A night of glitz and glamour

The Academy Awards is known for being benevolent when it wishes to be and ruthless at other times. This year, at the 87th Academy Awards, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s ‘Birdman’ fought hard to win the grand titles of ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Picture’, besting Richard Linklater’s magnum opus, ‘Boyhood’.

Although the Michael Keaton-movie is a much-loved one, everyone from the critics to the movie-lovers on social media platforms have taken to expressing their distaste over this so-called ‘snub’.

‘Boyhood’, which took 11 years to make, was handed a modest ‘Best Supporting Actress’ and shoved to the side. While Patricia Arquette held the lonesome gold man for the epic film, ‘Birdman’ also took away ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and ‘Best Cinematography’.

Another film that took away top awards was ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ — ‘Best Original Score’, ‘Best Costume Design’, ‘Best Makeup and Hairstyling’ and ‘Best Production Design’.

Abhinav, a movie enthusiast, says, “I’m disappointed with this year’s results because I expected ‘Boyhood’ to win either ‘Best Director’ or ‘Best Picture’. It’s a film that no one but Richard Linklater can make.”

Harsh, who has been following Linklater’s work, says, “He (Linklater) has started a new movement which started with his initial films like ‘Slacker’. He talks about completely normal things, life as it is; there is never a plot, and that’s what makes his films unique.

There is no beginning, middle and end to his films — this is a concept he perfected with ‘Boyhood’. I’m just surprised the movie didn’t win anything more. But it doesn’t matter because people will remember his work for years.”  

It was no surprise when ‘The Theory of Everything’ actor Eddie Redmayne walked away with ‘Best Actor’ award. While Neeti was all-praises for the movie and the actor, she was disappointed with the choice of the winner for ‘Best Actress’.

“I make it a point to watch the Oscars every year. I wake up at 6 am to watch it and make sure I’ve watched all the movies beforehand. I admit, Julianne Moore’s performance in ‘Still Alice’ was good but I thought Reese Witherspoon should have won the award for ‘Wild’.”

Abhinav, however, thought the ‘Best Actor’ award should have gone to Michael Keaton.

“There have been awards handed out for roles like Eddie Redmayne’s so it should have gone to Michael (Keaton) because it was almost a story on his life. How after ‘Batman’, he fell into oblivion but rose to fame again. It was a unique story.”  

A collective gasp filled the auditorium as Neil Patrick Harris said with ease, ‘Today we honour Hollywood’s best and whitest…I mean brightest’ in his opening act.

While that loaded sentence seemed like a promise to a fun-filled award night from the host, it was nothing but a fall down a ravine for the ‘How I Met Your Mother’ star. When compared to last year’s host, Ellen DeGeneres, who sent Twitter and Facebook into a frenzy with her antics, Neil was like a fish out of water.

The highlight of the night was the ‘Sound of Music’ tribute by Lady Gaga. Dressed in a white Azzedine Alaia gown, the singer struck a chord with the crowd as she sung a medley that included ‘The Sound Of Music’, ‘My Favourite Things’, ‘Edelweiss’ and more.
Although it wasn’t the most glamourous of nights, the red carpet did see some glitter. Lupita Nyong’o stole the show with her Francisco Costa dress, which had 6,000 pearls, and Chopard jewels. The men were less innovative and stuck to blacks, with the few exceptions of Jared Leto (who never fails you), Neil Patrick Harris and Eddie Redmayne.
   Says Neeti, “I loved what Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow were wearing. But there was nothing that made me go ‘wow’ this time.”
Ananya Revanna