The 88th annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday (Feb. 28) at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. The event was hosted by the super-hilar comedian, Chris Rock.
The iconic gold plated Oscar awards weigh 8.5 lbs and feature a knight in art deco style standing on a reel of film that have five spokes. This represents the five branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians. Thousands of awards have been handed out since the Academy’s start in 1929.
The big wins of the night went to Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor in The Revenant, Brie Larson for Best Actress in Room, and Spotlight for both Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. The Revenant also took home Best Cinematography and Best Director. Best Supporting Actress went to Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl while Best Supporting Actor went to Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies. Charles Randolph and Adam McKay took the Best Adapted Screenplay award for The Big Short.
Yup, Leo finally won an Oscar! This year marked his fifth nomination and first win. His first nomination was in 1993 for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape followed by a 2005 nomination for The Aviator. Next came a nomination in 2007 for Blood Diamond and another nomination in 2014 for his role of Jordan Belfort in The Wolf Of Wall Street. In his acceptance speech he thanked everyone he worked with on The Revenant, his entire creative team, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese whom he frequently collaborates with, and touched on the importance of doing what is best for the environment. Also, did you notice how proud his “Titanic” co-star Kate Winslet was? Too presh. Surprise, surprise–Leo winning the Oscar was the most tweeted about Academy Awards moment in history!
Mad Max: Fury Road was a hit and picked up a whopping six awards, those being: Film Editing by Margaret Sixel, Production Design by Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson, Costume Design by Jenny Beavan, Makeup by Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin, Sound Editing by David White and Mark Mangini, Sound Mixing by Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo.
The Hateful Eight won Best Score which Ennio Morricone deserved, as he is brilliant and a legend in the industry. The Best Song was “Writing’s on the Wall” from Spectre by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith. Son of Saul took Foreign Language Film, Inside Out won Animated Feature, Amy won Documentary Feature, Bear Story won Animated Short, and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness won Documentary Short.
The ceremony featured presenters we all know and love such as Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara, Ryan Gosling, Tina Fey, Kevin Hart, Charlize Theron, and the adorable Jacob Tremblay. The show featured a moving performance by Lady Gaga, where she brought awareness to people who have been victims of sexual assault. Sam Smith and The Weeknd, both Original Song nominees, also gave wonderful performances.
Until next year, that’s a wrap!