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It’s that time of the year again, when we wake up at the crack of dawn to sit in our pyjamas, resplendent with our bed hair, armed with cups of coffee, to watch the bejewelled, coiffed Hollywood elite at the Oscars. [caption id=“attachment_2115591” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP.[/caption] Will Birdman soar at the 87th Academy Awards? Will it be Boyhood all the way? Is there an award reserved for The Grand Budapest Hotel? Can host Neil Patrick Harris top Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s performance at the Golden Globes? Will someone give an acceptance speech that gives the online editor a heart attack? Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the Oscars and we’re here following the stars, from the red carpet to the spotlight, with our live blog.
Oscars 2015 LIVE : The night belongs to Birdman! Best director, screenplay and now best film
Live updates from the Oscars 2015
 "Oscars 2015 LIVE : The night belongs to Birdman! Best director, screenplay and now best film")
Dear Neil Patrick Harris, this briefcase gag better be good.
And it wasn’t.
His “predictions” are basically a live blog that isn’t live. But we’ll give him credit for the fact that at least some of it was funny (like the bit about John Travolta and face-touching). Sigh. It must be an Oscar conspiracy to turn sparkling people into performers who are desperately trying too hard. First James Franco and Anne Hathaway, then Lady Gaga and Neil Patrick Harris. Only Hugh Jackman could resist the Oscar infection. Maybe it’s because he’s Wolverine… .
Sean Penn is growing old to look vaguely like a Pixar character. He presented the Oscar for Best Picture. “Who gave this son of a bitch his green card?” said Penn with a twinkle in his eye and then announced the winner. Birdman is the Best Film of 2014.
It turns out that Ethan Hawke was right on the mark when he said the Boyhood gang didn’t really belong here.
“Two Mexicans in a row? That’s suspicious, I guess,” quipped Alejandro Inarritu (his friend Alfonso Cuaron won for Gravity last year). Michael Keaton got to say the speech that he didn’t get a chance to deliver since Eddie Redmayne won the Best Actor. Inarritu finished with a shout out to the immigrants that built America, the “great immigrant nation”.
And with that, the Oscars are done and we can all start moaning about how our favourites didn’t win and how Birdman is the most overrated film of 2014.
As for Best Picture, it should be American Sniper or Theory of Everything. But I have a horrible feeling it will be Birdman. #Oscars
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 23, 2015
Matthew McConaughey and his strangely-wispy beard are here to present the Oscar for Best Actress, and he says “Marion Cotiyaaa” (Marion Cotillard) with such magnificent panache.
Calm down, Cotillard hasn’t won the Oscar, we’re still hearing the nominations.
The Oscar for Best Actress goes to Julianne Moore. It’s been a long-time coming for Moore, who is undoubtedly one of the finest actresses of her generation and one who has long been ignored.
She won the Oscar for her portrayal of an Alzheimers’ patient in Still Alice. “One of the wonderful things about movies is that it makes us feel seen,” said Moore.
One of the two directors of Still Alice has been diagnosed with Alzheimers and he decided that his last wish was to make movies. And so they made Still Alice.
. @_juliannemoore: "There's no such thing as best actress" #Oscars pic.twitter.com/WeKxp3zK1U
— Yahoo (@Yahoo) February 23, 2015
“I’m going to go have a drink”: Lady Gaga, in tears after performing a song medley from The Sound of Music.
Drum roll, everyone. It’s time for the Best Actor award. Can one of the British boys steal a march on Michael Keaton?
Yes, he can. Eddie Redmayne wins the Oscar for Best Actor, for his performance in The Theory of Everything.
He comes on stage and tries to pull off his bow tie and does a happy dance. So not Downton Abbey, but so cute even if it wasn’t the popular pick for an Oscar-winning performance.
It’s the strangest thing: this year’s Oscars are a dreary show, but the few bright spots have been the stellar acceptance speeches by some of the winners.
Patricia Arquette, Graham Moore… will the best director of the year join this list?
The Oscar for Best Direction goes to Alejandro Inarritu for Birdman. Two in a row for the writer-director, and the third win for the film.
“Good luck charms work,” said Inarritu and went on to disclose he’s wearing the underwear that Michael Keaton wore during his undie-run through Times Square in Birdman.
Not a great speech, though heartfelt, and there will be many who will argue that he wasn’t the best director in that set of nominations. But we’ve still got some big Oscar awards to go.
So. Boyhood for Best Film, huh?
#Redmayne stole our hearts, but #Hawking still blows our minds. #OkGoogle #Oscars2015 pic.twitter.com/HSohqiWukU
— Google (@Google) February 23, 2015
People are still going gaga over GaGa
That Lady Gaga can sing. Really nice moment with Julie Andrews.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) February 23, 2015
The Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay goes to Graham Moore, for The Imitation Game. This is his first Oscar. “Thank you so much to the Academy and to Oprah,” said Moore (Oprah presented the award).
Moore finished off his speech, saying, “Stay weird, stay different and when you’re standing on this stage, please pass this message on.”
After Harris in his undies and Gaga trying to pull off a Julie Andrews, Twitter has got another thing to talk about.
Pardon while I try to go marry Graham Moore. #Oscars2015.
— Christopher Rice/ C. Travis Rice (@chrisricewriter) February 23, 2015
And now we come to the big ones. Birdman wins the Oscar for best original screenplay. This is the second win for Birdman this evening.
This is Alejandro Inarritu’s first Oscar and he’s got a few more nominations tonight. Perhaps this is the beginning of the sweep?
Fans of Wes Anderson and The Grand Budapest Hotel, come we will weep together and commiserate by eating delicate confectionery in unison.
Is there a reason Eddie Murphy presented the Oscar for best original screenplay?
Purists, before you start cribbing, this.
While you might think Julie Andrews is simply relieved, Twitter says she was overjoyed and Gaga did a fabulous job of recreating ‘The Hills Are Alive’. Has to be one of our favourite things about the Oscars. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that pun.)
Yes! Julie Andrews walks on after LadyGaga's standing-o-worthy performance. #Oscars #SoundOfMusic pic.twitter.com/nBTROnzUJv
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 23, 2015
Lady Gaga is doing a tribute to The Sound of Music.
She’s perfect in her rendition of Julie Andrews’s classic “The Hills Are Alive”, but it’s almost disturbing to see Lady Gaga so entirely…well, normal.
She’s not even wearing anything particular weird.
And nothing happened. One entire medley of tracks from The Sound of Music by Lady Gaga, and nothing interesting happened either visually or musically. Wow.
The Oscars have managed to turn Neil Patrick Harris and Lady Gaga boring in the course of less than two hours. Now that’s what I call witchcraft.
Lady Gaga does a tribute to… Sound of Music?
So they saved all the good stuff for the end, huh? Lady Gaga doing The Sound of Music tribute is pretty bloody fantastic. #Oscars2015
— Rajeev Masand (@RajeevMasand) February 23, 2015
For all of your favorite (and not so favorite) things. #OkGoogle #Oscars2015 #LadyGaga pic.twitter.com/lzFDDWNM1l
— Google (@Google) February 23, 2015
Adrien Brody left Jeff Goldblum behind.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” duo, both clad in white tuxedos, re-entered the Dolby Theatre together just as Meryl Streep stepped on stage to introduce the show’s in memoriam segment.
Brody opted to make a dash to his seat while Goldblum decided to hang by the door until the next break in the action.
Despite an announcer’s plea during a commercial break that the crowd “refrain from applause during the in memoriam film sequence,” several audiences members clapped for colleagues or friends.
Robin Williams and Mike Nichols got the loudest response.
After an emotional performance by Jennifer Hudson, the chatter inside the theater was noticeably quieter — and Goldblum finally got back to his seat.
Thank you god. Neil Patrick Harris has finally, after what feels like an age, cracked one good joke: “Benedict Cumberbatch is… the name you get when you ask John Travolta to pronounce ‘Ben Affleck’.”
In more significant news, Common and John Legend’s Glory wins the Oscar for Best Song. Don’t be taken by Legend’s babyface. The man can pack a punch.
This is from his speech: “We say that Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is now. … We know that right now, the struggle for freedom and justice is now. We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men in jail today than there were in slavery in the 1850s. The struggle for freedom continues.”
How perfect that Citizenfour winning an Oscar is followed by Glory from Selma. Here’s a sample of the lyrics:
“Freedom is like religion to us
Justice is juxtaposition in us
Justice for all just ain’t specific enough
One son died, his spirit is revisitin’ us
Truant livin’ livin’ in us, resistance is us
That’s why Rosa sat on the bus
That’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up
When it go down we woman and man up
They say, “Stay down” and we stand up
Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up
King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up
One day, when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours…”
It’s a good performance of the song, too. Amen. At the end of the song, the audience is in tears and on their feet.
If you haven’t listened to it yet, check out Glory here.
The Oscar for Best Documentary goes to Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras. This is Poitras’s first Oscar. Good on the Academy for taking this stand, because rewarding Citizenfour is taking a pro-whistleblower stance. When Poitras thanked Glenn Greenwald (who was on stage), there was a resounding applause.
Not from everyone. Reese Witherspoon’s eyes were glazed over with boredom. Julianne Moore, on the other hand, was on the verge of tears, which is weird. That’s a lot of emotion for Edward Snowden. Maybe she’s imagining winning Best Actress?
Regardless, the applause was there for everyone to hear when Poitras, Greenwald and others were on stage for Citizenfour. Unfortunately, Neil Patrick Harris followed up this potentially powerful show of support for Edward Snowden and other whistleblowers with a thoroughly unnecessary pun: “The subject of Citizenfour, Edward Snowden, couldn’t be here for some treason.”
So much for whistleblowers being the good guys.
The Oscar for Production Design goes to The Grand Budapest Hotel.
This is the third win for The Grand Budapest Hotel at this year’s Oscars and it’s richly deserved.
Watching Wes Anderson clap delightedly at his team winning Oscars, you’ve got to wonder whether hipsters and their ironic dismissal of mainstream things like Oscars is misrepresented.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that The Grand Budapest Hotel wins the next few awards for which it’s nominated.
Can we take a moment to just appreciate the loveliness that is Idris Elba?
Right, now that we’re done with that, the Oscar for Best Cinematography goes to Emmanuel Lubezki, for Birdman.
Is this the beginning of the sweep? This is the first win for Birdman and the second consecutive win for Lubezki. He won the Oscar for his cinematography in Gravity last year.
Like a sprinkle of choco chips on your scoop of chocolate ice cream – the Oscars for Big Hero 6 and Feast. Big Hero 6 fans are clearly the happiest of the Oscar watching lot today.
Fun fact: Feast made me uncontrollably sob in the theater before Big Hero 6. (Which also made me uncontrollably sob in the theater.) #Oscars
— Spencer Barrett (@spencerbarrett) February 23, 2015
The cool thing about Google tweeting? Lots of cool trivia!
Big Hero 6 wins for Best Animated Feature Film. Lots more people will be drawing Baymax now... #Oscars2015 pic.twitter.com/3xGCeG8V5P
— Google (@Google) February 23, 2015
Meryl Streep responding to Patricia Arquette's call for equal rights for women! #Oscars2015 @NewYorker pic.twitter.com/mGtThwrsYu
— Liza Donnelly (@lizadonnelly) February 23, 2015
Behold Baymax! Now Oscar winner…
Dwayne Johnson is acting while presenting, which is possibly why he’s making a face while saying the word “genre”.
Johnson and Zoe Saldanha are presenting the award for the Best Animated Film, and the Oscar goes to Big Hero 6.
While it’s a shame that The Lego Movie wasn’t in the nominations, three cheers for Baymax! Fat people of the world, take heart. Being big and squishy is Oscar-worthy.
Feast, by Patrick Osborne and Christina Reid win the Oscar for the best animated short film.
Dog. Cute. Animated. What’s not to love, right?
AN ANIMATED SHORT ABOUT A CUTE DOG WON. YAS, 'FEAST'. YAS! #Oscars
— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) February 23, 2015
Ok some perspective people…
Wow! #Oscars2015 best picture nominees made just $605 million at US box office — one of worst years in four decades http://t.co/LS2g23BDLL
— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) February 23, 2015
Bring on Baymax!
Big Hero 6 wins Best Animated Feature - YES. Would've wept if it was How To Train Your Dragon 2. #Oscars2015
— Rajeev Masand (@RajeevMasand) February 23, 2015
#Oscars2015 Winner: Best Animated Short - 'Feast' http://t.co/dJKpSATEIY pic.twitter.com/E9j4d1YDod
— IMDb (@IMDb) February 23, 2015
The Oscar for Best Visual Effects goes to Interstellar.
However, Nolan fans aren’t feeling particularly happy.
The Oscar for the Best Supporting Actress goes to Patricia Arquette, for her performance in Boyhood.
Like Simmons, Arquette has been sweeping the awards in this category so this was a no-brainer. Arquette gets a standing ovation. But Arquette doesn’t keep things predictable.
She ends her speech with a war cry: “To every woman who gave birth, to ever tax payer… it’s our time to have wage equality once and for all.” Meryl Streep is on her feet and cheering Arquette. This may not break the internet, but what a great moment.
Oh, and Emma Stone has a Lego Oscar. No need to feel sorry for her.
Meryl Streep and J.Lo dug Patricia Arquette's call for "wage equality." http://t.co/9qix3JnLzR pic.twitter.com/549pJ7vTfi
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 23, 2015
And this is even better. Because you can watch it again and again and again
A changed man. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/D2wFQ4tG0n
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) February 23, 2015
Part of Harris’s hosting routlne is to spoof the films nominated for Best Film.
The underwear stunt is obviously a spoof of Birdman’s famous scene in which Michael Keaton runs through Broadway in his briefs.
Absolutely no one can walk off stage, wearing tighty whities, socks, shoes and nothing else, with as much nonchalance as Neil Patrick Harris.
But really, as attempts to liven things up go, that was a pretty desperate stunt.
There’s a lot — a LOT — irony in Harris standing in front of the stage, in his underwear, and saying in a deadpan voice, “Acting is a noble profession.”
The Oscar for Sound Mixing goes to Whiplash. This is the second Oscar for Whiplash.
Because oh hell yeah
#Oscars2015 Neil Patrick Harris a lo Riggan Thomson: pic.twitter.com/jeS6MpjsyW
— Dehparadox (@dehparadox) February 23, 2015
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