The 87th Academy Awards - 22nd February 2015.

On Sunday evening 22nd February 2015 the 87th Annual Academy Awards were held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre. Hosted this year, for the first time, by Actor, Producer, Director, Comedian and various other employments tags, Neil Patrick Harris - this Hollywood night of nights was attended by the glitterati, glamourati and paparazzi of the film industry that make up the highly anticipated back slapping, hand wringing, teeth clenching, finger crossing and emotionally charged Oscar ceremony.

With awards given out in 24 categories, this year there were seventeen films that had multiple nominations going into awards night. These were 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' each having nine nominations; 'The Imitation Game' had eight; 'American Sniper' and 'Boyhood' had six apiece; 'Foxcatcher', 'Interstellar', 'Whiplash' and 'The Theory of Everything' all had five; 'Mr. Turner' had four; 'Into the Woods' and 'Unbroken' with three; and with two nominations each were 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Ida', 'Wild, 'Selma' and 'Inherent Vice'.

Shown below then, are the winner & grinners from Oscar Night 2015 in the main categories :-

Best Picture : 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'
Best Animated Feature Film : 'Big Hero 6'
Best Documentary Feature Film : 'CitizenFour'
Best Foreign Language Film : 'Ida'

Best Achievement in Directing : Alejandro G. Inarritu for 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'

Best Actor in a Leading Role : Eddie Redmayne for 'The Theory of Everything' 
Best Actress in a Leading Role : Julianne Moore for 'Still Alice'
Best Actor in a Supporting Role : J.K.Simmons for 'Whiplash' 
Best Actress in a Supporting Role : Patricia Arquette for 'Boyhood'

Best Cinematography : 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' 
Best Visual Effects : 'Interstellar'
Best Production Design :  'The Grand Budapest Hotel'
Best Costume Design : 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'
Best Make-Up & Hair : 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'
Best Original Music Score : 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

Best Original Screenplay : 'Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'
Best Adapted Screenplay : 'The Imitation Game'

In the final analysis both 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' walked away with four golden statues each from nine nominations each, and 'Whiplash' took three from its five nominations.

For this Reviewer and Movie Critic this years Academy Awards were one of the most closely contested  in recent years - in my humble opinion. The competition was very strong and because of it final decisions could have gone any way. I am surprised that not more was made of 'Boyhood, 'Nightcrawler', 'The Imitation Game', 'Mr. Turner', 'Foxcatcher' and 'American Sniper' for example - all excellent movies and Reviewed previously at this Blog. If nothing else it has been good to see such a rich year in terms of cinematic content resulting in closely fought contests this awards season, and, with the promise of more to come over the next twelve months.

Keep watching, keep reading and, see as many movies as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-