It’s that time of year again! The 86th Academy Awards is about to get underway. If you weren’t able to take a half day off work to catch all the action on tele, then you can follow the results as they happen, and anything else that catches our eye, right here.
The calibre of the Best Picture nominees shows you just what an outstanding year it’s been – 12 Years A Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Her, The Wolf of Wall Street, Philomena, and Nebraska.
Good luck to all the nominees and to host Ellen DeGeneres.
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LIVE BLOG: (refresh to update)
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Final thoughts: No real surprises – which is not surprising given the lead-in form but a little surprising given the number of brilliant films nominated. Was stoked for Spike Jones (somewhat surprising’) win for Best Original Screenplay though. As for the show, it was entertaining enough but very politically correct and lacked a bit of spark. It’s tough thing to balance, but after last year’s more controversial choices I think they went a little too far the other way. I really like Ellen but her spots were a tad hit & miss…and there were way too many shameless plugs for the Samsung Galaxy. On the positive side, there were some great speeches this year – Leto, Cuaron, Blanchett and Nyong’o in particular. What did you think of the show and the winners?
6:00pm – Well, that’s all folks. Congrats to all the winners and nominees. A great year for film.
Thought: Most people’s pick. But with that line-up, possibly not everyone’s first choice? Superb film though.
Best Picture:
12 Years a Slave – WINNER
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street
5:55pm – And now the big one…
Thoughts: Alright! Alright! Alright! He not only deserves it for this film but the culmination of the superb performances he’s turned out the last few years.
Best Actor:
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club – WINNER
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Thoughts: Can’t really argue. Cate was simply sensational in Blue Jasmine. Another superb speech – go Cate!
Best Actress:
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine – WINNER
Judi Dench – Philomena
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Thoughts: This one goes with lead-in form. Tough choice though hey? Alfonso always gives good speech.
Best Director:
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity – WINNER
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne – Nebraska
David O. Russell – American Hustle
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street
And now for tonight’s big awards…
Thoughts: Brilliant!!! But further confirmation 12 Years a Slave is likely to win Best Film.
Best Original Screenplay:
American Hustle – written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
Blue Jasmine – written by Woody Allen
Dallas Buyers Club – written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack
Her – written by Spike Jonze – WINNER
Nebraska – written by Bob Nelson
Thoughts: Confirmation that 12 Years A Slave will win the big one?
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Before Midnight – written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips – screenplay by Billy Ray
Philomena – screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
12 Years a Slave – screenplay by John Ridley – WINNER
The Wolf of Wall Street – screenplay by Terence Winter
5:22pm – Weinstein forks out $200 for the pizza! Nice work, Harvey.
Thoughts: My choice was “Happy” (for many reasons) but “Let it Go” is much more cinematic. Brilliant acceptance speech from the writers.
Best Original Song:
“Happy” from Despicable Me 2
“Let It Go” from Frozen – WINNER
“The Moon Song” from Her
“Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Thoughts: Great score. Well deserved.
Best Original Score:
The Book Thief – John Williams
Gravity – Steven Price – WINNER
Her – William Butler and Owen Pallett
Philomena – Alexandre Desplat
Saving Mr. Banks – Thomas Newman
5:13pm – Jamie Foxx. Chariots of Fire. Hilarious.
4:55pm – The ‘In Memoriam’ section is always touching. Great to see Roger Ebert included.
4:47pm – Ha! Bill Pullman’s US President in Independence Day gets a nod in a montage of big screen heroes.
Thoughts: The production design on the film was incredible.
Best Production Design:
American Hustle – Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
Gravity – Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
The Great Gatsby – Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn – WINNER
Her – Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
12 Years a Slave – Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker
4:34pm – Whoopi Goldberg in ruby slippers and Pink in a ruby dress to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the The Wizard of Oz.
4:31pm – Nature is providing the drum roll heading into the big awards. Some thunder and lighting outside.
Thoughts: Gravity cleaning up the technical awards. Anyone who saw it on the Embassy screen in 3D will understand why.
Best Film Editing:
American Hustle – Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
Captain Phillips – Christopher Rouse
Dallas Buyers Club – John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
Gravity – Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger – WINNER
12 Years a Slave – Joe Walker
Best Cinematography:
The Grandmaster – Philippe Le Sourd
Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki – WINNER
Inside Llewyn Davis – Bruno Delbonnel
Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael
Prisoners – Roger A. Deakins
4:27pm – Nice Harold Ramis reference, Bill (Murray).
4:22pm – Strange pizza bit ends quite well. Pay up Harvey Weinstein.
Thoughts: Close call but Lupita deserves it. Wonderful acceptance speech!
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
Thoughts: Gravity picks up another two Oscars. No Kiwi win…again.
Best Sound Editing:
All Is Lost – Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
Captain Phillips – Oliver Tarney
Gravity – Glenn Freemantle – WINNER
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Brent Burge
Lone Survivor – Wylie Stateman
Best Sound Mixing:
Captain Phillips – Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
Gravity – Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro – WINNER
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
Inside Llewyn Davis – Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Lone Survivor – Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow
4:11pm – Star-studded selfie will take the net by storm no doubt. Ellen fun or shameless Samsung Galaxy plug? – one of many tonight.
3:56pm – U2. Brilliant performance.
3:52pm – Amy Adams caught texting!?!
Thoughts: A surprise here too (I think).
Best Foreign-Language Film:
The Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium
The Great Beauty – Italy – WINNER
The Hunt – Denmark
The Missing Picture – Cambodia
Omar – Palestine
Honourary Oscars:
Steve Martin
Angela Lansbury
Piero Tosi
Angelina Jolie (Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award)
3:40pm – Kevin Spacey. Always classy.
Thoughts: Not all going to script now. The Act of Killing was favourite here.
Best Documentary Feature:
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom – WINNER
Thoughts: Same as before. Hope NZIFF brings this to New Zealand this year.
Best Documentart Short Subject:
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
Thoughts: One to look out for. Please bring it to us NZIFF.
Best Live-Action Short Film:
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)
Helium – WINNER
Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
The Voorman Problem
3:30pm – Kate Hudson doesn’t age!
3:22pm – Joseph Gordon-Levitt always looks like he’s having fun. Perhaps he should be our next host?
Thoughts: No Kiwi win but can’t complain that Gravity took the Oscar home.
Best Visual Effects:
Gravity – Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould – WINNER
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
Iron Man 3 – Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
The Lone Ranger – Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
Star Trek Into Darkness – Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton
Thoughts: No big surprise. Frozen was good but Ernest & Celestine was stunning – would’ve been my pick.
Best Animated Feature Film:
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen – WINNER
The Wind Rises
Thoughts: Not seen it…but looks delightful.
Best Animated Short Film:
Feral
Get a Horse!
Mr. Hublot – WINNER
Possession
Room on the Broom
3:05pm – Win or lose, McConaughey looks like he’s having a blast.
3:02pm – What is with Harrison Ford’s hair? Dye it black and he’d be Emo.
Thoughts: Would have been great to see Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa win.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Dallas Buyers Club – Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews – WINNER
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – Stephen Prouty
The Lone Ranger – Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
Thoughts: Decidedly average film. Amazing costume design. Worthy winner.
Best Costume Design:
American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson
The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping
The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin – WINNER
The Invisible Woman – Michael O’Connor
12 Years a Slave – Patricia Norris
2:53pm – Love “Happy” and Pharrell. Brilliant to see Nyong’o, Streep and Adams get involved.
2:50pm – Kerry Washington. Truly stunning.
2:48pm – Carrey is always hilarious. Maybe he should host next year?
2:46pm – Great Jim Carrey intro.
Thoughts: No surprise first up. Brilliant performance from Leto though. Well deserved.
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
2:39pm – Very PC opening from Ellen…except the last 12 Years a Slave gag. Funny.
2:36pm – Poor Jennifer Lawrence. Trips last year on stage…and tonight on the carpet.
2:32pm – Funny Liz Minnelli gag.
2:30pm – …and we’re underway.
2:20pm – Coffee brewed. Sweet stash opened. 10 mins to go.
2:00pm – 30 mins to go. I reckon 12 Years a Slave will take home the big prize. But I hope McConaughey wins Best Actor.
1:45pm – McConaughey and Leto looking sharp in a white tux. Lupita Nyong’o stunning again…so too Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron.
1:30pm – Catching up with the red carpet coverage. No one rocks the Jesus look like Jared Leto.
