88th Annual Academy Awards

The Oscars are the biggest event of the awards season, and to many the biggest night of the year! However, this year the show was surrounded by controversy after all of the nominees in the acting categories (as well as almost every category) were entirely white for the second year in a row.   It will be interesting to see how #OscarsSoWhite affects the ratings and to see what steps the Academy will hopefully take in the coming years to ensure that the nominations are representative of the excellent work being done by wonderfully talented people of color. 

Chris Rock took the stage to host the Academy Awards for the first time.  His opening number was understandably focused on the "Oscars So White" controversy but he handled it very well and it was pretty excellent. It was pervasive throughout the whole show in multiple jokes and bits including Black History Minute with Angela Bassett and Stacey Dash coming out on stage. 

Some of the more interesting events that took place during the awards included: Chris Rock's daughters bringing out Girl Scout Cookies and selling them to the nominees, Buzz and Woody from Toy Story handing out the Best Animated Feature Award, and Lady Gaga's incredibly powerful performance of "Til it Happens to You" introduced by Vice President Joe Biden 

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role went to Mark Rylance, for his role in Bridge of Spies. Alicia Vikander won the Oscar for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in The Danish Girl. Leonardo DiCaprio won Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his role in The Revenant, his first Oscar.  Brie Larson won an Oscar for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Room.

Inside Out won for Best Animated Feature Film. Original Screenplay went to Josh Singer and Todd McCarthy for Spotlight while Adapted Screenplay went was presented to Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for The Big Short.  

Mad Max: Fury Road garnered the award for Production Design, Costume Design, Best Make-Up and Hair Styling, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing Whiplash won for Sound Mixing and Film Editing, and Interstellar took home the award for Visual Effects.  Ex Machina took home the award for Best Visual Effects. The Revenant won for Cinematography and Director for Alejandro G. Inarritu.  Spotlight was awarded Best Picture of the Year.

A full list of winners can be found here.

Red Carpet Fashion

 

Cate Blanchett looked stunning in an Armani Prive gown. 

(PC: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

Brie Larson wowed in a blue Gucci gown. 

(PC: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

Saoirse Ronan looked elegant in an Emerald Calvin Klein gown.

(PC: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

Charlize Theorn looked incredible in red. 

(PC: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

Jacob Tremblay is the most adorable person on the red carpet by far in an Armani tuxedo. 

(PC: Steve Granitz/WireImage)

Golden Globe Awards 2016

The 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards were broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel and produced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions.  Ricky Gervais returned as the host, haveing last hosted the 2012 telecast.   He delivered his monologue while sipping a beer and his opening poked fun at many recent events including Caitlyn Jenner, Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent, Jennifer Lawrence addressing the wage gap, and The Martian being nominated as a comedy. 

Heading into the awards, Carol led the way with the most film nominations, five, followed by The Revenant, Steve Jobs, and The Big Short each received four nominations. Netflix had a network high of eight nominations.  Going in to the show, there were very few clear winners, and there were many surprises in the winner's list. 

Matt Damon took home Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for The Martian and the film won for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical.  Best Screenplay was presented to screenwriter Aaron Sorkin for Steve Jobs and Kate Winslet also won Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for the film.  The Revenant won Best Motion Picture - Drama, Alejandro G. Inarritu took home the award for Best Director for the film, and Leonardo DiCaprio was awarded Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for the film, causing us to wonder if this will finally be his Oscar year.  Sylvester Stallone took home Best Supporting Actor for Creed.  Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for her role in Joy. Brie Larson took home Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for Room.  Inside Out won for Best Motion Picture - Animation, and with this win it is thought that it will most likely take home the Oscar in a few weeks as well.  

Wolf Hall took home best Miniseries or TV Movie.  Best Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries went to Oscar Issac for Show Me a Hero.  Jon Hamm won Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama for his role in Mad Men.   Lady Gaga won Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie for AHS:Hotel. Mr.Robot took home the award for Best Television Series -Drama and Christian Slater won Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or TV Movie for the show.  Best Actress in a Television Series - Drama went to Taraji P. Henson for Empire.  Maura Tierney won Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or TV Movie for The Affair with her first Golden Globe nomination. 

Rachel Bloom won Best Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend while Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle took home the award for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical and Gael Garcia Bernal also took home the award for the Best Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for the show. 

Denzel Washington was presented with the Cecil B. Demille Award for Lifetime Achievement by Tom Hanks. An incredibly deserving recipient who thanked the people who helped him get to where he is today including his family.

A full list of winners can be found here.

Red Carpet Fashion

Cate Blanchett is a work of art in Givenchy. Her dress was not as traditional of a style as many of the looks this year, but she was a vision on the red carpet. 
(photo cred: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

Viola Davis looked stunning in Marchesa Spring 2016.  

Saoirse Ronan looked elegant in a white YSL gown. 

Brie Larson sparkled (quite literally) in Calvin Klein.