The Verge - All the news from the 2015 Oscarshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2015-02-23T00:22:49-05:00http://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/78525982015-02-23T00:22:49-05:002015-02-23T00:22:49-05:00Birdman wins Oscar for best picture
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<p>After a long and controversy-plagued campaign season, director Alejandro González Iñárritu's <i>Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) </i>came out on top as the best picture among the 10 nominees in this year's Academy Awards. Beating out fellow front-runners <i>Boyhood, American Sniper, The Imitation Game, </i>and <i>The Theory of Everything, Birdman </i>marks <span>Iñárritu's first Best Picture win (he was nominated in 2007 for Best Picture and Director for <i>Babel.</i>) He also won the award for Best Director earlier in the evening.</span></p>
<p><span>Iñárritu took time at the end of his acceptance speech to dedicate his film to his fellow Mexican nationals and make a general plea for equal treatment of Mexican immigrants.</span></p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/23/8088885/academy-awards-2015-best-picture-birdman">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/23/8088885/academy-awards-2015-best-picture-birdmanEmily Yoshida2015-02-23T00:04:08-05:002015-02-23T00:04:08-05:00Steve Wozniak is in Cadillac's Oscars commercial for some reason
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<p>You might have missed this, but Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was a part of the Oscars madness tonight. During Cadillac's commercial during the broadcast, the Woz himself can be seen lounging in his study, listening to music that, for one reason or another, is making the room go out of focus.</p>
<p>The ad's part of Cadillac's new and ridiculously named <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dare-greatly.com/#">"Dare Greatly" campaign</a>, which also includes appearances from Anne Wojcicki, head of <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/19/8073029/fda-grants-23andme-approval-bloom-syndrome-rare-genetic-condition">health research company 23andMe</a>, and <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8085181/academy-awards-winners-2015">Oscar-nominated</a> director Richard Linklater. The campaign says its stars have risked it all in their lives, but it's not quite clear what that has to do with cars.</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/23/8089027/academy-awards-2015-steve-wozniak-cadillac-commercial">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/23/8089027/academy-awards-2015-steve-wozniak-cadillac-commercialKwame Opam2015-02-22T23:54:12-05:002015-02-22T23:54:12-05:00Eddie Redmayne wins best actor Oscar for portrayal of Stephen Hawking
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<p><span>Eddie Redmayne won the award for best actor in a leading role at the 2015 Oscars for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in <i>The Theory of Everything</i>. </span>Redmayne has long been considered a front-runner to win this award. Much of Redmayne's performance required him to act with limited mobility as he depicted the progression of Hawking's disease — something that the Academy was clearly quite impressed by. This is Redmayne's first nomination and his first win.</p>
<p><span>Though Redmayne's performance has been the focus of quite a bit of buzz since before the movie even came out, there were quite a few other great performances that he was up against. </span>Steve Carell's transformative turn in <i>Foxcatcher </i>was a performance that critics couldn't stop talking about....</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8089025/best-actor-academy-awards-2015">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8089025/best-actor-academy-awards-2015Jacob Kastrenakes2015-02-22T23:43:06-05:002015-02-22T23:43:06-05:00Alejandro González Iñárritu wins best director Oscar for Birdman
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<p>Alejandro González Iñárritu is taking home the 2015 Oscar for directing for his film <i>Birdman</i>, a stunning look at fame and a fading star that's presented as though the entire movie were shot in a single take. Iñárritu's win is well deserved: <i>Birdman</i> maintains an impressive tension throughout its entire runtime, has amazing performances from all of its stars, and is filmed in a way that's truly remarkable and unlike anything else.</p>
<p><q class="right">Iñárritu's second win tonight</q></p>
<p>This is Iñárritu second win at the Oscars. He's received two nominations in the past — best picture and directing for <i>Babel</i> — and has two other nominations tonight: best picture and original screenplay, which he won.</p>
<p>Iñárritu faced some big competition this year. Richard Linklater...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088211/best-director-academy-awards-2015">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088211/best-director-academy-awards-2015Jacob Kastrenakes2015-02-22T23:37:37-05:002015-02-22T23:37:37-05:00Watch John Legend and Common perform Best Original Song Glory on the Oscars
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<p>After a performance that brought the audience to its feet and left some in tears, "Glory," the soaring track from <i>Selma </i>performed by John Legend and Common, earned the Academy Award for Best Original Song. "Glory" was a shoe-in from the start, even with competition from "Everything Is Awesome." Tonight's performance was one we've seen a few times by now, but it's no less powerful here.</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088923/academy-awards-2015-glory-best-original-song-john-legend-common">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088923/academy-awards-2015-glory-best-original-song-john-legend-commonKwame Opam2015-02-22T22:52:16-05:002015-02-22T22:52:16-05:00Citizenfour wins Oscar for Best Documentary Feature
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<p>At tonight's Academy Awards ceremony, Laura Poitras' Edward Snowden documentary <i>Citizenfour</i><i> </i>won the award for Best Documentary Feature. Despite being the odds-on favorite for the award, the field was competitive this year, including Netflix's critically acclaimed <i>Virunga </i>for the honor.</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088075/academy-awards-2015-citizenfour-best-documentary-feature">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088075/academy-awards-2015-citizenfour-best-documentary-featureKwame Opam2015-02-22T22:31:29-05:002015-02-22T22:31:29-05:00Watch Patricia Arquette's call for wage equality in her Oscar acceptance speech
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<figcaption>Kevin Winter/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Patricia Arquette just <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8085181/academy-awards-winners-2015">won an Oscar </a>for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Richard Linklater's <i>Boyhood</i>. During her acceptance speech, Arquette hurriedly thanked seemingly dozens of people, including Linklater and the <i>Boyhood</i> cast and crew, then made a call for gender equality in Hollywood.</p>
<p>"It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America," she said, before music ushered her out.</p>
<p>It was a brief, scattered, and rushed call to action, but it was met by a fist pump of agreement from Meryl Streep and wild applause from the audience. Watch it above.</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088675/academy-awards-2015-patricia-arquette-wage-equality">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088675/academy-awards-2015-patricia-arquette-wage-equalityLizzie Plaugic2015-02-22T22:26:47-05:002015-02-22T22:26:47-05:00Big Hero 6 wins Oscar for Best Animated Feature
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<p>Even though fans might still lament <i>The Lego Movie </i>being snubbed for the Best Animated Feature award, Marvel and Disney did happily manage to take home the award for <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/6/7170555/disney-big-hero-6-review">the perfectly enjoyable superhero film <i>Big Hero 6</i></a>. It's Marvel's first major win at the Academy Awards, and Walt Disney Animation Studio's second since last year's win for <i>Frozen</i>.</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088715/academy-awards-2015-big-hero-6-best-animated-feature">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/22/8088715/academy-awards-2015-big-hero-6-best-animated-featureKwame Opam