The Academy Awards this year were full of ups and downs, hilarious antics, sad moments and lot of wins for the film “Gravity.” This year, the awards were hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, a stark contrast to last year’s host, Seth Macfarlane. A second-time host, DeGeneres was calm, stayed in her element and offered tame yet entertaining humor. She relied on a huge amount of audience involvement, which included passing out pizza and taking selfies with Brad Pitt (“Fight Club”), Meryl Streep (“August Osage County”) and about every other massively famous actor present at the awards. She tweeted the picture live from the ceremony, then joked later that she had actually broken Twitter. DeGeneres did not push any boundaries or try anything new, but offered a safe, friendly version of the Oscars. It seemed to fall short in some parts, sometimes seeming a bit slow, but overall she was a very competent host.
One of the most deserved wins and best speeches went to Jared Leto for “Dallas Buyers Club,” who gave an incredibly moving speech about the struggles his single mother went through, as well as offering inspiration to those in need in the Ukraine and Venezuela. The speech was incredibly fluid as well as heartfelt and was one of the best speeches of the night, perhaps of all time. The award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role also went to “Dallas Buyers Club,” with actor Matthew McConaughey giving an odd yet kindhearted speech about God, his family and his father who apparently loved gumbo and beer. He also did his best to inspire everyone by saying that his hero is himself in 10 years, and that future McConaughey should be everyone else’s hero as well.
The award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role went to Cate Blanchett for “Blue Jasmine,” who gave a hilarious speech, and the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role was won by Lupita Nyong’o’s incredible performance in “12 Years a Slave.” Almost every visual effects award was won by the film “Gravity.” It took home seven awards in total: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score, Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Film Editing and Best Achievement in Cinematography. Director Alfonso Cuarón took home the Best Achievement in Directing award for “Gravity” and became the first person of Latino heritage to win this award.
The Best Documentary award went to the film “20 Feet From Stardom,” which follows the careers of backup singers of many prominent musicians. Best Costume Design was grabbed by “The Great Gatsby,” as well as Best Production Design for the incredibly vibrant costumes and sets that were present in the film. Best Foreign Language Film of the Year went to the Italian movie “The Great Beauty,” a film about a wealthy, aging man who lives in Rome. The film “Frozen” nabbed two awards for Best Animated Feature and for Best Original song for the song “Let It Go,” which was also performed by Idina Menzel during the ceremony. Best Original Screenplay went to the film “Her,” written by Spike Jonze, and Best Adapted Screenplay was won by “12 Years a Slave.” Last but not least, the award for Best Motion Picture of the Year went to the film “12 Years a Slave,” directed by Steve McQueen.
One of the best presenters of the night was Jim Carrey (“Ace Ventura”), who gave a hilarious speech about LSD, complete with a Bruce Dern (“Nebraska”) impression. Another excellent presenter was Kevin Spacey, who started his speech as Frank Underwood, his character from the TV series “House of Cards.” Angelina Jolie (“Salt”) and Sydney Poitier (“In the Heat of the Night”), who presented the award for Best Achievement in Directing, provided some heartfelt moments.
The “In Memoriam” segment this year paid tribute to actors such as Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”), James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos”) and Peter O’Toole (“Lawrence of Arabia”), as well as countless others who changed the business of film. All said and done, the real winners of the night were “12 Years a Slave” and “Gravity,” both winning multiple big awards. This year’s Oscars, though not incredibly special, provided some great moments and proved that 2013 was a fantastic year for film.
