‘Birdman’, Redmayne, Moore win big at Oscars

The dark comedy Birdman held up a mirror to Hollywood and its struggling actors and received in return the film industry’s highest recognition on Sunday, the Academy Award for best picture.

Director Alejandro G. Inarritu’s story of a washed-up, former superhero actor attempting an improbable comeback on Broadway won four Oscars, including best director, the second consecutive win in that category for a Mexican filmmaker.

Inarritu thanked the star-studded audience for seeing his “crazy film” and dedicated his award to his Mexican countrymen.

“I want to dedicate this award for my fellow Mexicans, the ones who live in Mexico. I pray that we can find and build the government that we deserve and the ones that live in this country, who are part of the latest generation of immigrants in this country, I just pray that they can be treated with the same dignity and respect of the ones who came before and build this incredible immigrant nation, thank you very much.”

Eddie Redmayne won his first Oscar for his break-out role as physicist Stephen Hawking in the biographical movie The Theory of Everything. “I am fully aware that I am a lucky, lucky man,” Redmayne said as he held the gold statuette on stage. “This belongs to all of those people around the world battling ALS.”

Julianne Moore won the best actress Oscar for her role as a university professor with Alzheimer’s disease in Still Alice. The win marked Moore’s first Academy Award after being nominated four times previously.

“I read an article that said that winning an Oscar could lead to living five years longer,” Moore said while accepting her award. “If that’s true I’d really like to thank the Academy because my husband is younger than me.”

J.K. Simmons won the best supporting actor Oscar for playing a brutally demanding jazz teacher who pushes a drummer to the edge in Whiplash, while Patricia Arquette won her first for her supporting actress role as a mother struggling to bring up two children in the movie Boyhood.

Black-and-white Polish drama Ida won the Oscar for best foreign language film, capping a successful awards season run.

And the Oscar for best documentary went to Citizenfour, director Laura Poitras’ feature about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who detailed the secret mass surveillance programs.

Full list of winners

Best picture: Birdman

Best actress in a leading role: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Best actor in a leading role: Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Best director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman

Best actress in a supporting role: Patricia Arquette — Boyhood

Best actor in a supporting role: J.K. Simmons — Whiplash

Best adapted screenplay: The Imitation Game – Graham Moore

Best original screenplay: Birdman – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo

Best original score: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Alexandre Desplat

Best original song: “Glory” from Selma – music and lyrics by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn

Best documentary feature: Citizenfour – Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky

Film editing: Whiplash — Tom Cross

Cinematography: Birdman — Emmanuel Lubezki

Production design: The Grand Budapest Hotel — Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock

Best animated feature: Big Hero 6 — Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli

Best animated short: Feast — Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed

Achievements in visual effects: Interstellar — Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher

 

Sound editing: American Sniper — Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound mixing: Whiplash — Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Best documentary short subject: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 — Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry

Best live action short film: The Phone Call — Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Best foreign language film: Ida — Poland

Makeup and hairstyling: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier — The Grand Budapest Hotel

Costume design: Milena Canonero — The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

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