87th Academy Awards

Neil Patrick Harris took over hosting duties for the 87th Academy Awards for the first time. Broadcasted live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Neil started off by being raised up through the floor to open the show.

He joked about the Oscars being very white this year saying, “Tonight we celebrate Hollywood’s best and whitest.” Glad he got that out of the way right off the top, because this year was very disappointing and the Oscars really needs to do better.

Neil then went into his musical number highlighting several of the big moments in movies. Anna Kendrick joined him as Cinderella, and Jack Black joined in from the audience and ran to the stage singing as they continued the opening number. Anna Kendrick threw her Cinderella slipper at Jack to get him off stage. The stage then filled with characters from various movies as Neil ended the song with the set filled with Oscar statues.

Neil then mentioned how much money the films nominated for Best Picture brought into the box office, and said that Oprah was the American Sniper. His reason was, “Because you’re rich.” Oprah motioned to him, “What?” That joke fell a little flat.

Lupita Nyong’o was the first presenter in a gorgeous white beaded gown to announce the nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and the Oscar went to J.K. Simmons for Whiplash.

J.K. Simmons received a standing ovation and said thank you to the Academy and everyone involved in making Whiplash, including his wife Michelle Schumacher. He said he was grateful for her support, kindness, wisdom, and above average children. He also told everyone to call their parents. Call them and tell them you love them and ended by thanking his own parents.

Neil said he made his Oscar predictions to Price Waterhouse Coopers and locked them in a box on the stage. He asked Octavia Spencer seated in the audience, to her surprise, to watch his box and not take her eyes off of it.

Liam Neeson was next and he talked about Best Picture nominees including American Sniper, then Dakota Johnson introduced the performance by Adam Levine who sang, Lost Stars.

Neil next introduces Jennifer Lopez and Chris Pine to announce the nominees for Achievement in Costume Design. The Oscar went to Milena Canonero for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Next came Reese Witherspoon to announce the nominees for Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling, and the Oscar went to The Grand Budapest Hotel, Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier.

Channing Tatum was next to announce the young filmmakers of the 2015 Team Oscars group. They all got to stand on stage for a round of applause.

Nicole Kidman and Chiwetel Ejiofor were next to announce the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. The Oscar went to Ida directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. He said, “Life is full of surprises,” as he thanked the Academy and the people who backed his film. He was the first to be played off by music. It made him speed up, but he kept going as they played the music again to get him to stop. It worked the second time.

Shirley MacLaine took the stage to highlight three of the films up for Best Picture; Boyhood, The Theory of Everything and Birdman.

Neil went up to folks who are seat fillers in the audience before going to joke around with Steve Carell in the audience. He then threw to Marion Cotillard who introduced a stage full of performers singing Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie.

The show continued with Neil introducing Kerry Washington and Jason Bateman to announce the nominees for Best Live Action Short Film. The Oscar went to The Phone Call, Mat Kirby, and James Lucas. Their first Oscar win. “This now means I can get a free donut at my local bakery.” They also thanked the Academy before the music came in to play them off.

Kerry and Jason also announced the nominees for Best Documentary Short Subject, and the Oscar went to Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry. They thanked the people on Crisis Hotlines saying, “Who care for veterans as if their own lives depend on it.” The music came in during their speech as well.

Viola Davis was the next presenter in a very lavish gown to announce the winners of the Governors Awards; Maureen O’Hara, Jean-Claude Carrière, and Harry Belafonte.

Neil went over to Selma’s David Oyelowo in the audience and mentioned how powerful he was as Dr. Martin Luther King, and the audience applauded. Neil then said, “Oh yeah now you like him.” Making reference to the fact that David did not get a Best Actor nomination for Selma. He then asked David to read his cue card, because he likes his British accent and then joking told him to sit down.

Neil then introduced Gwyneth Paltrow who did the honors of announcing a performance by Tim McGraw from the documentary on Glen Campbell about his life and Alzheimer’s.

The broadcast then joked about not being able to find Neil. The cameras found him with his robe caught in a door. He turned around and left his robe as he walked down a hallway with nothing on but his underwear in a take-off of Birdman.

Neil then bravely came to the stage in nothing but his underwear and introduced Margot Robbie and Miles Teller who announced the winners of the Scientist and Technical Awards held two weeks before this ceremony. 59 were honored.

Sienna Miller and Chris Evans were next to announce the nominees for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. The first award was for Sound Mixing and the Oscar went to Whiplash; Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, and Thomas Curley. Next was Sound Editing, and the Oscar went to American Sniper; Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman. No music needed to play-off this group.

Next was Jared Leto to announce the nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and the Oscar went to Patricia Arquette for Boyhood. Most seemed to think she would win this award this year. She must have said a four-letter word because they black out the first part of her speech as she read from a paper. She ended her speech by saying, “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and for women to have equal rights in the United States of America.” Needless to say, the audience applauded loudly.

Neil bothered Octavia again about watching his Oscar predictions and told Robert Duvall to make sure she didn’t nod off.

Josh Hutcherson was next to announce Rita Ora singing ‘Grateful.’

The Visual Effects Award was announced by Ansel Elgort and Chloë Grace Moretz, and the Oscar went to Interstellar; Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott Fisher.

Next up were Anna Kendrick and Kevin Hart to announce the nominees for Best Animated Short. They joked about being short in height before they gave the Oscar to Feast; Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed.

Animated Feature Film was next and Zoe Saldana and Dwayne Johnson announced the nominees. The Oscar went to Big Hero 6; Don Hall, Chris Williams, and Roy Conli.

The President of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs took the stage to “celebrate the power of film that connects and unites,” before Neil bothered Octavia again about that damn box. It better be good.

Chris Pratt came back again, this time with Felicity Jones to announce the nominees for Achievement in Production Design, and the Oscar went to The Grand Budapest Hotel; Adam Stockhausen – Production Design, Anna Pinnock – Set Decoration. The third Oscar Award so far for The Grand Budapest Hotel during the broadcast.

Up next was Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain to announce the nominees for Achievement in Cinematography, and the Oscar went to Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). He also won last year for Gravity.

Meryl Streep was next to announce the In Memoriam segment of all the talent we recently lost. There are always so many, and it’s always surprising to see those we may not have known had passed on. Jennifer Hudson followed with the song I Can’t Let Go.

Naomi Watts and Benedict Cumberbatch were next to announce the nominees for Achievement in Film Editing, Naomi hit the mike with the card before saying the Oscar went to Tom Cross for Whiplash.

Terrence Howard was next to speak on three Best Picture Nominees, Whiplash, The Imitation Game, and Selma. He paused a bit much and touched the mike, which made an awkward sound, but he got through it.

Jennifer Aniston and David Oyelowo were next to announce the nominees for Best Documentary Feature and the Oscar went to CitizenFour; Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky.

Neil introduced Octavia Spencer to announce John Legend and Common performing ‘Glory,’ 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King made his incredible march in Selma. They filled the stage with singers and others simulating standing on the bridge in Selma. They received a standing ovation for a very moving rendition as David Oyelowo stood in the audience with tears coming down his face. A truly great moment in the broadcast.

For Original Song, Idina Menzel came out with John Travolta calling him ‘Glom Gazingo.’ He, of course, said her name right this time. Idina said, “Not like it’s going to follow me around for the rest of my life” and John said, “Tell me about it.” All before they announced that the Oscar for Original Song went to John Stevens and Lonie Lynn for Glory.  John Legend and Common accepted the award.

Common said, “This bridge was … elevated by love and companions.” John said, “This song is right now … when people are marching with our song we want to tell you we see you, we hear you, we love you and march on.”

Scarlett Johansson spoke on the movie classic, The Song of Music and played a montage of clips before introducing Lady Gaga performing a medley of songs from the film.

And then came Julie Andrews who gave Gaga a big hug.

Julie Andrews got a standing ovation before she could even speak. She thanked Gaga for the wonderful tribute; 50 years have gone by since the film was released. Julie said, “How lucky can a girl get.” She announced the nominees for the Best Original Score, and the Oscar went to Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel. The Grand Budapest Hotel had a great evening.

Eddie Murphy came out next to announce the nominees for Best Original Screenplay, and the Oscar went to Birdman written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo.

Oprah Winfrey was next to do the honors for the Best Adapted Screenplay, and the Oscar went to Graham Moore for The Imitation Game. He said, “When I was 16 I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and different and I didn’t belong.” He said it encourages others who feel the same, and he got a standing ovation.

Ben Affleck came next to announce the nominees for Best Director, and the Oscar went Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Birdman. He had an excellent evening. He ended his acceptance speech by saying, “This is like a slow-motion moment in my life so forgive if I’ve forgotten you.”

Cate Blanchett announced the nominees for Best Actor, and the Oscar went to Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything. “I am fully aware that I am a lucky, lucky man.” “This award belongs to people all over the world battling ALS.”

Matthew McConaughey took the honor of announcing the nominees for Best Actress, and the Oscar went to Julianne Moore for Still Alice. She got a standing ovation and said, “There is no such thing as best actresses … I‘ve been honored to be among you every step of the way.” “I’m thrilled that hopefully, we’ve been able to shine a life on Alzheimer’s disease.”

Neil said it was time for his Oscar predictions and again bothered Octavia about the box.

He was surprisingly right about the moments he mentioned that happened during the broadcast. How did he do that?

Sean Penn got the honor of announcing the nominees for Best Picture and said, “Who gave this son of a bitch his green card” when he announced that the Oscar went to Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole for Birdman. Pretty bold comment Sean.

Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Birdman swept the Oscars, American Sniper went home with one for sound editing. Michael Keaton said, “It’s great to be here. Who am I kidding? It’s great fun.”

Alejandro ended his speech by thanking, “This incredible immigrant nation.”

The longest Academy Awards went 4 hours and 23 minutes in 2002. This one came to close to that record at just over 3 and 1/2 hours. The Academy must look into shortening the number of awards it hands out during its broadcast and put more of them in off-air ceremonies. It’s just too long, and it takes away from a great show.

Come over to Aurn.Com to see who I came across on Oscars Red Carpet. It’s one of the best parts of the event.

See You Next Year!

Tanya Hart

Hollywood Live with Tanya Hart