Sun, 22 Dec, 2024

The Oscars: 2014

By Bimal Gaire

The 86th Academy Awards ceremony honored the actors and films of 2013 on March 2, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented the awards in 24 different categories. Television personality Ellen DeGeneres hosted the show for the second time, after hosting the 79th ceremony in 2007. With 43.74 million viewers, this has been the most watched Oscar ceremonies since 2000. Gravity won seven awards, the most in the ceremony, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón. 12 Years a Slave won three awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong'o. Dallas Buyers Club also won three awards, including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto respectively. Other winners included Frozen and The Great Gatsby, with two awards each. Cate Blanchett won the Best Actress award for Blue Jasmine; other films to win one award were The Great Beauty, Helium, Her, The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Mr Hublot, and 20 Feet from Stardom. Cuarón and Catherine Martin were the only individuals to win multiple awards, with two trophies each. The nominees for the 86th Academy Awards were announced on January 16, 2014. American Hustle and Gravity tied for the most nominations with 10 each and American Hustle lost in all of its nominations. The award for best picture and best director split among two different movies, which went to 12 Years A Slave and Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron respectively. Meryl Streep broke her own record for most nominations ever received by an actor with 18. With her nomination for American Hustle, Jennifer Lawrence became the youngest actress (23) to be nominated three times. American Hustle joined True Grit (2010) and Gangs of New York (2002) in third place for most Academy Award nominations without a single win (10); The Turning Point (1977) and The Color Purple (1985) still retain the record with eleven each. It was a huge disappointment for Director David O. Russel after the amount of buzz he got for American Hustle. Leonardo Dicaprio’s dream of landing an Oscar was shattered yet again as he failed to win in the Best Actor category. So far, he has been nominated for five times since his first nomination in 1994 under the Best Supporting Actor for What's Eating Gilbert Grape. With the film winning Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature Film, Frozen became the first Disney animated feature film to win an Academy Award since Tarzan in 2000 and the first film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios to win in the Best Animated Feature Film category. The annual In Memoriam tribute, was presented by actress Glenn Close. It included the Hollywood personalities who died in 2013 including James Gandolfini, Paul Walker and Philip Seymour Hoffman. DeGeneres made the show quite interesting by her humorous little jokes and ordering pizzas, and bringing the startled delivery driver on stage with her to pass out slices to the audience. She then collected the tip for the Pizza guy. DeGeneres also posed for an impromptu photo with Bradley Cooper, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence, Jared Leto, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Lupita Nyong'o and her brother Peter, which she posted to Twitter and invited her fans on the micro blogging site to retweet. The resulting activity on the site set a record for retweets, breaking the record previously held by Barack Obama following his reelection in 2012, and temporarily disabled the site. The ceremony ended after Actor Will Smith announced the Best Picture Award, which went for 12 Years a slave, and a little speech by Brad Pitt and Director Steve McQueen who was very excited and nervous at his win.