Academy apologizes for Oscars goof-up
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized for the mix-up in the announcement of the best-picture award, saying it "deeply regretted the error made at the prestigious awards ceremony." PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm in charge of tabulating nominations and votes for the Oscars assumed full responsibility for the mistake. The Academy said that the matter is under investigation.
The Oscar nominations are out and the biggest winner is neo-musical "La La Land" with 14 nominations. The movie is written and directed by Mr. Chazelle; Gosling and Emma Stone are the actors. Additionally, other nominated movies are Moonlight (8 nominations), Fences (4), and Hidden Figures (3), Arrival, Hell or High Water, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, and Hacksaw Ridge.
British Indian actor Dev Patel was nominated for the 2017 Academy Awards in the supporting actor category for 'Lion' on Tuesday. In 'Lion', actor plays an Australian-Indian who tries to find his lost family in India with the help of Google Maps. Following the nomination, Patel told BBC, "I am feeling overwhelmingly grateful right now."
Show host Jimmy Kimmel took on Trump at every possible opportunity: cheering for the "highly overrated" Meryl Streep, gearing up to kick out every publication with the word 'Times' in their name, etc. Katherine Johnson, one of the women behind putting the first American man in space, made an appearance. Ryan Gosling kissed a woman who had come in with a group of unsuspecting tourists.
The team of 'The White Helmets', winner of Best Documentary Short, couldn't attend as their passports were cancelled by Damascus. Their movie was on a rescue team that has saved over 82,000 lives in the ongoing war in Syria. For the first time, Australia had two nominees for best picture: 'Hacksaw Ridge' and 'Lion'. Damien Chazelle, 32, is the youngest ever Best Director winner.
'Manchester by the Sea', written by Kenneth Lonergan, won for Original Screenplay, while 'Moonlight', written by Barry Jenkins and story by Tarell Alvin McCraney, won for Best Adapted Screenplay. 'The Jungle Book' won for Visual Effects, beating Dr. Strange, a mass favourite. Director Asghar Farhadi of Iranian film "The Salesman" (winner of Best Foreign Film) stayed home in protest of Donald Trump's travel ban.
Mahershala Ali ('Moonlight') won the Best Supporting Actor. Dev Patel was a favourite for 'Lion'. Viola Davis (Fences) took the award in the female category. Colleen Atwood won Best Costume Design for 'Fantastic Beasts'. This is the first Oscar for the Harry Potter franchise. Disney's 'Zootopia' was judged the Best Animated Feature Film, while 'The Salesman' (Iran) was awarded the Best Foreign Language film.
In a throwback to the Miss Universe 2015 event, Warren Beatty, presenter of the night's most anticipated Best Picture award, named 'La La Land' instead of 'Moonlight'. The goof-up was realised when the film's crew was halfway through their acceptance speeches.
'La La Land', with 14 nominations (the all-time highest, tying with "Titanic" and "All About Eve"), took home the awards for Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Cinematography (Linus Sandgren), Original Score (Justin Hurwitz), and Original Song ("Audition - The Fools Who Dream"). Casey Affleck won the coveted Best Actor Award for 'Manchester by the Sea'. 'Moonlight' was declared the Best Picture.
