Once again, the Academy Awards proved that it’s not always about box office numbers as Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” received only one Oscar for best sound editing. It’s pulled in over $300 million at the domestic box office, but having so much controversy surrounding it, didn’t help. Jesse Ventura was very vocal about being libeled in Chris Kyle’s book, and several discrepancies made themselves known which we reported on last month.
Fox Searchlight Studios was the big winner at the 87th Academy Awards, Variety reported today. There two biggest films “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” wound up tying each other with four wins each. Both films also tied each other in nominations.
“Birdman,” which starred Michael Keaton, won the top prize for Best Picture along with Best Director for Alejandro Inarritu. It went on to win for Cinematography and Original Screenplay, but interestingly enough, Michael Keaton did not win anything for his role. Many were sure that the film would win at the Oscars this year, Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” had a sudden rush of awards leaving some to wonder if that might turn it into a dark horse. The darker comedy wound up being the winner.
Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” won for Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design along with Costume Design. Composer Alexandre Desplat won for Best Original Score. Desplat was also nominated for his music in “The Imitation Game.”
Sony Pictures Classics was the only other studio that came close with four awards for it’s film “Whiplash,” starring J.K. Simmons, who won for Best Supporting Actor. The film also won for Editing and Sound Mixing.
Neil Patrick Harris did a fine job of hosting this year’s Oscars, but what was a really good ceremony was just bloated with way too many bad jokes and musical numbers. It wasn’t the longest running Oscar ceremony in history, but it ran so long that Harris’ running gag about his predictions being locked up in a box, had to be explained all over again. That’s when you know you’ve lost your audiences attention.
Below is the full list of winners highlight along with a film scorecard:
Best Picture
- “Birdman”
- “American Sniper”
- “The Imitation Game”
- “Selma”
- “Boyhood”
- “The Theory of Everything”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Whiplash”
Best Director
- Alejandro Inarritu
- Richard Linklater
- Bennett Miller
- Wes Anderson
- Mortem Tyldum
Best Actor
- Eddie Redmayne
- Steve Carell
- Bradley Cooper
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Michael Keaton
Best Actress
- Julianne Moore
- Marion Cotillard
- Felicity Jones
- Rosamund Pike
- Reese Witherspoon
Best Supporting Actor
- J.K. Simmons
- Robert Duvall
- Ethan Hawke
- Edward Norton
- Mark Ruffalo
Best Supporting Actress
- Patricia Arquette
- Laura Dern
- Emma Stone
- Meryl Streep
- Keira Knightley
Best Visual Effects
- “Intersteller”
- “Captain America: Winter Solider”
- “Planet of the Apes”
- “Guardians of the Galaxy“
- “X-Men: Days of Future Past”
Best Animated Feature
- “Big Hero 6”
- “Boxtrolls”
- “How to Train Your Dragon 2″
- “Song of the Sea”
- “Princess Kaguya”
Best Original Song
- “Glory (Selma)”
- “Everything is Awesome”
- “Grateful”
- “I’m Not Going to Miss You”
- “Lost Stars”
Best Live Action Short Film
- “The Phone Call”
- “Aya”
- “Boogaloo and Graham”
- “Butter Lamp”
- “Parvaneh”
Original Score
- “Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Interstellar”
- “Mr Turner”
- “The Theory of Everything”
- “Imitation Game”
Best Animated Short Film
- “Feast”
- “The Bigger Picture”
- “The Dam Keeper”
- “Me and My Moulton”
- “A Single Life”
Documentary Short
- “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1”
- “Joanna”
- “Our Curse”
- “The Reaper”
- “White Earth”
Best Production Design
- “Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Imitation Game”
- “Interstellar”
- “Into the Woods”
- “Mr. Turner”
Best Cinematography
- “Birdman”
- “Ida”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Mr. Turner”
- “Unbroken”
Best Film Editing
- “Whiplash”
- “American Sniper”
- “Boyhood”
- “Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Imitation Game”
Best Documentary Feature
- “Citizenfour”
- “Finding Vivian Maier”
- “Last Days in Vietnam”
- “The Salt of the Earth”
- “Virunga”
Foreign Language Film
- “Ida” (Poland)
- “Leviathan” (Russia)
- “Timbuktu” (Mauritania)
- “Wild Tales” (Argentina)
- “Tangerines” (Estonia)
Best Costume Design
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Inherent Vice”
- “Into the Woods”
- “Maleficent”
- “Mr. Turner”
Makeup and Hairstyling
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Foxcatcher”
- “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Sound Mixing
- “Whiplash”
- “American Sniper”
- “Birdman”
- “Interstellar”
- “Unbroken”
Sound Editing
- “American Sniper”
- “Birdman”
- “The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies”
- “Interstellar”
- “Unbroken”
Best Original Screenplay
- “Birdman”
- “Boyhood”
- “FoxCatcher”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Nightcrawler”
Best Adapted Screenplay
- “The Imitation Game”
- “American Sniper”
- “Inherent Vice”
- “The Theory of Everything”
- “Whiplash”
Film Scorecard:
“Birdman”: 4
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”: 4
“Whiplash”: 3
“The Theory of Everything”: 1
“Still Alice”: 1
“Boyhood”: 1
“The Imitation Game”: 1
“Selma”: 1
“American Sniper”:
“Interstellar”: 1
“Big Hero 6″: 1
“CitizenFour”: 1
“Ida”: 1
“Feast”: 1
“The Phone Call”: 1
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1″: 1