Oscars auditors apologize for best picture mix-up

HOLLYWOOD -- PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm responsible for tabulating Oscar ballots, apologized for an "error" in the announcement of the best picture award Sunday, admitting Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong envelope.

The embarrassing mix-up saw the Oscar incorrectly given to musical "La La Land" before the actual winner, coming-of-age drama "Moonlight," was finally handed the prize.

"We sincerely apologize to 'Moonlight,' 'La La Land,' Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture," the company said in a statement.

"The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and, when discovered, was immediately corrected," it added.

"We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred," it said, hailing the "grace" with which all concerned handled the situation.

The mistake made for a chaotic end to the film industry's biggest night, on which "La La Land" went home with six awards including best director, actress, score and song, to three for "Moonlight."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Moonlight' beats 'La La Land' amid "Steve Harvey" moment

LOS ANGELES - "Moonlight" won the Oscar for best picture on Sunday, beating favorite "La La Land" for the movie industry's most prestigious award.

But in a highly unusual mishap, presenter Warren Beatty first, mistakenly initially announced that musical "La La Land" had won, causing confusion and uproar on Hollywood's biggest night. Beatty said he had been given the wrong envelope to open.

Emma Stone won best actress for the musical, and "Manchester by the Sea" star Casey Affleck was named best actor on a night where U.S. President Donald Trump was the butt of numerous jokes, capping a Hollywood awards season marked by fiery protests at his policies.

"La La Land" director Damien Chazelle, 32, became the youngest person to ever win a best director Oscar.

Viola Davis and Mahershala Ali won their first Oscars for their supporting roles in African-American stories "Fences" and "Moonlight," in stark contrast to the 2016 Academy Awards when no actors of color were even nominated.

"Moonlight," the coming of age tale of a young black boy in Miami, also won the best adapted screenplay statuette, while grief-driven independent drama "Manchester by the Sea" took home original screenplay.

Romantic musical "La La Land," the tale of a struggling actress and a jazz pianist in Los Angeles, went into the Oscars with a leading 14 nominations and emerged with six, including for its score and theme song "City of Stars."

Trump's presence loomed large at the three and a half hour show as host Jimmy Kimmel fired off political zingers and even tweeted at the Republican president, getting no immediate response.

(Additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, Nichola Groom and Lisa Richwine; Editing by Sandra Maler and Mary Milliken)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Birdman' soars to Oscar heights on best picture win

LOS ANGELES -- The dark comedy "Birdman" held up a mirror to Hollywood and its struggling actors and received in return the film industry's highest recognition on Sunday, the Academy Award for best picture.

Director Alejandro G. Inarritu's story of a washed-up, former superhero actor attempting an improbable comeback on Broadway won four Oscars, including best director, the second consecutive win in that category for a Mexican filmmaker.

Inarritu thanked the star-studded audience for seeing his "crazy film."

The reward for the satire hews to an Academy tradition of awarding films that honor the entertainment industry, such as "Argo" and "The Artist" in recent years.

Eddie Redmayne won best actor with his painstaking portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," robbing "Birdman" lead and former superhero actor Michael Keaton of a big comeback moment.

Each of the eight best picture nominees went home with at least one award, but it was a disappointing night for "Boyhood," Richard Linklater's unprecedented endeavor to depict the simple story of a boy growing up over 12 years, all with the same actors. It won one Oscar for its six nods.

Wes Anderson's colorful caper, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" proved popular among the 6,100 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who vote for the Oscars, winning four awards on its nine nominations.

"Whiplash," the independent film about an aspiring jazz drummer and his tough mentor from young director Damien Chazelle, won three Oscars.

It was a night in which the controversy over the lack of diversity among this year's nominees was front and center. First-time host Neil Patrick Harris opened the telecast with a quip: "Tonight we honor Hollywood's best and whitest, I mean brightest."

But the race theme resonated in a more serious way too, when Common and John Legend got a standing ovation and made many in the audience cry with their performance of "Glory" from the 1960s civil rights drama "Selma."

It won best song, delivering the sole victory to "Selma," the film at the center of the diversity debate, sparked by the exclusion of ethnic minority actors from the four acting categories. The nominations sparked the Twitter hashtag "#OscarsSoWhite.

"'Selma' is now, because the struggle for justice is right now," said Legend in the aftermath of recent racially charged protests in America.

Moore, Arquette prevail

The Academy rewarded heavy favorites and veterans with their first Oscars in the three other acting races.

Five-time nominee Julianne Moore won best actress for her portrayal of a woman suffering from early onset Alzheimer's in "Still Alice."

Patricia Arquette won best supporting actress for her role as a struggling single mother in "Boyhood," while J.K. Simmons won the best supporting actor as a monstrous music teacher in "Whiplash."

For the biggest televised event outside the sports world, the Academy aimed to attract young viewers who may not care much about the films but who could tune in for the musical acts.

A bridge between the young and old, pop diva Lady Gaga received a standing ovation for her medley of tunes from "The Sound of Music" before introducing that film's star, Julie Andrews.

Poland's "Ida" clinched best foreign-language film and director Pawel Pawlikowski pushed the 45-second acceptance speech boundary to thank "my Polish friends who are in front of the TV, the crew who were in the trenches with us and who are totally drunk now, and you were fantastic."

Best documentary went to "Citizenfour," director Laura Poitras' feature about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who detailed the secret mass surveillance programs.

"The subject of 'Citizenfour,' Edward Snowden, could not be here for some treason," joked Harris.

Full list of winners

Following is a list of winners in leading categories.

BEST PICTURE
"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"

BEST ACTOR
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"

BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro G. Inarritu, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance)"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris
Jr., Armando Bo, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance)"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Ida" (Poland)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Big Hero 6"

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"CitizenFour"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Glory," from "Selma"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Milena Canonero, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance)"

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"Interstellar"

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com