, Nebraska
Roger A. Deakins, Prisoners
Best Production Design
Judy Becker; Heather Loeffler, American Hustle
Andy Nicholson; Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard, Gravity
Catherine Martin; Beverley Dunn, The Great Gatsby - WINNER
K.K. Barrett; Gene Serdena, Her
Adam Stockhausen; Alice Baker, 12 Years a Slave
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews, Dallas Buyers Club - WINNER
Stephen Prouty, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny, The Lone Ranger
Best Costume Design
Michael Wilkinson, American Hustle
William Chang Suk Ping, The Grandmaster
Catherine Martin, The Great Gatsby - WINNER
Michael O’Connor, The Invisible Woman
Patricia Norris, 12 Years a Slave
Best Film Editing
Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten, American Hustle
Christopher Rouse, Captain Phillips
John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa, Dallas Buyers Club
Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, Gravity - WINNER
Joe Walker, 12 Years a Slave
Best Visual Effects
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould, Gravity - WINNER
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick, Iron Man 3
Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier, The Lone Ranger
Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton, Star Trek Into Darkness
Best Sound Mixing
Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro, Captain Phillips
Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro, Gravity - WINNER
Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland, Inside Llewyn Davis
Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow, Lone Survivor
Best Sound Editing
Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns, All Is Lost
Oliver Tarney, Captain Phillips
Glenn Freemantle, Gravity - WINNER
Brent Burge, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Wylie Stateman, Lone Survivor
Best Documentary — Short
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life - WINNER
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Best Live Action Short
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Helium - WINNER
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
The Voorman Problem
Best Animated Short
Feral
Get a Horse!
Mr. Hublot - WINNER
Possessions
Room on the Broom
