The 88th Academy Award Winners….
Chris Rock killed it – not holding back one bit amid all the #oscarsowhite controversy! The host had some zingers for the Academy, was able to make some poignant commentary about the need for diversity and even appealed to the mostly-white audience to donate funds for his daughter’s Girl Scout cookie fundraiser. Well done, Chris! During the typically long telecast, Rock managed to make the most of a set-in-stone itinerary that’s hard to add anything new to, but he did a solid job, seeming perfectly comfortable and at ease with the audience visibly getting a kick out of his work. The night was full of some big surprises though, so let’s touch on them before the full list of winners…. For me, the first big surprise was when Mark Rylance beat out Sylvester Stallone. Sure, it would’ve been a great way to pay tribute to a cinematic icon (Stallone and Rocky), but more importantly, Stallone’s performance truly moved me. The other surprising win was Dianne Warren and Lady Gaga’s moving song to the campus rape documentary “The Hunting Ground” losing to Sam Smith’s wretched Bond theme song. Not only is her song better, it was also a much better performance with the singer surrounded by former sexual abuse victims. “Bear Story” winning for Best Animated Short was disappointing as well, considering the amazing creativity and inventiveness of Don Hertzfeldt’s “World of Tomorrow” (still on Netflix, check it out).
Still, I was very happy to see “Ex Machina” win for Visual Effects (becoming the first non-Best Picture nominee ever to win this award) and my favorite movie of last year “Inside Out” won. It was great to see Italian composer, Ennio Morricone finally win too, who woun up being the oldest Oscar winner ever. It was also great to see “Mad Max: Fury Road” win award after award – totaling 6 Oscars.
As expected, Leonardo DiCaprio won for Best Actor for “The Revenant” and for the second consecutive year Alejandro González Iñárritu won for Best Director and his cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, picked up his third consecutive win – viva Mexico!
Below is the full list of tonight’s Oscar winners….
BEST PICTURE – Spotlight
BEST DIRECTOR – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
BEST ACTRESS – Brie Larson, Room
BEST ACTOR – Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Spotlight
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – The Big Short
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – Inside Out
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – Son of Saul/Hungary
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Amy
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
BEST ORIGINAL SONG – “Writing’s on the Wall” from Spectre
BEST SOUND EDITING – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SOUND MIXING – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – The Revenant
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST COSTUME DESIGN – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST FILM EDITING – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – Ex Machina
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM – Bear Story
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM – Stutterer
BEST DOCUMENTARY – SHORT SUBJECT – A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
