After months of anticipation and speculation, the Academy Awards are over for another year. There were no big shocks in store on the night, perhaps with the exception of how tedious Neil Patrick Harris was as host. Although the evening started off with an acknowledgement of the lack of diversity -“This evening we celebrate Hollywood’s best and whitest – sorry, I meant brightest,” and a fun musical number, the rest of his jokes fell rather flat, and a drawn-out gag about Harris predicting the Oscars went on for far longer than it should have considering the pay-off.
At least the red carpet was slightly more tolerable this year, with the infamous mani-cam finally out of service and the #AskHerMore campaign leading to actresses finally being asked more substantial questions that “So which designer are you wearing?”. It’s impossible to have the Oscars without the glitzy dresses, but they certainly aren’t the best thing about the host of talented women who work in the film industry.
The show kicked off with the best musical tribute since Hugh Jackman’s rousing turn in 2009, boasting impressive special effects as well as appearances from Jack Black and Anna Kendrick. It was an ode to cinema, not particularly focused on this year’s nominees, but played to Harris’ strengths and Broadway background. It set the bar high, but unfortunately that energy couldn’t be matched for the rest of the show, and his joking around with Octavia Spencer and David Oyelowo came across as awkward rather than endearing.
The big winner in terms of volume of awards was The Grand Budapest Hotel, but it was Birdman that took home the two biggest awards of the evening: Best Picture and Best Director. The acting awards went to the favourites, Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore, JK Simmons and Patricia Arquette, and the rest of the awards were fairly predictable fair, although fans of Boyhood were disappointed that Richard Linklater’s twelve-year epic failed to pick up more than Arquette’s award.
Neil Patrick Harris came across like an awkward Butlins redcoat
The ceremony itself was a rather tame affair, Harris lacking the warmth of Ellen DeGeneres or the obvious awfulness of Seth MacFarlane. Instead, much like Bradley Cooper amongst a sea of talented Best Actor nominees, it felt awkward and as if the Academy was trying to curry favour with some unidentifiable audience. Instead it was up to the winners to make waves with the time afforded to them in their acceptance speeches. John Legend and Common gave the most empassioned speech about the relevance of Selma today whilst accepting their award for Best Original Song, affording the film a fraction of the attention it truly deserved, whilst Patricia Arquette spoke about equal pay for women, Julianne Moore called for better understanding of Alzheimer’s, and The Imitation Game’s screenwriter Graham Moore and producer of Best Documentary Short Crisis Hotline: Veterens Press One Dana Perry used their time to raise awareness of suicide. J.Lo and Meryl Streep were particularly fond of Arquette’s speech, with gifs of them wooping and punching the air having long since gone viral.
British talent was well represented, and not just by Eddie Redmayne. The winner of Best Live Short was Mat Kirkby for The Phone Call, a stunning film about a crisis centre employee who receives a phone call from a suicidal man. Starring Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent, it felt sincere and highly relevent, that hopefully means we’ll see plenty more from Kirkby in the future.
Musical entertainment came in the form of performances from each of the Best Original Song nominees; Rita Ora, Glenn Campbell, John Legend and Common and The Lonely Island. If the winner of the categpry had been decided purely on the strength of their on the night performance, The Loney Island’s Everything is Awesome would have won hands down. Featuring Tegan and Sara, a set that looked like it had been drawn by a two year old and Lego Oscars handed out to overjoyed-looking Oprah Winfrey and Emma Stone, it was energetic, original and genuinely entertaining. Meanwhile John Legend and Common’s performance of Glory was touching, reducing Selma lead David Oyelowo and even Chris Pine to tears.
Everyone’s favourite comedy duo John Travolta and Adele Dazeem (sorry, Idina Menzel) presented together and laughed off last year’s pronunciation awkwardness, whilst Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain made a strong case for their casting as the next Bond and Bond Girl simply by standing next to each other. There was also a – albeit slightly twee – tribute to The Sound of Music, featuring a surprisingly restrained Lady Gaga performing (and performing well) a medley of the musical’s famous songs and introducing the incomparable Julie Andrews.
It failed to recreate the boundless energy and silliness of Ellen, or the theatrics of Hugh Jackman, and as a result just fell flat.
The ceremony’s production design was a pleasant surprise, in particular the tasteful and touching In Memoriam segment paying tribute to beloved film icons we’ve lost this year, including the incomparable Robin Williams, Lauren Bacall, Richard Attenborough and Bob Hoskins. Noticably absent however was Joan Rivers, who was well-known for presenting Oscar coverage as well acting. The Academy has claimed lack of space was the reason for her snub, but considering they included Gabriel Garcia Marquez, this seems a little suspect.
Yet despite a few genuine laughs (particularly Harris’ reenactment of a particular scene from Birdman co-starring Miles Teller) and touching speeches, the three hour forty minute runtime really did drag. What was most apparent was the ceremony’s lack of identity; it wasn’t sure if it was a Broadway show or a serious affair like the Baftas. It failed to recreate the boundless energy and silliness of Ellen, or the theatrics of Hugh Jackman, and as a result just fell flat. Harris’ jokes may have been fit for How I Met Your Mother, but in a room full of Hollywood’s finest, he came across like an awkward Butlins redcoat.
So passes another year in Oscar history with no major surprises or upsets; one for the history books? Nope, not even close, but let’s not forget the lack of racial and gender diversity at this year’s ceremony, and let’s not let the Academy forget, either. Get vocal about film; the Oscars might represent filmmaking excellence, but they’re certainly not the last word.
Hannah Woodhead
Image: Disney/ ABC Television Group