This past Sunday, movie lovers everywhere relished in the 86th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. With the theme of the night of “Heroes in Hollywood,” the Oscars honored the year’s best in film. Some of the big winners of the night were 12 Years a Slave, with the Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for up and coming Lupita Nyong’o, Gravity, which earned director Alfonso Cuaron two awards for the night for Best Director and Film Editing, and Dallas Buyers Club, as its two leading men, Matthew McCounaghey and Jared Leto each took home the golden statue for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.
However, what I personally love about the telecast besides all of the awards and the glitz and glamour that comes with “Hollywood’s Biggest Night,” are the moments we do not expect to happen. Read on for my top 3 favorite parts of the night:
3. Frozen Ices the Competition
If you know me at all, than you know how much I love Disney’s newest animated feature, Frozen. The entire movie, from the story, to the characters, to the music, call back to the classic Disney era that it is almost impossible not to get up and sing. So, when Idina Menzel came out to belt the show stopping “Let It Go,” I was in a “frozen fractal” heaven. To top it off, the film ended up winning Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song just moments later.
2. Most Quotable Acceptance Speeches
I am not going to lie; usually I love fast forwarding during acceptance speeches because they can drag on sometimes. However, so many of the winners this year provided great speeches that had me laughing at times, while on the brink of tears at other times. After winning Best Actress, Blue Jasmine’s Cate Blanchett told Julia Roberts to “hashtag suck it,” while Frozen composers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez fittingly sang a rhyming speech to commemorate their win. On the other hand, upon winning her award for Best Supporing Actress, Lupita Nyong’o reminded everyone that, “No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.” And with perhaps the most gracious speech of the night, Jared Leto covered all of the bases when he starts his speech by telling the inspiring tale of his mother, then mentioning the political crises in Ukraine and Venezuela, and ending with a dedication to all those who have lost the battle to AIDS.
1. Ellen Breaks Twitter
Seriously, how much do you wish you could be in this photo?
Through all of her hilarious gaffs throughout the show, from coming out in full Glinda attire after The Wizard of Oz tribute, to ordering pizza for the audience, Ellen proved again that she could pretty much get away with doing anything. Her best moment of the night? She broke Twitter! It started out as a bit for Ellen to get a selfie with Meryl Streep to be the most retweeted photo of all time. However, moments later they were joined by an all-star lineup of Oscar royalty, including Jennifer Lawrence, Brangelina, Kevin Spacey, and Bradley Cooper. Needless to say, the audiences everywhere were obsessed and the tweet currently has been retweeted almost 2.8 million times!
~Hannah Tattersall
