IT’S A WIN FOR THE 2014 OSCAR AWARDS
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger
What a wild and exciting evening it was on Sunday, March 2, 2014! The night certainly wasn’t like any Oscar Award Ceremony that I remember. Although we sometimes put celebrities on a pedestal, this past Sunday evening proved that they can be as ordinary through their actions as you or me, except that they are all dressed up in designer clothing and decked out in jewels.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The Oscars began on the Red Carpet with impromptu conversation that drew plenty of laughs, smiles and lots of screams. The photos just didn’t stop and the fans waved from the stands lining the Red Carpet. Jonah Hill cut in on the media’s conversation with bright-eyed Bradley Cooper. After a showing of a few gorgeous gowns, Jimmy Kimmel decided to literally drop in on a tweeting overweight couple watching the awards in their living room, stuffing their faces. It was an unexpected skit that brought a few laughs.
In my book, the best dressed was quite a toss-up. So many lovely ladies and handsome gentlemen deserve the title. It is difficult to pick only one.
An all around winner, Lupita Nyong’o had that innocent femininity in a plunging Prada baby-blue gown of the softest fabric adorned with a silver sparkling headband that looked like a halo above her head. She was the image of a Grecian goddess.
Jason Merritt/Getty
In a black bejeweled halter gown, Anne Hathaway looked so sophisticated and stunning in Gucci.
While last year’s gown was full and flowing, Jennifer Lawrence chose a strapless, more fitted red gown with peplum bodice by Dior. The hair, the jewelry, the entire look topped a 10 and 5 stars on the ‘Best Dressed’ scale.
Stormy blue seemed to be a prominent color this year and Sandra Bullock wore it so well in her strapless Alexander McQueen gown gathered at the waist with her hair swept to the side.
Julia Roberts was especially beautiful in black lace by Givenchy. Far lovelier than her gown was her charismatic smile.
It can certainly be proclaimed that Robin Roberts has made a wonderful recovery and looked simply resplendent in a silver gown with sequined bodice by Dennis Basso.
I loved watching the magical men walk the Red Carpet. Familiar faces such as Leo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper and Kevin Spacey all charm with their charisma, charm and good looks.
As far as couples go, Brad and Angelina drew on each other’s electricity and enthusiasm. Angelina wore an Elie Saab sparkling long-sleeved gown and Brad was outfitted in a Tom Ford suit.
Not far behind was our winning leading man of the evening, Matthew McConaughey and his very own leading lady, Camilla Alves, as elated as they can be. This was Matthew’s first win and he savored in the moment, thanking his mom and his family.
The expectant parents of Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde made the beaming couple on and off the Red Carpet. Their happiness was infectious.
Once the guests were all seated in the Dolby Theatre and the bright lights were dimmed down, the award ceremony began. Although it was 3 1/2 hours long, this was one year that held our interest for the entire time period. Perhaps it was greatly due to Ellen DeGeneres’ hosting ability. It certainly didn’t look staged at all and Ellen’s sense of humor kept us laughing. She truly interacted with her audience. Pharrell Williams brought everyone to their feet and kept them clapping to his nominated number, “Happy.”
Televised on ABC TV, the award ceremony had a record-breaking number of viewers to the tune of 43 million. This was the second time in 7 years that Ellen had the pleasure of hosting and she brought the Oscar televised event statistics up by 6% over last year when Seth MacFarlane played host.
There were plenty of memories made such as the celebrity ‘selfie’ posted to Twitter that Bradley Cooper took with Ellen’s phone crowding as many stars as possible into the picture and just about crashing Twitter for the number of views it got. How about Ellen’s reference on stage to Jennifer Lawrence’s clumsiness as she walked up to get her award last year and then tripping when she got out of the limo this year.
There was comedian, Jim Carey, whose stage moments reminded us how humorous he really is and then the most talked about piece of the evening, the pizza delivery man bringing 3 boxes of pizza for the front rows of the theatre. The delivery man who also turned out to be the owner of the operation, received quite a generous tip of $1000. Plenty of pizza and paper plates were passed around. It was the type of moment that we can all relate to.
The evening was meant to recognize some of the most outstanding performances of 2013 and the talent of the actor/actresses that embraced those roles as well as the costume designers, producers and directors who made these films possible and of course, the best picture of 2014. There were so many ecstatic people filled with gratitude.
Here is a complete list of the winners:
BEST PICTURE
“12 Years a Slave”
BEST ACTOR
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
ALL OTHER CATEGORIES
Best Animated Feature
“Frozen”
Best Foreign Language Film
“The Great Beauty” (Italy)
Best Documentary
“20 Feet From Stardom”
Best Original Screenplay
“Her,” written by Spike Jonze
Best Adapted Screenplay
“12 Years a Slave,” screenplay by John Ridley
Best Original Score
“Gravity,” Steven Price
Best Original Song
“Let It Go” from “Frozen,” music and lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Best Editing
“Gravity,” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Gravity”
Best Production Design
“The Great Gatsby,” Catherine Martin (Production Design); Beverley Dunn (Set Decoration)
Best Costume Design
Catherine Martin, “The Great Gatsby”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Best Sound Editing
Glenn Freemantle, “Gravity”
Best Sound Mixing
Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro, “Gravity”
Best Visual Effects
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould, “Gravity”
Best Live-Action Short
“Helium,” Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
Best Animated Short
“Mr. Hublot,” Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
Best Documentary Short
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
Once the awards were handed out, the after-parties began as a tribute to all the winners of the 86 Oscar Awards. Since the night was still young on the west coast in the city of L.A., stars partied way into the early morning hours. In the morning, many mantlepieces were shining with that statue that says it all, ‘the Oscar.’
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