(NYT) For the third time in four years, Hollywood’s top honor went
to a story mostly about itself: “Birdman” won best picture at the 87th
Academy Awards on Sunday night.
Despite relatively meager domestic ticket sales of $37.8 million,
“Birdman” had been the favorite to win best picture, having swept the
top prize at banquet after banquet leading up to the Oscars.
Minutes before, Alejandro G. Iñárritu had won best director for
“Birdman,” which also collected Oscars for best original screenplay and
the cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki. “Tonight I am wearing the real
Michael Keaton tighty whities,” Mr. Iñárritu said, a joke about the long
Broadway walk Mr. Keaton, the star, takes in his skivvies during the
film.
“Birdman,” about a washed-up actor’s comeback bid, followed two other
Hollywood-related winners: “The Artist,” which won in 2012, was the
bittersweet story of a silent film actor seemingly left behind by
Hollywood’s transition to sound. The next year, “Argo” won with its
reality-based tale of a hostage rescue that used a fake film for cover.
Still, no one film this year achieved critical mass in a year that
saw all eight of the best picture nominees leave with at least one
Oscar.
As expected, Julianne Moore won best actress for her faltering
college professor with early-onset Alzheimer’s in “Still Alice,” and
Eddie Redmayne won best actor for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in
“The Theory of Everything.”
“I will be its custodian,” an over-the-moon Mr. Redmayne said of his
statuette. “I will polish him. I will wait on him hand and foot.”
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