Neil Patrick Harris looks better in tighty whities than Michael Keaton does. Lady Gaga has a secure enough soprano voice to sing four numbers from The Sound of Music, as Julie Andrews awaits offstage. One of the Birdman screenwriters has a dog named Larry, to whom he dedicated his award. If you want acceptance-speech rhetoric to soar into political eloquence, call on two of the most soulful men in music. And the institution of the Academy Awards can keep that mythical audience of “one billion viewers” tuned in, through interest or inertia, for prizes given to movies seen by perhaps only four million cinematic zealots.
In a show that clocked in at 3 hours and 40 minutes — the running time of Gone With the Wind, and about an hour longer than it took Ellar Coltrane to get through a dozen years of Boyhood — Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s inside-showbiz Birdman copped the major awards for Picture, Director and Original Screenplay, leaving its prime competitor, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, with only the sure-thing: a Supporting Actress prize for Patricia Arquette.
Your local prognosticator went six for seven in the major awards (missing out on the Birdman Screenplay win), in a year of heavy or prohibitive favorites. Julianne Moore earned Best Actress for Still Alice, J.K. Simmons won Supporting Actor for Whiplash and Eddie Redmayne took Best Actor for The Theory of Everything. That meant no Oscar for Keaton, who during the climactic onstage Best Picture revelry affected a Beetlejuice shrug and said, “Look, it’s just great to be here, who am I kiddin’?” This was in keeping with his fatalist modesty this Saturday at the Independent Spirit Awards. When Keaton was asked where he’d put his Oscar statuette, he drily replied, “Next to my Nobel.”
Oscars 2015: Celebrities on the Red Carpet
Emma Stone attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesScarlett Johansson attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesChris Pratt and Anna Faris attend the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesJessica Chastain attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesBenedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter attend the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesChris Pine attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesReese Witherspoon attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesAnna Kendrick attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Frazer Harrison—Getty ImagesRosamund Pike attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesBradley Cooper attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesNeil Patrick Harris, right, and David Burtka attendsthe 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesLupita Nyong'o attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesGwyneth Paltrow attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesEddie Redmayne attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesJulianne Moore attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesOprah Winfrey attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesNicole Kidman attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesAmerica Ferrera attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesCate Blanchett attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesMichael Keaton attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesDavid Oyelowo attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesJ.K. Simmons attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesZendaya attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesJosh Hutcherson attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesKevin Hart attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesDakota Johnson attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesMelanie Griffith attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesHans Zimmer attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Ethan Miller—WireImage/Getty ImagesGiuliana Rancic attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesJason Reitman attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMargot Robbie attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesJoanna Newsom, left, and Andy Samberg attend the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesCommon attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesKarolina Kurkova attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesJamie Chung attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesPatricia Arquette attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesMichael Strahan attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Michael Buckner—WireImage/Getty ImagesMario Lopez attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesRyan Seacrest attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesWill i Am attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesKelly Osbourne attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiles Teller attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesFelicity Jones attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesJohn Stamos attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesNaomi Watts attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesMarion Cotillard attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesAlejandro G. Inarritu attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesGenesis Rodriguez attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Frazer Harrison—Getty ImagesLaura Dern attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesQuestlove attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesChrissy Teigen attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesFaith Hill and Tim McGraw attend the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesJohn Legend attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesRita Ora attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesChloe Grace Moretz attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesViola Davis attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesChiwetel Ejiofor attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesKerry Washington attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesSienna Miller attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesAnsel Elgort attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesEd Norton and Shauna Robertson attend the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesChanning Tatum attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesKeira Knightley attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesJustin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston attend the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesChris Evans attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesFelicity Jones attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty ImagesLady Gaga attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesJennifer Lopez attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesSolange Knowles attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Jason Merritt—Getty Images
For the first time in a year with more than five Best Picture nominees, each of the eight finalists went home with a little or a lot of Oscar love: Birdman with a big four, including Cinematography; The Grand Budapest Hotel with four on the craft side (Costume, Makeup and Hair, Production Design and Original Score); Whiplash with a surprising three (Sound Mixing and Film Editing in addition to Simmons’ lock); and one each for American Sniper (Sound Editing), Boyhood (Supporting Actress), The Imitation Game (Adapted Screenplay), Selma (Original Song) and The Theory of Everything (Actor).
On a TV evening whose commercials — for Samsung (home movies), Cadillac (“Dare greatly” to an Edith Piaf theme), xfinity (a blind child imagines her own Wizard of Oz movie) and iPad (illustrating a Martin Scorsese speech) — often showed more heart and craft than the onstage shenanigans, the Oscars show worked best, as TIME’s James Poniewozik suggested in his review of the show, when it was the Grammys.
Highlights: Harris’s clever opening song (written by Frozen composers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez), The Lonely Island’s droll take on The LEGO Movie’s “Everything Is Awesome,” Tim McGraw’s plangent rendition of Glen Campbell’s Alzheimer’s song “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Gaga’s Maria von Trappezoid and, most powerfully, a choral performance of “Glory,” from Selma, that packed more emotion that the movie it represented. A few minutes later, Common and John Legend (who won the “Glory” Oscar under their real names, Lonnie Lynn and John Stephens) truly elevated the discourse with their acceptance speeches.
Common spoke of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where Martin Luther King Jr. assembled his nonviolent protestors against the violent Alabama police 50 years ago next week. “The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the South side of Chicago [himself], dreaming of a better life, to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy,” Common said. “This bridge was built on hope, welded with compassion and elevated by love for all human beings.” Legend, pointedly applying the lessons of last year’s Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave to 2015, noted that “There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you that we are with you, we see you, we love you — and march on.” David Oyelowo, who played King, was in tears in the audience. Chris Pine too.
The other political messages, much commented on by bloggers, were in the service of moderate causes that only Fox News could take exception to. The Imitation Game screenwriter Graham Moore, who revealed he had attempted suicide at 16, advised insecure teens to be proud and “Stay weird.” Simmons: Call your parents, and don’t hang up till they’re done talking. Arquette plumped for equal wages for women. Redmayne: Be nice to people with ALS. Moore: Be nice to people with Alzheimer’s and ALS.
Recognizing sufferers of these diseases not only helps mend the social fabric — it wins Oscars for worthy stars. Moore became the fifth consecutive Best Actress — after Natalie Portman in Black Swan, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook and Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine — to play a woman with Alzheimer’s or some other severe emotional disturbance. And Redmayne took the My Left Foot award for contorting himself into a genius with extraordinary physical limitations.
Yet these two winners seemed genuinely ecstatic when they won their predicted awards. Moore managed to remain poised through her giddiness, but Redmayne interrupted himself mid-speech with a whooping “Wow!” and nearly ripped off his tuxedo tie. Congratulations to both of them. Coming during the titanic maelstrom of an overlong awards show, that’s Acting.
Watch the full clip below:
LIFE at the Oscars: Classic Photos From Hollywood's Biggest Night
Elizabeth Taylor walks through a crowd of admirers at the Oscars in 1961 — the year she won her first Academy Award, for her role in BUtterfield 8.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGrace Kelly and Clark Gable arrive at the 26th annual Academy Awards at the RKO Pantages Theatre in 1954.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesKirk Douglas, elegant in white tie, smiles and waves as he enters the RKO Pantages Theatre in 1954.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesTelevision actress Sandra White laughs while arriving late at the 1953 Academy Awards.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesHumphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall arrive at the 27th annual Academy Awards at the RKO Pantages Theater in 1955.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNatalie Wood, Best Actress nominee for her role as Deanie Loomis in Splendor in the Grass, gets her hair done prior to the 1962 Academy Awards.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPresenters Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly wait backstage at the RKO Pantages Theatre during the 1956 Academy Awards.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJohn Wayne (whose image is being projected on the huge screen) accepts the Best Director Oscar from Olivia DeHavillan for an absent John Ford during the 25th annual Academy Awards in 1953 — the first year the ceremony was televised.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe great, inimitable Charlie Chaplin — who had been living in self-imposed exile in Switzerland for two decades — blows a kiss to the crowd while accepting an honorary Oscar in 1972 for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century." When he was introduced to the audience, Chaplin received a 12-minute standing ovation.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNatalie Wood and Warren Beatty, co-stars in the Elia Kazan-directed romantic drama, Splendor in the Grass, attend the 1962 Academy Awards.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAt the 1942 Academy Awards, Joan Fontaine gazes at the Best Actress Oscar she won for her role in Suspicion — an achievement that made her, incredibly, the only actor or actress to ever win an Oscar for a performance in an Alfred Hitchcock film.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe one and only Audrey Hepburn cradles the Oscar she won for her role in Roman Holiday.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJohn Wayne holds Oscars for Gary Cooper and John Ford (Best Actor for High Noon) and Best Director for The Quiet Man, respectively) backstage at the 25th Academy Awards at the RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, 1953.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAcademy Award-winner Olivia de Havilland (The Heiress) and dapper presenter Jimmy Stewart at the 22nd Academy Awards, 1949.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPhotographers snap their cameras Oscar winners Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight) and Bing Crosby (Going My Way) at the 1945 Academy Awards. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPresenters Ginger Rogers and George Murphy dance together while holding an Oscar backstage at the RKO Pantages Theatre in 1950.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesMarlon Brando (right, with French singer and actress Line Renaud) casually holds his Best Actor Oscar for On The Waterfront at the 1955 Academy Awards at the RKO Pantages Theatre.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJoanne Woodward dances with her husband, Paul Newman, at the Governor's Ball following the Academy Awards where she won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Three Faces of Eve.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesFrank Sinatra and Donna Reed hold their Oscars as Best Supporting Actor and Actress in From Here to Eternity — a film that won eight statuettes in 1954, including Best Picture.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesProducer Buddy Adler's Academy Award for From Here to Eternity stands amid hats in the coat check room at Romanoff's restaurant in Beverly Hills during an Oscars after-party in 1954.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images