LIVE! THE SCREEN-SPACE 2015 OSCAR BLOG

America's favourite go-to awards MC, Neil Patrick Harris (pictured, below) will usher in the 87th annual Academy Awards in a matter of moments. From the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue, the 2015 Oscars have weathered their fair share of controversy, but all that counts for for little more than monologue fodder come the big night. As the celebration unfolds, SCREEN-SPACE will be live-blogging all the evening's key moments as they happen - every award, every presenter, all the spontaneous craziness that comes when tense celebrities meet free booze. Bookmark and refresh the page for all the latest Oscar moments...

LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES' DOLBY THEATRE, THE 87TH ACADEMY AWARDS...

An uncharacteristically rainy LA welcomes the celebs. Red carpet chit-chat turns from the tension of the evening to how the downpour will affect the hair and dresses.

Harris' strengths as a showman launch into an ol'-fashioned song-and-dance number about the magic of cinema. He 'Crystals' things up by putting himself in the frame with classic film scenes of yore.

Anna Kendrick and Jack Black weigh in with some self-deprecating humour, that actually works. Then some dancing storm-troopers...wait, what?

Solid opening that gets the show of to a high-gloss, upbeat start. Uh-oh, now he's talking...

First presenter, Lupita Nyong'o, introduces the nominees for Best Supporting Actor.

WINNER: JK SIMMONS, WHIPLASH

As expected, journeyman actor JK Simmons (pictured, below right) proves a popular choice for Whiplash. Co-star Miles Teller is clearly happy for on-screen tormentor. Wife Michelle leads the thank yous, followed by his kids,followed bya plea to "call your parents." Nice touch. No industry acknowledgements in speech! Is that a first?

Silly diversion about Price Waterhouse Cooper and NPH's predictions. Move on.

Liam Neeson introduces the Best Pic nominee clips, for The Grand Budapest Hotel and American Sniper respectively. Full black tux-&-tie ensemble very dashing.

Dakota Johnson introduces 'Lost Stars,' Best Song nominee from Begin Again, performed by Maroon 5, fronted by the music-biz pic co-star, Adam Levine. Tight set.

Show yet to spark. Slick but lacking...

The actress from Anaconda and Captain Kirk step up for Best Costume Design announcement.

WINNER: MILENA CANONERO, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Presenter Reese Witherspoon weathers an awful pun and condescending hillbilly play-on to present Best Makeup & Hairstyling.

WINNER: MARK COULIER and FRANCES HANNON, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Coulier honours the late Dick Smith, revered makeup artist, in his speech.

Channing Tatum steps up to introduce winners of the Team Oscar search, young filmmakers whose 60 second films were chosen from hundreds of entrants.

NPH has a Travolta moment introducing Chiwetel Ejiofor who, with Nicole Kidman, present the Foreign Film nominees.

WINNER: IDA (Poland).

First Oscar trophy for Polish film industry from 10 nominations. Director Pawel Palikowska (pictured, below) blows off orchestra play-off to deliver first memorable moment of the night, thanking all his drunk Polish friends and honouring his deceased wife and parents.

Shirley Maclaine struggles a bit talking up next three Best Picture nominees, Boyhood, Birdman and The Theory of Everything.

The old 'crowd-walk' bit is saved by Steve Carrell's quick wit.

Marion Cotillard who, we are reminded by some twee play-on music, is French, introduces the next Best Song nominee, The Lego Movie anthem Everyting is Awesome. Andy Samberg and co mash-up song-styles to garish, gaudy excess. This is more like it!

Kerry Washington and 'the most well-adjusted former child star in the room', Jason Bateman, present Live Action Short Film contenders.

WINNER: THE PHONE CALL, Matt Kirby and James Lucas.

...and straight into Best Documentary Short.

WINNER: CRISIS HOTLINE VETERANS PRESS 1.

Viola Davis introduces the recipients of the 2015 Governor's Awards, presented prior to the ceremony. They were Maureen O'Hara, Hayao Miyazaki, Jean-Claude Carriere and Harry Belafonte.

Another crowd-walk, in which David Oyelowo is put on the spot. Ouch.

Gwyneth Paltrow introduces Tim McGraw, who gives moving rendition of Best Song nominee, I'm Not Gonna Miss You. The nominated artist, the great Glen Campbell, in the grips of late-stage Atlzheimers, is in the audience.

NPH, perhaps realising the show is a bit staid, drops trousers for Birdman bit before introducing Margot Robbie and Miles Teller, who present clip package of AMPAS Technical Awards evening. Looked like fun.

Star eye-candy continues with Chris Evans and Sienna Miller onstage for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing categories. First, the Mixers...

WINNER: WHIPLASH, Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, and Thomas Curley.

..then, the Editors...

WINNER: AMERICAN SNIPER, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman.

Winners know where their bread is buttered, and thank Mr Eastwood first off.

A freshly clothed NPH introduces Jared Leto in silver-blue tux (yikes), who wins points for Meryl Streep gag (Her nomination is a condition of a California State Law, apparently). The Oscar goes to...

WINNER: PATRICIA ARQUETTE, BOYHOOD.

Arquette rips into a speech certain to cause much post-ceremony commentary, as she demands wage equality across the US for women and justice for the hard-working middle-class moms, such as her character in Boyhood. Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez and co-star Ethan Hawke rise to scream support. A powerful moment.

Best Song nominee Grateful, word and lyrics by Dianne Warren, from Beyond the Lights, stakes a solid claim for the trophy with a soaring rendition by Rita Ora.

Ansell Elgort and Chloe Grace Moretz front for Visual Effects category.

WINNER: INTERSTELLAR, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher.

Kevin Hart and Anna Kendrick do some 'short person' schtick ahead of Best Animated Short announcement. 

WINNER: FEAST, Patrick Osborne and Christina Reid.

Zoe Saldana and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnstone pony up for Animated Feature award; NPH says what everyones thinking, "Where's The Lego Movie?"

WINNER: BIG HERO 6, Don Hall, Chris Williams, and Roy Conli.

AMPAS president Sheryl Boone-Isaacs speaks loud and proud for freedom of creative speech and expression. "We honour the courage of filmmakers who cross borders and expand boundaries," she says.

New Hollywood gets a look in with 2014's breakout stars Chris Pratt and Felicity Jones, who step up for Best Production Design announcement.

WINNER: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock.

Some one needs to stop Adam Levine's gf from being on-camera...

Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain present Best Cinematography award. This will be telling. Another Budapest trophy could put a stop to Birdman's night...

WINNER: Emmanuel Lubezki, BIRDMAN.

Meryl Streep (pictured, below right) introduces the much-loved In Memoriam montage. She is clearly moved...

Mickey Rooney, Paul Mazursky lead the artfully rendered presentation. HR Giger, Anita Ekberg, Louis Jourdan, Gordon Willis, Richard Attenborough, Ruby Dee. A young Robin Williams...

Jennifer Hudson sings a tribute to the many we've lost. Not necessary, given the emotion of the montage, but fitting.

Naomi Watts and Benedict Cumberbatch remind us just how white the night is. They present the Best Editor honour to...

WINNER: Tom Cross, WHIPLASH.

Is the playing field changing re the Best Picture race? Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel are building unexpected momentum. We'll see...

Terence Howard stumbles awkwardly (autocue problems; banging the mic stand) while announcing the remaining Best Picture nominees, Whiplash, Selma and The Imitation Game.

Best Documentary Feature category give David Oyelowo and Jennifer Aniston the stage time they deserved. And the Oscar goes to...

WINNER: CITIZENFOUR, Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky.

Not for the first time tonight, NPH undercuts a serious moment with a stupid joke. After CitizenFour director Laura Poitras gives a poignant speech, the host smugly guffaws, "Edward Snowden couldn't be her tonight, for some treason." Geddit? Terrible. Is he ad-libbing?

Octavia Spencer intoduces John Legend and Common (pictured, left) to sing the Best Song nominee, Glory, one of only two categories in which Selma features. Rousing, heartfelt rendition; crowd rises for prolonged SO.

John Travolta and Idina Menzel get big laughs reliving last years 'Adele Dazeem' moment. John's a bit touchy-feely! They have the honour of awarding the Best Song to...

WINNER: 'GLORY' from SELMA, Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn.

Common rips into the night's best speech, uniting the world through the fight against injustice in countries everywhere. John Legend backs it up with his own impassioned words.

Scarlett Johansson, elaborately attired, fronts for what seems to be a tribute to The Sound of Music 50th anniversary. And they say the Academy is an anchronistic institute for old white people!

The job falls to Lady Gaga to make it relevant. This show DOES NOT need a Sound of Music medley tribute right now... In fairness, Gaga nailed it. 'The incomparable' Julie Andrews materialises and recalls the impact of the film. Seems the production number was a primer for the Best Original Score category (wasn't The Sound of Music based upon a stage production?).

WINNER: Alexandre Desplat, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.

Great funnyman Eddie Murphy kicks off the Screenplay categories with Original work nominees.

WINNER: BIRDMAN, Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo

Alejandro takes centre stage, likely aware Linklater has firmed as favourite for the Director award.

Oprah Winfrey glides onstage, to deliver Adapted Screenplay trophy.

WINNER: THE IMITATION GAME, Written by Graham Moore.

Moore uses the platform to encourage tolerance, truth and self-belief, opening up about his teen suicide attempt.

Shrugging off NPH's vaguely racist intro, Ben Affleck steps up for Best Director announcement.

WINNER: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, BIRDMAN

Genuine cries of shock as Iñárritu pips Linklater at the post. The Mexican is humbled before his peers, acknowledging the fellow nominees. Linklater's expression is one of "Oh, well..." SCREEN-SPACE has been open about its ambivalence to Boyhood, but it is a shame that Linklater may go home empty-handed.

Cate Blanchett primes the crowd for the Best Actor award. Keaton, Redmayne or Cooper in a shock..?

WINNER: Eddie Redmayne, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.

Suddenly, I want to watch Tropic Thunder.

Matthew McConnaughey steps up to reveal Best Actress winner. Getting the feeling it will be the Year of the Afflicted in the lead acting categories...

WINNER: Julianne Moore, STILL ALICE.

Deserving and popular choice.

NPH returns to a running gag about his predictions, locked in box the whole show. It seemed silly four hours ago; now, with the big award pending and everyone's arse numb... well. Turns out its a bit, that doesn't really make sense. Best forgotten.

Sean Penn to announce the Best Picture. Can Boyhood salvage something...?

WINNER: BIRDMAN, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers.

Cast and crew take the stage, each making sure Michael Keaton gets some moment in the spotlight. Given the mike, he says, "Look, it's great to be here, who am I kidding. This is great fun."

"AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...": PREDICTING THE 2015 WINNERS.

Call us a little bit cynical, but the modern Oscars circus is little more than an extension of the studio marketing arms. Each year, the bestowed-upon contenders are probably not the ‘best’ movies of the year, but certainly are the ones that serve the image and integrity of Hollywood’s corporate masters most succinctly. That said, the Oscars are still a blast, not least for us ‘industry analysis’ types. We indulge in long ruminations about who is going to win and why, as if we are privy to the back room dealings and long lunches that draw those left-field votes from the Academy members. We aren’t that inside, of course, but that never stops us from conjuring wildly hypothetical scenarios to support our prognostications. To wit, the 2015 SCREEN-SPACE Oscar Predictions… 

BEST ACTRESS:
Julianne Moore will take home this statue. It is impossible to recall when a category seemed like such a lock and will present the defining moment of the entire evening if she misses out (see also, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette in the supporting player categories). On merit alone, it should be a much closer contest - Marion Cotillard gives the performance of the year in Two Days One Night, but no one saw it; Reese Witherspoon hit a new career-high in Wild; Felicity Jones was the Tom Cruise to Eddie Redmayne’s ‘Rainman’ and deserves any acting kudos far more than her co-star. Gone Girl’s Rosamund Pike’s inclusion at the expense of Jenny Slate (Obvious Child), Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year; Miss Julie), Jennifer Aniston (Cake) or Essie Davis (The Babadook) now seems daft. 

BEST ACTOR:
Like Moore, sentimental favourite Michael Keaton seemed a similar ‘sure thing’ a few months back. But the race has tightened. American Sniper’s enormous success has seen Bradley Cooper surge; with no Best Director nomination and the adapted screenplay sparking credibility debates, this category may be the only opportunity to reward the surprise hit. Redmayne’s impersonation of Stephen Hawking pales next to the likes of Daniel Day Lewis (who won for My Left Foot) and Tom Cruise (nominated for Born on The Fourth of July), but he has the BAFTA and SAG trophies already in his cabinet. No Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel) or Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) undermines this category, for sure. Hollywood will reward it’s own and give Keaton the gong. 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY and BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Pundits will get some idea if The Grand Budapest Hotel is going to contend for a Best Picture win if it bumps Boyhood and Birdman in the Original Screenplay category. It will have certainly picked up some below-the-line honours by this stage, but will need this nod to maintain momentum; the recent BAFTA crown is a good sign. Foxcatcher is firming as the evening’s also-ran; Nigtcrawler should win, but won’t. Wes Anderson by a hipster’s whisker.
Adapted Screenplay is most likely the last big category The Imitation Game can win, but that seems unlikely against American Sniper and The Theory of Everything. Inherent Vice is (fittingly) the rank outsider; would’ve been nice to see James Gunn’s smart, sweet reworking of the comic book source Guardians of the Galaxy get recognition here. The 2015 surprise may be Damien Chazelle (pictured, left) taking the gold for Whiplash. With five nominations, the film has a lot of love amongst AMPAS members; JK Simmons didn’t just make up those vicious, tyrannical rants. Whiplash in an upset. 

BEST DIRECTOR
Morten Tyldum’s understated, workmanlike job on The Imitation Game was fine, but not one of the year’s five best. Foxcatcher auteur Bennet Miller’s rigid, austere eye was much admired, but did anyone come out of that film exclaiming, “God, I loved it”? Wes Anderson will be rewarded with the Original Screenplay gong. That leaves arguably the night’s toughest split decision – Alejandro Inarritu’s giddy, bewildering, technically dazzling spin on the artist-as-a-tortured-soul, or Richard Linklater’s warm celebration of every-home Americana. For its widely publicised production schedule and his intensely personal conviction, Linklater will probably claim it. No, I’m not that enamoured with the meandering mediocrity of Boyhood or its mopey leading man, but everyone else seems to love it and Linklater has certainly paid his dues, so good luck to him. 

BEST FILM:
In such a tight year, it is inconceivable that any kind of ‘clean sweep’ will emerge. If Boyhood wins here, it will have three of the top slots (Director, Supporting Actress). Boyhood won’t be ‘that’ film. If Redmayne surprises in the Best Actor category, Linklater takes the directing honours and The Grand Budapest Hotel nabs tech awards, the highly-touted pre-ceremony frontrunner Birdman may be shutout. Frankly, I can’t see that happening. Both the critics and the creative community adored Inarritu’s vision; that warmth will carry it to Best Picture glory in one of the tightest races in recent memory.

For what it’s worth…
Ida for Best Foreign Film; Big Hero 6 for Animated Feature; CitizenFour for Doco, and; ‘Glory’ from Selma for Best Song.

IN HINDSIGHT...: MY YEAR IN FILM

Reflecting upon the cinematic year, I recalled not so much the movies I saw (681 in total, with thanks to the awesome Letterboxd site) but the lively discussions, heated debates and vast opinions I enjoyed with those I am fortunate to call colleagues and friends. So below you won't find my Best/Worst of the Year opinions (if you're inclined, you can find that here), but more a revisiting of the issues and events that left an impression upon me...

“Another round, bartender…”
In 2014, ‘Hollywood Blockbusters’ mostly resembled drunks in a seedy bar early on a Wednesday afternoon. There was the refined gentleman acting above his fellow patrons yet, deep down, fully aware he was the just like them (Captain America: The Winter Soldier); the increasingly haggard old broad (The Hunger Games: Mockinjay Part 1) who dragged along her innocent daughter (Divergent) for her first sip; the hulking, brooding boozer who threatens to erupt but mostly just mumbles to himself (Godzilla); the fading 40-somethings who loudly reminisce about the good old days when they were relevant (X-Men Days of Future Past; The Amazing Spiderman 2; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, top); the violent, obnoxious jerk who everyone hates (Transformers: Age of Extinction); the douche-bag hipster, covered in brand names, who gets less funny the longer he drinks (The LEGO Movie); and, the sad little nobody that no one talks to and most forget is even there (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit). But then there were the films who peeked into the bar, saw the worst that they could be and said “no”; blockbusters that instead developed vibrant, funny personalities (Guardians of the Galaxy; 22 Jump Street; Neighbors), serious smarts (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; Edge of Tomorrow, above) and human, empathetic souls (The Fault in Our Stars).

Film Critics Can Make of Break Your Movie. Except if you’re The Babadook. Or These Final Hours. Or Tracks. Or Predestination.
Respected Australian critic Margaret Pomeranz had a lot to say in the wake of director/star Josh Lawson’s A Little Death (pictured, below) tanking domestically. Pomeranz, who called time in December on a 28 year career as the yin to David Stratton’s yang on the iconic At The Movies show (the pair; pictured right), penned an op-ed piece in which she took her peers to task for bagging the sex-themed rom-com (on which her son, Josh, was an EP). Toronto critics liked it (it had its US premiere there, so the festival mood was...festive), while Australian journos largely derided it. “(When) effort is made and talent is discernible, I think it ought to be acknowledged rather than have its undeniable flaws recklessly highlighted,” Pomeranz opined. It was an embarrassing outburst of self-serving personal opinion by Pomeranz; she has bagged innumerable films with one or two star reviews, most of them made with good intentions and plenty of talent attached, though few of them Australian (“I have become well-known for supporting Australian films, I've been accused of being too generous, of awarding half a star too many, whatever,” she deflects in her rant). It was one of the many bewildering contradictions in the piece. “What is it with Australian critics of Australian films? Are we setting the bar so high that no one can possibly jump over it?” she bleats. Well, Australian critics loved The Babadook, These Final Hours, Felony, Galore, Charlie’s Country, Tracks and Predestination; they mostly liked Healing, The Rover, The Infinite Man and The Turning. But shitty marketing and outmoded distribution strategies hurt them all. Pomeranz should have used her profile to force answers from decision-makers in the sector and worried less about the general opinion of a minor work in which she has personal investment.

No, television is not ‘The New Cinema’…
Television continued its highly touted ‘renaissance’ in 2014, which led many to declare that film would soon be dead in the water. Which is, of course, nonsense. Television is offering up some terrific entertainment, such as 2014 newbies Gracepoint, Broad City, Peaky Blinders and Olive Kettridge and holdovers The Walking Dead, Masters of Sex, The Americans and Orange is the New Black. But television, by its very nature, is bound by convention, from the 43 or 22 minute commercial framing to the very platform on which it is seen (no matter how big TVs get, they will always be ‘the small screen’). What has improved is the boldness of the writing; not the quality per se, just the themes and narratives being tackled by some of Hollywood’s best wordsmiths. But television can never mimic the scale and scope of cinema, the fully immersive sensorial experience, the all-consuming atmospherics. In his popular podcast, Bret Easton Ellis chatted with director James Gray (on-set of his 2014 film, The Immigrant; pictured, right) on the essential value of seeing films on the biggest screen possible. “The specialness of the event, of going to the theatre, with a lot of people, in a big room where you (eat) your warmed popcorn with the bad butter,” said an impassioned Gray, “well, that was amazing. I don’t think anything tops that. Certainly not watching it on my iPad."

The Booming Irrelevance of The Oscars…
Actually, that needs clarification. The Oscars circus is still crucial to the movie-making industrial complex. The award season madness, which culminates with the glitz and glamour of the Academy Awards ceremony, provides a point-of-difference for Hollywood’s marketeers, allowing them to cover their respective studios in the glow of socially redeeming, issue-based films, the kind that can make money without fast food tie-ins. The films need not be very challenging, very insightful or even very good; earlier this year, such earnest, average voters-bait as 12 Years A Slave and Dallas Buyers Club triumphed, while Her and American Hustle were elevated far beyond their worth to provide an element of ‘cool relevance’; in a few weeks, the vastly over-rated Boyhood, this year’s BIG issue-pic Selma and obligatory Brit contenders The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything will dominate the 2015 line-up; we can only hope Birdman (pictured, left), Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Nightcrawler brighten Oscars’ podium with their unique visions. Of course, I’ll clear my calendar to watch it live. 

Also, it just crossed my mind that...

Scarlett Johansson is in a very good place. From the fearless ferocity of Under the Skin, the lunacy of Lucy and the sexy, good-time physicality she exuded in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the actress (pictured, right) had a great 2014.

Shailene Woodley will be America’s next great film actress. Two big hits in 2014 (the franchise-starter, Divergent; YA phenomenon The Fault in Our Stars), a hotly-anticipated indie (Gregg Araki’s White Bird in a Blizzard) about to roll-out, and the lead in the new Oliver Stone film locked in, Woodley is on track for super-stardom.

Indie Horror is where it’s at! Studios have bailed on horror fans (Annabelle? Ugh, puh-leeze; Eric Bana's Deliver Us From Evil was terrible) but the independent sector delivered the year’s most memorable midnight movie-going moments with nerve-rattlers like Honeymoon, Starry Eyes, The Sacrament, How to Save Us, Oculus and Inner Demon.

Keanu Reeves is back. Not just because he was in the year’s bloodiest, most exhilarating action film, John Wick (pictured, left), but also because he handled with grace the wave of ill-will about his actually-quite-awesome flop 47 Ronin, took on the new technological paradigm of digital filmmaking as frontman on the doco series Side by Side and directed the martial arts bone cruncher, The Man from Tai-Chi (yes, 2013, but saw it this year).

Subtitles rule. Iranian Nami Javidi made his directing debut with the unnerving, compelling drama, Melbourne. Other foreign sector must-sees were Cannes favourites Leviathan and Winter Sleep; the dialogue-free social document, Manakamana; the 5½ hour Filipino drama, From What is Before; and, Ida.

And, from the desk of Amy Pascal. Change all your passwords, now.

Thanks for all your support in 2014 and have a happy and safe New Year.
Simon Foster, Managing Editor