Oscars 2014 Recap: Complete With Tweets!

I really enjoyed watching last night's broadcast of the 86th Academy Awards at the Rialto Theatre (pictured on the right) here in Raleigh. It was the first time showing the program for the 72 year old theater, and despite some lady cackling maybe a bit too much at host Ellen DeGeneres' schtick, it was a lot of fun to be in attendance.

I got my best Oscar predictions score ever, with only three wrong out of the 24 winners. I missed Best Documentary Feature which went to Morgan Neville's fine documentary about back-up singers, TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM, because I thought since a music-centered doc (SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN) won last year, it wouldn't happen this time around. I had thought for sure Joshua Oppenheimer's powerful but hard to watch doc about Indonesian death-squad leaders,THE ACT OF KILLING, would get the gold. Oh, well. Can't win 'em all.

The others I got wrong were the Best Live Action Short (I guessed THAT WASN'T ME), and Best Costume Design, which went to THE GREAT GATSBY (I guessed AMERICAN HUSTLE, which won nothing).

I wasn't that disappointed that one of favorite films of 2013, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, didn't win anything because I didn't expect it to.

As for the rest of the show, here's some highlights from my live tweeting (follow @filmbabble) of the event last evening:

Ellen's monologue - not bad, about as risqué as she can
get.

Best supporting actor: nailed it! Leto will next take on
Jesus Christ Superstar.

Never caught up with what the hat means - Pharrell
Williams-wise.

2nd win for DALLAS BUYERS - setting it up for a major
McConaughey moment.

Yes, MR. HUBLOT! It was the best animated short so I'm happy.

FROZEN - I picked it but still haven't seen it.

GRAVITY's first win for a tech award. There will be more.

Wow - HELIUM. Missed that. Oh well.

Whoa - 20 FEET FROM STARDOM for best doc. Happy to be wrong here.

C'mon THE GREAT BEAUTY! Yes!

It's about time Tyler Perry got here.

Okay, U2 is U2-ing it up for a movie nobody has seen.

Biggest celebrity selfie ever?

I
tell ya - every tech award goes to GRAVITY.

Best shooter: GRAVITY again, of course.

Whoopi will set us straight.

Kelly Preston - still getting it done. @RealKevinBrewer * said that.

In memorial - decent picks n all - gotta end with PSH.

John Travolta: "there will always be a place in my heart for really unrealistic hair"

Again GRAVITY. Yep.

Damn, well maybe this bodes well for a 12 YEARS best pic win.

Is this shaping up to be the most predictable oscars
ever? Sure seems like it.

Seems like today everybody else is saying it was one of the most predictable Oscars ever, which it must have been if I got 21 out of 24 right! I was hoping for at least one big surprise, like, say, Jonah Hill or June Squibb winning, but it was a big breezy show that entertained me greatly. Definitely better than last year's Seth McFarlane mess.

* I recorded an episode of my friend Kevin Brewer's podcast, postmodcast, last week in which we discussed the legacy of the recently departed Harold Ramis, and chatted a bit about Oscar predictions. Please listen to it here.

I'll leave you now with my favorite moment from last night's big show:

More later...