Birdman Wins Best Picture, Director at Politically Charged Oscars

Politics took center stage at the 87th Academy Awards on Sunday, as winners and presenters used the widely watched telecast to draw attention to everything from civil rights to whistleblowing.

It was also a very good night for Birdman, which beat out its chief competitor Boyhood for best picture, director, original screenplay and cinematography honors.

Filmmaker Alejandro G. Inarritu offered a moment of levity in a ceremony that was often somber in tone.

The Mexican director said he had a lucky charm.

“I am wearing the real Michael Keaton tighty whities,” he told the crowd, a reference to a scene where the Birdman star runs through Times Square in his underwear.

In fact, tight underwear was a theme of sorts during the night. Host Neil Patrick Harris also copped Keaton’s look at one point in the show, walking across stage in his briefs.

Keaton couldn’t prevail in the Best Actor race, however, losing to Theory of Everything’s Eddie Redmayne for his portrayal of theoretical physicist and ALS sufferer Stephen Hawkin.

I’m fully aware that I’m a lucky, lucky man,” said Redmayne, before noting that the award “Belongs to all of the people around the world battling ALS.”

Julianne Moore earned an Oscar for playing a woman struggling with early onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice — her first statue after four previous nominations. Like Redmayne she also spoke passionately about the disease at the center of her film and the people who are afflicted with the illness.

“So many people with this disease feel isolated and marginalized…people with Alzheimer’s deserve to be seen,” Moore said.

Boyhood’s Patricia Arquette and Whiplash’s J.K. Simmons scored supporting actor honors, winning for their performances as a single mother and a demanding jazz instructor. In other major races, Birdman beat out Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel, for best original screenplay, while The Imitation Game bested American Sniper and Whiplash for best adapted screenplay honors.

The Grand Budapest Hotel scored in key technical categories, earning a leading four Oscars for costume design, production design, score and for achievement in makeup and hairstyling. Whiplash ranked as the second most-honored picture in the early going, nabbing a best sound mixing and film editing Oscars, in addition to the award for Simmons.”

Best song winners John Legend and Common, recognized their work on the civil rights anthem “Glory” from Selma, used their acceptance speech to draw attention to issues of importance to the African-American community.

“There are more black men under correctional control than there were under slavery,” said Legend.

The evening’s political bent extended to the best documentary category with Citizenfour, a look at Edward Snowden’s exposure of the NSA’s widespread domestic surveillance program, taking home the award despite the fact that popular opinion is widely divided over whether or not the film’s subject it a hero or a traitor.

In her acceptance speech, director Laura Poitras thanked Snowden for his courage in coming forward and also paid tribute to whistleblowers everywhere.

Snowden returned her praise. In a statement released via the American Civil Liberties Union, the NSA whistleblower said, “My hope is that this award will encourage more people to see the film and be inspired by its message that ordinary citizens, working together, can change the world.”
There were also a few detours away from incendiary topics, including a tribute to The Sound of Music featuring Lady Gaga.

Polish drama Ida, scored a Best Foreign Language Film statue. Director Paweł Pawlikowski noted that his film about a woman on the verge of becoming a Catholic nun dramatizes the virtues of quiet contemplation — something in contrast to the sturm und drang of an awards show.
“Life is full of surprises,” he enthused.

Hotlines were a subject that received a great deal of attention. The Phone Call, a 20-minute drama about a woman (Sally Hawkins) working in a crisis center helpline, nabbed a Best Live Action Short honor, while Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, a look at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 24-hour call center for servicemen and women, earned a Best Documentary Short statue.

Big Hero 6 was the evening’s big animated film winner. The Disney hit won Best Animated Feature, while Feast, a 3D romantic comedy that debuted in theaters with Big Hero 6, won Best Animated Short.