'Birdman' takes top honors at Oscars
LOS ANGELES — The long take of “Birdman” has stretched all the way to the Academy Awards, where the jazzy, surreal comedy about an actor fleeing his superhero past took Hollywood's top honor in a ceremony punctuated by passionate pleas for equality.
On a stormy night in Hollywood, the 87th annual Academy Awards — which came in humbled by backlash to its all-white acting nominees — bristled with politics and heartfelt speeches about women's rights, immigration, suicide prevention, governmental surveillance and race.
In a battle of B-movies for best picture, the Oscars awarded “Birdman” best picture, opting for a movie that epitomizes Hollywood — showy, ego-mad, desperate for artistic credibility — over one (“Boyhood”) that prized naturalism and patience. “Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” also won best director for Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, best original screenplay and best cinematography.
“Maybe next year the government will inflict immigration restrictions,” said Inarritu, recalling last year's best director winner, Alfonso Cuaron. “Two Mexicans in a row. That's suspicious, I guess.”
Inarritu, a larger-than-life figure of frizzy hair, regularly wrapped in a scarf, concluded the night's many moving speeches that called for societal progress. Inarritu said he prays his native country finds “a government we deserve” and that immigrants to the U.S. “can be treated with the same dignity and the respect of the ones who came before and (built) this incredible immigrant nation.”
The ceremony at the Dolby Theatre, hosted by Tony Award veteran Neil Patrick Harris, was heavy on song-and-dance to near-Grammy levels. Lady Gaga lavishly performed “The Hills Are Alive” from “The Sound of Music” with a rapt Julie Andrews looking on.The awards overwhelmingly went to less-seen independent films and were widely spread around. All eight of the best-picture nominees won awards, including Eddie Redmayne for best actor for his technically nuanced performance as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.”“Please know this that I am fully aware that I am a lucky, lucky man,” said the young British actor. “This belongs to all of the people around the world battling ALS.”All of Sunday's big winners were first-timers, including best actress winner Julianne Moore, who won for her performance as an academic with early onset Alzheimer's in “Still Alice.”“I read an article that said that winning an Oscar could lead to living five years longer,” said Moore. “If that's true, I'd really like to thank the academy because my husband is younger than me.”Harris gave the Academy Awards a cheery tone that sought to celebrate Hollywood, while also slyly parodying it. “Tonight we honor Hollywood's best and whitest — I mean brightest,” he began the night, alluding to this year's all-white acting nominees.Though Richard Linklater's 12-years-in-making “Boyhood” was the critical favorite for much of awards season, it won only best supporting actress for Patricia Arquette.“To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation,” said Arquette. “We have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It's our time to have wage equality once for all. And equal rights for women in the United States of America.”
