Memorable Moments from the 87th Oscars

By Carina Zhao @carinazhao · On March 3, 2015

All of showbiz royalty from near and far gathered in the Dolby Theater on Sunday, Feb. 22, for Hollywood’s glitziest, most anticipated night — the Oscars. This year’s 87th Academy Awards were hosted by first-timer, Neil Patrick Harris, who left us all a little disappointed. But before we go into the drearier bits, there were some candid moments from the show which reminded us that our some of our favorite stars have more than just a pretty face.

The Speeches

Best Acceptance Speech goes to . . . Patricia Arquette, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 12-year epic, “Boyhood.”

Peering at the audience over her eyeglasses and holding a crumpled piece of paper in one hand, the delicate and unimposing Arquette concluded her speech with a rallying cry for feminists everywhere. “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.” Perhaps the only thing we loved more than Arquette’s rousing message was Meryl Streep’s reaction, made complete with the most powerful finger-point of all time.

Tied for a close second, J.K. Simmons’, Graham Moore’s, and Eddie Redmayne’s acceptance speeches moved us to tears with their honesty and compassion.

J.K. Simmons received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the terrifying and captivating studio band director in “Whiplash,” starring Miles Teller. Simmons urged the audience to, “Call your mom. Call your dad. If you’re lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call ‘em.” As a freshman in college, Simmons’ reminder was both humbling and tear-jerking. I had my mom on the phone at the next commercial break.

The night’s most moving and emotionally taxing acceptance speech was delivered by screenwriter, Graham Moore, after he won the Oscar for his work on “The Imitation Game.” “I tried to commit suicide at 16 and now I’m standing here,” Moore said. “I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. You do. Stay weird. Stay different, and when it’s your turn and you are standing on this stage please pass the same message along.” Moore’s bold, personal admission brought the Oscars back down to Earth for at-home viewers, reminding youth everywhere that it can and will get better.

One of the last awards of the night, Best Actor, was presented to the charming and incredibly modest, Eddie Redmayne. The winners for most of the other major categories, like Lead Actress, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, were quite predictable, given the results from the string of awards ceremonies preceding the Oscars. But the highly anticipated Best Actor accolade boiled down to two — Michael Keaton or Redmayne. A newcomer in comparison to the veteran Keaton, Eddie Redmayne was unable to suppress his giddy enthusiasm onstage, and his reaction will forever warm our hearts.

The Music

When it comes to awards ceremonies, the musical performances have a reputation for dragging out the show. That was not the case this year — the musical performances actually managed to save the night, eliciting strong and impassioned reactions from audience members and fellow celebrities alike.

Neil Patrick Harris’ opening number left us with initially high hopes — did you all take a drink?

Tegan and Sara’s “Everything Is Awesome” performance made us wonder if we were on acid.

Lady Gaga shocked us all with her ethereal compilation of the most infamous tracks from “The Sound of Music.”

As expected, Common and John Legend did not leave a dry eye in the building with their soulful hit, “Glory,” which went on to win Best Song.

The Laughs

Neil Patrick Harris started the night off by honoring the “best and whitest” of Hollywood in his opening monologue. He then broke into song and dance, and at some point in the middle, the camera cut to Benedict Cumberbatch drinking out of a flask and mouthing “go away” to the audience. Anything to keep the Cumberbitches happy.

Idina Menzel was able to exact her revenge on John Travolta, who butchered her name so badly during last year’s Oscars that there is now such thing as a Travolta name generator. Menzel introduced Travolta as “Glom Gazingo,” and the two joked about who should read the names of the nominees. It was entertaining and there was face-touching involved.

Harris stripped down to his tighty-whities for a parody of “Birdman,” complete with the background drumming, thanks to Miles Teller and his reprisal of his Whiplash character. Harris bared himself onstage — although it was nothing we had not already seenin “Gone Girl” — and proclaimed, “Acting is is a noble profession.” This skit was Harris’ peak.

The Flubs

Harris has received harsh criticism from The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and many others for his role as host, and although his performance fell short of Ellen DeGeneres’ from last year, it was not without its highlights. Some of his flubs, though, were just plain hard to recover from. The payoff for Harris’s joke about his Oscars predictions that were locked away in a glass container was certainly not worth all of the buildup. Further, many of his jabs and remarks were badly timed — especially his joke about “balls” right after Best Documentary Short winner Dana Perry dedicated the Oscar to her late son, who committed suicide. Nonetheless, viewers understand how daunting of a task Harris was faced with — and he still did better than Anne Hathaway and James Franco!

WTF Moment

One of the biggest shockers of the night was all the awards “Boyhood” failed to receive. Richard Linklater’s generational film — the first of its kind — garnered widespread critical acclaim. It was arguably the most talked about film of the year, that is, until “Birdman” was released. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s daring, brooding, and beautiful “Birdman” won big, at the expense of “Boyhood.” Iñárritu, who had been nominated for Best Director five times, was finally able to take home a well-deserved Oscar, as well as two other Oscars for Best Screenplay and Best Picture. His one-shot sequence style of filming created a dizzying and exhilarating tempo for an already breathtaking film. Iñárritu’s acceptance speeches were both inspiring and wickedly funny — we would expect nothing less. But, I mean, come on, Richard Linklater spent 12 years on “Boyhood!” Either way, these two directors managed to revolutionize the centuries-old art of filmmaking.