This past Oscar season has been so weird, that it's sort of relieving to be able to put a cap on the entire thing. After going on for months bouncing back between "Boyhood", "The Theory of Everything" and "The Imitation Game" as the frontrunner, "Birdman" surged late in the game and eventually ended up on top. Though the film is, at its very core, about actors, it's such a strange, unconventional choice for a Best Picture winner, but an inspired, deserving one, the kind that doesn't usually win because it's too weird. It is a film after all where Michael Keaton levitates in his underwear and flies through New York City… or does he? Is it all in his mind? It’s basically a more actor friendly, less ballet focused “Black Swan”, though starring Michael Keaton and not Natalie Portman.
Of its 6 nominations, "Birdman" won 4 of them: Cinematography, Picture, Director and Original Screenplay. The latter award I saw going to Wes Anderson for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" which also won 4, tying "Birdman" for the night. I had pegged it to be the night's biggest winner, but it seemed the Academy wanted to try and spread the wealth before crowning "Birdman". "Whiplash" was able to win Editing, Supporting Actor and Sound Mixing, while "American Sniper won Sound Editing. There was also wins for "Selma" in Original Song, and "Big Hero 6" spoiled what was predicted to be "How to Train Your Dragon 2" by winning Animated Feature. But most importantly, Julianne Moore is FINALLY an Oscar winner (I cannot stress the importance of that sentence enough).
So that left Patricia Arquette as the lone "Boyhood" winner; the film was shut out in the other 6 categories it was nominated in. I really thought director Richard Linklater could win Best Director on sentiment for his career, and the achievement for directing a film over a 12 year period. But the Academy broke their tradition of separating the Picture and Director winners, and honored both Alejandro González Iñárritu and his film. Other than feeling "Selma" was the true winner, they couldn't have picked a better nominee. "Birdman" was a pretty mind-blowing experience, and Iñárritu is the genius who made it happen. Bravo.
Now, the actual ceremony. I was pretty confident that Neil Patrick Harris had this signed, sealed and delivered. I remember being blown away when he hosted the Emmy's a few years ago. The man has untouchable charisma, and comic timing. His opening number was really entertaining; it played to his strengths of being musically inclined (he didn't win a Tony for nothing!), and the special effects were pretty great. They even found a way to work in Anna Kendrick as Cinderella from "Into the Woods", who looked right at home on stage...
... If only that same energy could have kept moving throughout the show. Harris seemed to blow his load a little early, and found it difficult to keep being as on point as the night went on. There were some pretty cringe-worthy jokes that seemed like they were written by a couple of toddlers, and only went over as 'okay' as they did simply because he's Neil Patrick Harris. But that, and this bit about actress Octavia Spencer guarding his Oscar predictions throughout the night started to get on my nerves. Simply said, whoever was writing his jokes last night really needed to step up their game about 100 times.
Of course, it wasn't all bad. Lady Gaga and Jennifer Hudson completely wowed with their performances, specifically Gaga, who I have to admit I had low expectations about. She sang a tribute to "The Sound of Music" which was celebrating its 50th anniversary, and I don't think it's excessive to say that she stole the show. Julie Andrews, who came onstage after to announce the winner for Best Original Score was visibly blown away, going as far as embracing her onstage. Makes you wonder if the producers of the critically panned "The Sound of Music Live" aren't kicking themselves for choosing Gaga as their Maria instead of Carrie Underwood. If you forgot about Gaga's voice because of her distracting fashions or social media antics, this was your reminder; the girl has PIPES.
"Who gave this son of a bitch his green card?" Penn 'joked' before reading off Iñárritu's name from the envelope. Many dismissed it as a lighthearted comment, on the basis that Penn and Iñárritu have worked together and are allegedly friends, as if that somehow gives him a pass to make racist jokes like that.
In all honesty there was no reason for it. Especially given all the controversy that the Academy was facing for having the whitest Oscars since 1998. If you're an organization trying to swat off comments that you're not racially diverse enough (and you're definitely not, for the record), the last thing you want on your telecast is someone making racist jokes. So why spoil the moment Sean Penn? Iñárritu is the second consecutive Mexican director to win the award following Alfonso Cuaron's win last year. Taking what has to be the proudest moment of his career thus far away and soiling it with a racist remark just seemed ignorant and childish. His moment should be celebrated, not belittled.
Iñárritu, however, gracefully downplayed it and instead, used the moment to empower his final speech, saying to all his fellow Mexicans (those in America and those back at home):
"I just pray they can be treated with the same dignity and respect of those that came before and built this incredible, immigrant nation." He then devoted the win to them, and respectfully walked off the stage to thunderous applause.
So much like the season itself, the ceremony was a mixed bag. The good was great, and the bad was.. well bad, but overall, my predictions were pretty on point! Save for some surprises or overestimations, I went 16/21: a 76 (I didn't fail!). So let's close the book on the 2014 Oscar race... this means we can forget about "The Theory of Everything", "The Imitation Game" and "American Sniper" (and if you're me, you forgot about them months ago), and go back to groaning about how "Fifty Shades of Grey" is currently destroying the box office.
But according to The Hollywood Reporter, it's never too early to start talking about the next Oscar season, right?
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