Two in a row!
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu survived the early Mad Max: Fury Road onslaught — that swept the technical awards — to win Best Director for The Revenant. In doing so, the Mexican maverick became only the third man in movie history — he had won for Birdman last year — to make it two in a row. After thanking family and fans, cast and crew, the 52-year-old four-time Oscar winner made a push for equality saying he was “very lucky to be here tonight, but unfortunately, many others haven’t had the same luck…. What a great opportunity to our generation to really liberate ourselves from all prejudice and, you know, this tribal thinking, and make sure for once and forever that the colour of the skin becomes as irrelevant as the length of our hair.”
What we spotted: a grizzly bear — yes, The Revenant ‘guy’ — doing a little jig every time the film won big. Cute!
Leo… finally!
A moment his fans had been waiting for for weeks. A moment he had been waiting for for years. As Julianne Moore ripped open the envelope to announce the Best Actor… Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant... a packed Dolby Theatre leapt to its feet and gave him a standing ovation. A smiling DiCaprio — a 19th century frontiersman who sets off on a bloody path of revenge and retribution in The Revenant — delivered a speech from the heart that won him every heart. After thanking “the other incredible nominees for their unbelievable performances”, the 41-year-old actor expressed his gratitude to Team Revenant — “brother and friend” Tom Hardy, who plays antagonist John Fitzgerald, director Alejandro G. Inarritu for “creating a transcendent cinematic experience”.... With a special word of thanks for Martin Scorsese for “teaching me so much about the cinematic art form” and then for his parents, George and Irmelin, the superstar ended with a message that matters: “Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species.... Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.” Our awww moment? Leo’s close friend and Titanic co-star Kate Winslet — who made a cute picture with him on the red carpet before the ceremony — tearing up (inset) as he spoke on stage and then reaching out for a hug as he walked down (yes, that’s the t2 Cover picture). Our did-you-see-that moment? Leo was so anxious/excited as he took the stage that he actually grabbed his statuette from the ‘trophy girl’ even before she could hand it over to Moore! Get it, grab it, keep it...
Rock on a roll!
“I saw 13 black people in that montage”... was how host Chris Rock kicked off the 88th Oscars making it clear that the #OscarSoWhite controversy and the issue of diversity wasn’t going to be swept under the red carpet. The Holly funnyman ripped into the Academy and Hollywood with trademark humour and sharp wit. From his opening line, “If they nominated a host, I wouldn’t even get this job. You all would be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now!” to the reason the African-American people wouldn’t have been interested in the Oscars controversy in the past is because, “We were too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematography”, he delivered... and how! We vote for Chris Rock as President.
BLACK OR WHITE
And then there was the ‘black actors in best film nominations’ gag reel. Whether it was Whoopi Goldberg popping into Joy and being scathing about Jennifer Lawrence mopping a floor or Rock himself as a black astronaut in The Martian, the one whose team back on earth refuses to bring back from Mars because it was going to be “a waste of white dollars”... this was Rock epic. The best seconds of the montage were Tracy Morgan (in picture) and his “I am The Danish Girl” dialogue as he bites into a, well, Danish. Black humour, anyone?
Brie wins big
She was the favourite to win and she won it all right. Brie Larson beat off competition from the likes of Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence to win her first Oscar, for her searing portrayal of Ma in Room. Turning around to hug her co-star Jacob Tremblay, the 26-year-old Best Actress thanked the nine-year-old as her “partner in film” and then her “partner in life” Alex Greenwald. Larson capped off her speech with: “Thank you to the moviegoers. Thank you for going to the theatres and seeing our films.” The shero moment? Blanchett and Lawrence cheering lustily as Brie went up on stage to collect her statuette.
PC makes us proud!
From that pristine white Zuhair Murad gown to that confident walk and talk, Priyanka Chopra owned the Oscar stage, walking in arm-in-arm with Liev Schreiber to present the Best Editing trophy to Mad Max: Fury Road. In doing so, Priyanka became only the second Indian ever — after Persis Khambatta (inset) who starred in Star Trek and did Oscar duties back in 1980 — to present an Academy Award. On the red carpet, PC showed how to combine cool with charm, even as the trailer of the new season of Quantico screened out to billions across the world.
And the Best Picture Oscar goes to...
Spotlight! The Academy sprung a surprise — and rightly so — awarding the biggie of the night to the real-life journalism drama that exposed sex crimes in the Catholic Church. Even as Morgan Freeman announced the name, the Spotlight cast and crew — among them actors Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber and Rachel McAdams — trooped up on stage, high-fiving each other, with Keaton even planting a kiss on Ruffalo! “We would not be here today without the heroic efforts of our reporters,” producer Blye Pagon Faust said in her acceptance speech. “Not only do they effect global change, but they absolutely show us the necessity for investigative journalism.” Spotlight — described by The New York Times as “a gripping detective story and a superlative newsroom drama” — also won director Tom McCarthy and fellow writer Josh Singer the Original Screenplay Oscar.
Sound of a legend
Leo wasn’t the only one clutching his first Oscar. Italian legend Ennio Morricone won his first — apart from an “Academy Honorary Award” in 2007 — trophy after as many as six nominations, taking home the Best Original Score award for his powerful work in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. Hollywood got to its feet as the frail 87-year-old — the oldest-ever Oscar winner — made his way to the stage. “There isn’t a great soundtrack without a great movie that inspires it,” said the man who brought alive all of Sergio Leone’s Westerns through his unforgettable music.
Look who’s here!
Some of the more colourful presenters of the night were not even flesh and blood! The Minions, with their usual antics — and in their language... they ran subtitles for this one — presented the Animated Shorts nominees, while Woody and Lightyear fought their way to the announcement of the Best Animated Film category. But our biggest high came from seeing C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8 (in picture) shuffling onto the stage, bickering all the way. We felt fanboy Jacob Room Tremblay who got off his seat to keep them in his sight.
MAD MAX madness...
Post-apocalyptic action thriller Mad Max: Fury Road tore through the technical awards at breakneck speed with all guitars blazing, grabbing a total of six awards — the highest tally for any film in Oscar ’16. From Best Costume Design to Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling to Film Editing and from Sound Mixing to Sound Editing, the George Miller film won ’em all. So much so that the Internet exploded with jokes about how Mad Max may just win Best Actor even in a scenario where all nominations were for Leonardo DiCaprio!
... Asif wins for Amy
Indian-origin filmmaker Asif Kapadia won the Best Documentary award for crowd favourite Amy, that focused on the tragic life of rocker Amy Winehouse and her untimely death at age 27. “We wanted to show who Amy really was, a funny intelligent, witty and a special girl,” was the winning speech from Asif who accepted the statuette with Amy producer James Gay-Rees.
Going Gaga!
Lady Gaga’s passionate and powerful performance of Til It Happens To You from the documentary The Hunting Ground, that she rendered along with rape survivors, brought the whole auditorium to its feet and reduced many to tears, proving once again that no big stage is complete without The Lady — Grammy to Oscars. That the Best Original Song award went to Sam Smith felt like an upset afterwards, even though it was well deserved. Smith dedicated his award — for Bond film Spectre’s Writing’s On The Wall — to the LGBT community, suggesting that he might be the “first openly gay man to win an Oscar”, (mis)quoting Sir Ian McKellen, who had said that no openly gay man had won Best Actor.
Laugh out Loud
One of the best ‘couples’ of the evening? Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, who mock-fought over Gosling’s misleading claim that they had two Oscars between them, while presenting the Best Adapted Screenplay category. Tina Fey didn’t disappoint either, being dismissive about the Best Production Design award “nonimees” with a straight and, according to co-presenter Steve Carell, tipsy face.
The adorable Jacob Tremblay’s quip about being the obvious choice for presenting the Best Shorts category, along with Abraham Attah of Beasts of No Nation, while standing on an apple crate to reach the mic was the most “awww” moment of the evening. We also loved: Sacha Baron Cohen turning up as Ali G and lamenting that “hardworking little yellow people with tiny dongs” — he meant the Minions — were not recognised for their hard labour.
What was your favourite Oscar moment?
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