Oscars 2014: My Reaction

The Academy Awards 2014 was a good show. Not the best they’ve ever had, but still, there were poignant, powerful and absolutely fricking hilarious moments, none of which happened with Alex Zane in his UK studio. Seriously, we could have done without so much cutting back and forth. It was distracting from the dresses!

Anne Hathaway

Sally Hawkins

The worst dressed this year, in my opinion, was Anne Hathaway. Her gown was pretty much the same s last year, just in a different darker colour with jewels added. Anne was closely followed by Sally Hawkins, nominated in the best supporting actress category for Blue Jasmine. The high neck and long sleeves would have been lovely if the sparkling pattern (also fine had it been on a short-sleeved dress) wasn’t so… sparkly. And for me, that’s a big thing to say (I like sparkly things). The three best dressed gals were Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock and Kristen Bell. I don’t usually like Cate’s choices, but this year she had just the right amount of glitter on a beautiful coloured dress. Sandra always looks amazing, and 2014 was no different with her dark blue gown. And finally, Kristen Bell as an unusual choice. I’m not sure exactly why I like her light grey dress, but I know that I really really do.

Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Kristen Bell

The boys often get overlooked in terms of their tux choices, but I’m going to choose the best and worst for them, too. Pharrell Williams’ red carpet suit shorts are the obvious for worst (I know you’re in LA, but come on). The other one is Matthew McConaughey for his cream jacket on top of black – it just looked weird. The best dressed guys is a tougher choice, and I couldn’t narrow it down to less than these five: Jared Leto, working the light suit a lot better than his Dallas Buyers Club co-star, and rocking the red bow tie; Leonardo DiCaprio, just ‘cos he always looks good; Benedict Cumberbatch, for the same reason; Jim Carrey, who looked rather chiselled in his shiny blue tux; and finally, Jason Sudeikis, also looking handsome in a deep blue suit.

Pharrell Williams, Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Leonardo DiCaprio, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jim Carrey, Jason Sudeikis

It wasn’t only the outfits we were looking at on the red carpet, though. There were a couple of, shall we say, mishaps, number one being J-Law falling over (again). Apparently, she tripped over a cone whilst waving to fans. Gotta love her <3

The Cumberbomb

The second was Benedict’s U2 photobomb that can’t be described as anything other than spectacular. And it’s got to be said, it’s impressive that a British guy who didn’t really have too much to do with the Oscars has Cumbersnatched (get it?) the limelight by doing something that wasn’t even on TV… you did good, Cumberbum *massive well-deserved round of applause*.

Ellen's tweet

Another brilliantly famous photo taken last night was Ellen’s Hollywood star selfie, which has broken records by achieving 2.5 million retweets as it currently stands (1.50pm GMT 03/03/14). The picture was taken during the ceremony as Ellen invited the likes of Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyong’o, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Jared Leto and Kevin Spacey to join in. And it is one cool selfie.

Speaking of our 2014 Oscar host, how brilliant was Ellen DeGeneres? She was just as I expected: natural, funny, down-to-earth, and miles ahead of Seth MacFarlane’s awkward performance last year. In fact, the ceremony might have been pretty boring if it weren’t for her selfie ^^ or ordering pizza. A well-selected host, and one I hope the Academy chooses again. Congratulations, Ellen!

The song performances were pretty good this year, too. Pharrell Williams (once changed out of his shorts) gave a fun and uplifting opening to the ceremony with ‘Happy’ from Despicable Me 2. U2 were just as you’d expect U2 to perform their track ‘Ordinary Love’ from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Idina Menzel was wonderful, despite the one bum note, in the song ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen (I wish I could sing like her). Finally, the surprise performance of the night had to be from Pink during a tribute to 1939’s classic The Wizard of Oz. She was simply stunning.

Cate Blanchett's Oscar win

Matthew McConaughey's speech

Finally, at 4.30am GMT the big awards began: Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Film. It wasn’t a surprise that Cate Blanchett won after her triumph at both the Globes and the BAFTAs, and honestly, the Best Actress category this year wasn’t overly impressive (it was missing Emma Thompson). Best Actor, however, I was much more interested in. In my opinion, it was a three-horse race between Leo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey and Chiwetel Ejifor after each of their individual wins at the Globes and the BAFTAs, and I so so so so so wanted it to be Leo’s night. So much. So so so much. However, deep down in my heart I kind of knew it was going to be Matthew’s. And he did deserve it, but come on, Academy. LEO!!! (More on this in a later blog, mark my words…)

Steve McQueen's celebration with Lupita Nyong'o and good old Ben

Best Film was not quite as obvious as it has been in recent years. Nine of 2013’s movies were nominated, and the frontrunners were 12 Years a Slave and Gravity. As much as I wanted the Academy to throw us a massive curveball and get Will Smith to read: “And the Oscar for best film goes to… The Wolf of Wall Street!” I knew that was never going to happen. So, I’m quite content that 12 Years a Slave pipped the overly-glorified Gravity to the post.

Gravity was the clear winner for most Oscars this year, and as much as many of the technical awards were well-deserved, I don’t think it was worthy of quite as many as it received. Share them out a bit, Academy! Where were The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle’s awards? Surely they both justify more than nominations? And one that definitely required more than the nods it received was Saving Mr Banks. However, I am very happy that The Great Gatsby won both the Oscars it was nominated for. Well and truly deserved. Those sets and costumes were incredible.

Overall, the Academy Awards 2014 were entertaining and full of surprises. Ellen DeGeneres was a wonderful host, (most of) the awards were deserved and the performances were brilliant. Just let Leo have his turn next time, OK?