By Giulia Socolof ’19, Staff Writer 

The 87th Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, aired on February 22nd. One of the last, and arguably the most prestigious, of the award shows, it is always a highly anticipated event. This year’s host, Neil Patrick Harris, certainly made it memorable. His opening joke about Hollywood’s best and whitest started the audience laughing right off the bat, and the musical number with Anna Kendrick and Jack Black was a fitting beginning to the show, as it reminded us why we all love movies. Other fun gags throughout the show included a list of his Oscars predictions, kept under close watch by Octavia Spencer and revealed just before the Best Picture winner, as well a stint in nothing but his tighty-whities. Though the show dragged on until nearly midnight, he kept it alive with a couple of one-liners here and there. Despite how hard he tried, the Nielsen ratings were decidedly low, and many might say he didn’t live up to the hosting skills of people such as Ellen DeGeneres or Billy Crystal.

The nominations for all categories were announced on January 15th, thus beginning the arguments over who should win Best Picture or Best Actor/Actress in a leading role. What’s interesting about the Oscars versus an awards show like the Golden Globes is that the Golden Globes provides different categories for drama and comedy. However, the Oscars mashes them all into one, revealing which films and actors really stand out. That being said, here are our thoughts for the winners of eight major categories, as well as my own honorary award for best presenter.

The Nominees:

Best Picture– The nominees are as follows: Boyhood, Selma, American Sniper, The Theory of Everything (woohoo!), The Imitation Game (also woohoo!), Birdman, Whiplash, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Boyhood details the story of a young man’s life, from the time he was 6 until he was 18, using the same cast filming over the course of 12 years.

Selma is a historical drama about Martin Luther King Jr.’s quest during the civil rights movement, centering on his march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

American Sniper is a drama about one of the deadliest snipers in American history, Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who served four tours of duty in Iraq.

The Theory of Everything chronicles the story of Stephen Hawking and his first wife, Jane Wilde, and their love story as they battled together against Hawking’s ALS diagnosis.

The Imitation Game tells the story of British mathematician and cryptanalyst Alan Turing, famous for developing a machine that broke the German enigma codes during WWII.

Birdman is about a washed-up actor who played the part of a superhero who tries to get his life back as he nears the opening of a Broadway play.

Whiplash is about a talented drummer who attends a cutthroat music school, where his dreams are fostered by a teacher determined to realize the student’s potential.

Lastly, The Grand Budapest Hotel is about a hotel concierge at a famous hotel who befriends a lobby boy, and his experience between the World Wars.

Best Actor in a Lead Role: Steve Carell in Foxcatcher, Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, Bradley Cooper in American Sniper, and Michael Keaton in Birdman.

Best Actress in a Lead Role: Reese Witherspoon in Wild, Julianne Moore in Still Alice, Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl, Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything, and Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert Duvall in The Judge, Ethan Hawke in Boyhood, Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher, J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, and Edward Norton in Birdman

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Patricia Arquette in Boyhood, Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game, Meryl Streep in Into the Woods, Laura Dern in Wild, and Emma Stone in Birdman

Best Director: Alejandro Iñárritu for Birdman, Richard Linklater for Boyhood, Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher, Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game

Best Original Song: “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie, “Glory” from Selma, “Grateful” from Beyond the Lights, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me and “Lost Stars” from Begin Again

Best Animated Feature Film: The Boxtrolls, Big Hero 6, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea, and the Tale of Princess Kaguya

Who won? Who should have won? What does Giulia think?

“So avant-garde, such a risk, such cinematic perfection!” ~Movie SnobsThe Imitation Game

Awesome. Just awesome. Casting, settings, everything.Birdman

Whaaaaaaat?Birdman was a great movie, I won’t deny it, but frankly I thought The Imitation Game was better.Best Lead ActorEddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

He was amazing, the way he was able to contort his speech and body to play Hawking but still give off Hawking’s spiritEddie RedmayneEddie Redmayne

His acceptance speech was ADORABLE! He was speechless!Redmayne did a fantastic job in The Theory of Everything. He was a favorite going in, and though we were afraid Jupiter Ascending would become his Norbit, he pulled through.Best Lead ActressJulianne Moore,

Still Alice

She channels us girls everywhere with “Help me find my phone!”Reese Witherspoon,

Wild

Her performance was Wild.Julianne MooreJulianne Moore won at the Golden Globes. Great actress, but a pretty predictable win.Best Supporting  ActorJ.K. Simmons, Whiplash

For lack of a more articulate phrase, he’s such a boss.J.K. SimmonsJ.K. Simmons

Told us to call our parents in his acceptance speech. Do that.He was just awesome. If you’ve seen  Whiplash, remind you of Mr. T?Best Supporting ActressPatricia Arquette, BoyhoodMeryl Streep, Into the Woods. Come on. It’s Meryl Streep.Patricia Arquette

“Acceptance speech, PREACH!” ~Meryl. That’s what Meryl looked like, at least.Patricia Arquette was amazing, brilliantly embodying the spirit of a single mom.Best DirectorRichard Linklater, Boyhood. It’s 12 Years a MovieRichard LinklaterAlejandro Iñárritu, BirdmanSurprising, since Boyhood was talked up as such a directing accomplishment.Best Original Song“Glory,” Selma. Just a great song.“Glory”“Glory”It was pretty obvious, seeing as the rest of the songs weren’t nearly as good.Best Animated Feature FilmBig Hero 6The Lego Movie. I don’t care if it wasn’t nominated.Big Hero 6Well, The Lego Movie really got snubbed, but Big Hero 6 was really good, so I’m happy with the win. Man, my predictions were on FIRE!Best Presenter: 3 nominees, one winner (regardless of the categories above)John Travolta, excessive face touching with Adele Dazeem (Idina Menzel)Jared Leto, possession and maintenance of the “Jesus hair”Kevin Hart, comedian who’s “Hart” to beat with Anna KendrickJOHN TRAVOLTA! He’ll be back next year to apologize for all that face-touching just like he apologized this year for flubbing Idina Menzel’s name last year.