ARTICLE
A Look Back at the 2015 Academy Awards - The Good, The Bad and The Bizarre!
By InCinemas / 01 Mar 2015 (Sunday)
It was no doubt a night of glitz and glamour, with feminist award speeches and surprising musical tributes, but let’s also not forget the awkward and weirdest moments we've ever seen throughout Oscar history.
Here’s a look back at the Oscars 2015, with the 10 most memorable, disastrous and WTF moments that sums up (sort of) Hollywood’s biggest movie-award show.
(Check out the full list of winners here!)
Best: Lady Gaga Belting out Tunes of Movie Classic ‘The Sound of Music’
In the most surprising performance of the night turned out to be one of the best moments in Oscar history. It’s only apt that the Academy pays tribute to musical-movie classic ‘The Sound of Music’ for its 50th anniversary, but who would have thought that the ‘Pokerface’ hit-maker Lady Gaga blew us away with her stripped-down rendition of the medley including "Edelweiss" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain.
It was so fantastic even the original singer Julie Andrews couldn’t help but praise the pop singer for her stunning performance.
Worst: Snubs for Boyhood
For months leading up to the Oscars ceremony, many thought that it was a sure-win for Boyhood, which received raving reviews for its masterpiece. Despite the nominations in the big categories and the Golden Globe and SAG (Screen Actors Guild Awards) wins, the movie’s 12-year odyssey did not emerge victorious, except for Patricia Arquette’s Best Supporting Actress award. It certainly was a disappointment to see Boyhood walking away with only one golden trophy at the most prestigious award show in Hollywood.
Best: Opening Song by Neil Patrick Harris, Anna Kendrick and Jack Black
The opening of the Oscars is always seen as the significant act of the night, especially for the host, and triple-threat Neil Patrick Harris does what he does best: to act, sing, dance and host all at the same time with a musical number, and not without the traditional Oscar mockery.
Brownie points for adding Anna Kendrick’s ‘Into The Woods’ character and Jack Black’s ‘guest appearance’ in the flashy number.
WTF: Name-butchering, awkwardly-weird Musical Stars John Travolta and Idina Menzel
Well, this is awkward! The ‘Grease’ singer, Travolta became one of the biggest joke on the internet last year when he introduced Idina Menzel as ‘Adele Dazeem’ on stage for her ‘Let It Go’ performance. This year, it’s payback time for the Broadway star as she introduced her co-presenter as ‘Glom Glozingo’ on stage before presenting the Best Original Song Award.
Everything was scripted for fun, peace, joy and laughter, but it became eerie when Travolta started touching Menzel’s chin and pulled her face close to his, saying “But you, you, my darling, my beautiful, my wickedly talented Idina Menzel”.
Well, that’s ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong-ly creepy, Glozingo!
Worst: Joan Rivers Left Out of Memoriam Segment
Every year, there will always be a short video montage segment to remember the actors, creatives and talents in the movie industry who passed away that year. While funny man Robin Williams and many other highly-regarded actors were recognised, the comedian was omitted from the list. Though she might not have an extensive film resume like the rest, many felt Rivers, as a high-profile Hollywood star should be included in this tribute.
Best: Patricia Arquette’s Feminist Speech & a Hilarious MEME to go with it
After one of the most talked-about Oscar speeches of the night, you either love or hate this actress. After her saying her thank-you dues as she accepts her Best Supporting Actress award for Boyhood, she calls for equal rights for women in America to which Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez, together with many people in the audience couldn’t help but cheer for Arquette.
"To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights," she said. "It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America."
The internet went crazy with a funny MEME of award presenter Jared Leto in the background where many captioned the photo as ‘Jesus blessing Patricia Arquette’.
Best: Graham Moore’s Best Adapted Screenplay Acceptance Speech
It was one after another when it came to inspiring award speeches. Graham Moore accepted his award for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for The Imitation Game and revealed how he struggled through his teenage years for being ‘different’ and urged everyone out there to “Stay weird, stay different and then, when it’s your turn, and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along. “
WTF: Mother-Daughter Dispute at Oscars Red Carpet over Fifty Shades of Grey
This is pretty hilarious and (50 shades of) awkwardness at the same time. The record-breaking Fifty Shades of Grey film star brought her mother to the Oscars red carpet and this might probably be her last time doing that.
Worst: Neil Patrick Harris’ Prediction Box
What was supposed to be another ‘rehearsed highlight’ of the night where Harris would ‘predict’ what happened at the awards show, became a segment disaster with awkward eyeballs and patronising applause among the audience. For a nearly four-hour show, producers should have predicted the outcome of such a time-consuming element! Predictions not at its best...
Best: Common and John Legend’s Best Original Song Acceptance Speech
After a touching song performance of ‘Glory’, R&B kings John Legend and Common took home the award for Best Original Song for ‘Selma’. Though the film was another clear snub at the awards show, Legend took the opportunity to talk about the political issues the world is facing with an motivational quote.
“ We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago, but we say that Selma is now because the struggle for justice is right now.”
What were some of your favourite and hated moments at the Oscars? Tell us in the comments section below!
The 87th Annual Academy Awards will air again on HBO (StarHub TV Ch 601) on Friday (Feb 27) at 11.10pm and Sunday (Mar 1) at 4.30pm (SGT).