"12 Years A Slave" is your Best Picture winner!
The Steve McQueen film beat out a long list of films including "American Hustle,""Gravity," and "The Wolf of Wall Street."
The film previously won Best Motion Picture at both the Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards.
SEE ALSO: Matthew McConaughey wins Best Actor
AND: This star-studded Oscar selfie breaks record for most retweeted photo ever
Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey, and "12 Years A Slave" were the big winners during Sunday's 86th annual Academy Awards.
See who else is celebrating. A complete list of winners is below:
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Barkhad Abdi in “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper in “American Hustle”
Michael Fassbender in “12 Years a Slave”
Jonah Hill in “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club” *WINNER
Achievement in costume design
“American Hustle” Michael Wilkinson
“The Grandmaster” William Chang Suk Ping
“The Great Gatsby” Catherine Martin *WINNER
“The Invisible Woman” Michael O’Connor
“12 Years a Slave” Patricia Norris
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Dallas Buyers Club” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews *WINNER
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
Best animated short film
“Feral” Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
“Get a Horse!” Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
“Mr. Hublot” Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares *WINNER
“Possessions” Shuhei Morita
“Room on the Broom” Max Lang and Jan Lachauer
Best animated feature film of the year
“The Croods” Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson
“Despicable Me 2” Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri
“Ernest & Celestine” Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
“Frozen” Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho *WINNER
“The Wind Rises” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
Achievement in visual effects
“Gravity” Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould *WINNER
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
“Iron Man 3” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
“The Lone Ranger” Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
“Star Trek Into Darkness” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton
Best live action short film
“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” Esteban Crespo
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)” Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
“Helium” Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson *WINNER
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)” Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
“The Voorman Problem” Mark Gill and Baldwin Li
Best documentary short subject
“CaveDigger” Jeffrey Karoff
“Facing Fear” Jason Cohen
“Karama Has No Walls” Sara Ishaq
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed *WINNER
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Edgar Barens
Best documentary feature
“The Act of Killing”Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“Cutie and the Boxer” Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
“Dirty Wars” Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
“The Square” Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
“20 Feet from Stardom” Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers *WINNER
Best foreign language film of the year
“The Broken Circle Breakdown” Belgium
“The Great Beauty” Italy *WINNER
“The Hunt” Denmark
“The Missing Picture” Cambodia
“Omar” Palestine
Achievement in sound mixing
“Captain Phillips” Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
“Gravity” Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro *WINNER
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
“Inside Llewyn Davis” Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
“Lone Survivor” Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow
Achievement in sound editing
“All Is Lost” Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
“Captain Phillips” Oliver Tarney
“Gravity” Glenn Freemantle *WINNER
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Brent Burge
“Lone Survivor” Wylie Stateman
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Sally Hawkins in “Blue Jasmine”
Jennifer Lawrence in “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o in “12 Years a Slave” *WINNER
Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County”
June Squibb in “Nebraska”
Achievement in cinematography
“The Grandmaster” Philippe Le Sourd
“Gravity” Emmanuel Lubezki *WINNER
“Inside Llewyn Davis” Bruno Delbonnel
“Nebraska” Phedon Papamichael
“Prisoners” Roger A. Deakins
Achievement in film editing
“American Hustle” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
“Captain Phillips” Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger *WINNER
“12 Years a Slave” Joe Walker
Achievement in production design
“American Hustle” Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
“Gravity” Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
“The Great Gatsby” Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn *WINNER
“Her” Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
“12 Years a Slave” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Book Thief” John Williams
“Gravity” Steven Price *WINNER
“Her” William Butler and Owen Pallett
“Philomena” Alexandre Desplat
“Saving Mr. Banks” Thomas Newman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone”
Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel
“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
“Let It Go” from “Frozen” *WINNER
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
“The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson
Adapted screenplay
“Before Midnight” Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
“Captain Phillips” Screenplay by Billy Ray
“Philomena” Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
“12 Years a Slave” Screenplay by John Ridley *WINNER
“The Wolf of Wall Street” Screenplay by Terence Winter
Original screenplay
“American Hustle” Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
“Blue Jasmine” Written by Woody Allen
“Dallas Buyers Club” Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
“Her” Written by Spike Jonze *WINNER
“Nebraska” Written by Bob Nelson
Achievement in directing
“American Hustle” David O. Russell
“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón *WINNER
“Nebraska” Alexander Payne
“12 Years a Slave” Steve McQueen
“The Wolf of Wall Street” Martin Scorsese
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Amy Adams in “American Hustle”
Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine” *WINNER
Sandra Bullock in “Gravity”
Judi Dench in “Philomena”
Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County”
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Christian Bale in “American Hustle”
Bruce Dern in “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club” *WINNER
Best motion picture of the year
“American Hustle” Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
“Captain Phillips” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers
“Dallas Buyers Club” Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers
“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers
“Her” Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers
“Nebraska” Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers
“Philomena” Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers
“12 Years a Slave” Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers *WINNER
“The Wolf of Wall Street” Nominees to be determined
If you tuned into the Oscars, you may have been confused when John Travolta took the stage.
The “Pulp Fiction” actor was introducing Idina Menzel before she performed Oscar-nominated song “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen”; however, he made one misstep.
Instead of introducing singer Idina Menzel, Travolta welcomed someone who sounded like “Adele Dazeem” to the stage.
Watch the video below:
Twitter took notice:
The one question remain unanswered tonight: HOW CAN YOU GET ADELE DAZEEM FROM IDINA MENZEL?? #Oscars2014
— Willem Chua (@Willemaniac) March 3, 2014I wish I'd had a chance to see Adele Dazeem in Wicked. #johntravolta#Oscars2014
— Virginia Garren (@vagarren) March 3, 2014It's, like, you're Idina Menzel and John Travolta introduces some #AdeleDazeem and you're, like, who? And they're, like, "YOU!"
— Isa (@artincircles) March 3, 2014"Let It Go" by Adele Dazeem (name- butchering courtesy of John Travolta)
— Tanya Gupta (@tgupts) March 3, 2014Adele Dazeem?!?!?!?
— Robb C. Sewell (@rcsewell) March 3, 2014I'm still actually laughing out loud at Adele Dazeem.
— Shelby Walerzak (@shelbyjill) March 3, 2014My firstborn will now be named Adele Dazeem.
— Lydia Snead (@lgsnead) March 3, 2014SEE ALSO: This star-studded Oscar selfie breaks the record for most retweeted photo ever
Ellen DeGeneres hosted the 86th annual Academy Awards Sunday night and insulted some of Hollywood's A-list celebrities along the way.
During her opening monologue, the talk show host poked fun at many nominees and stars in the audience:
Watch the entire Oscars opening monologue below to see who else DeGeneres calls out:
SEE ALSO: This Star-Studded Oscar Photo Was Retweeted 500,000 Times In 20 Minutes
Lupita Nyong'o took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "12 Years A Slave."
The 31-year-old, Yale School of Drama-educated actress thanked “the spirit of Patsey," her character in Steve McQueen's slavery drama for helping her performance.
Nyong'o, who was born in Mexico and raised in Kenya, went on to preach, "no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid." Read the rest of her incredible speech below:
It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s. And so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance. And for Solomon, thank you for telling her story and your own. Steve McQueen, you charge everything you fashion with a breath of your own spirit. Thank you so much for putting me in this position. This has been the joy of my life. I’m certain that the dead are standing about you and watching and they are grateful and so am I.
Chiwetel, thank you for your fearlessness and how deeply you went into telling Solomon’s story. Michael Fassbender, thank you so much. You were my rock. Alfre and Sarah, it was a thrill to work with you. Joe Walker, the invisible performer in the editing room, thank you. Sean Bobbitt, Kalaadevi, Adruitha, Patty Norris, thank you, thank you, thank you, I could not be here without your work.
I want to thank my family for your training and the Yale School of Drama as well for your training. My friends, the Wilsons, this one’s for you. My brother, Junior, sitting by my side. Thank you so much. You are my best friend. And Ben, my other best friend, my chosen family.
When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from your dreams are valid.
Thank you.
Watch Nyong'o's touching speech below:
SEE ALSO: Lupita Nyong'o Wins Best Supporting Actress
MORE: Jared Leto Thanks His 'High School Drop Out Single Mom' In Oscar Acceptance Speech
Jimmy Kimmel wore jeans and an untucked button-down shirt on Sunday's Oscar's red carpet.
The casual attire was part of the late night host's pre-Oscars show bit in which he confronted "real people" tweeting mean things about celebrities at the Oscars. The bit didn't go over well, with viewers thinking he was making fun of them. We're sure the Academy wasn't thrilled with his outfit, either.
Kimmel cleaned up later to host the post-Oscars special with guests Kevin Spacey, Anjelica Huston, Andy Garcia, and a cameo from Toronto "Crack Mayor" Rob Ford.
The 86th annual Academy Awards were filled with photobombs, selfies, pizza, and a lot of throwbacks to "The Wizard of Oz."
There was no big flashy beginning this year, but at three-and-a-half hours long the Academy Awards didn't need one.
If you didn't watch the show in its entirety, here's what you missed.
Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres was worried about the celebrities in the audience Sunday night who would not have access to food throughout the three-plus hour show, so she decided to take action.
DeGeneres ordered pizzas for the star-studded audience.
After an actual delivery boy from Big Mama's & Papa's Pizzeria passed out slices to the Oscar nominees, DeGeneres joked, "I don't have any money, who here has money? Sandy [Bullock], you have a lot of money, you can tip him right? Where's Harvey Weinstein? No pressure just a billion people watching, whatever you feel is right."
Best Supporting Actor winner Jared Leto was one of few celebs to actually grab a greasy slice.
Meryl Streep did, too.
Kevin Spacey helped pass out pizza to his row.
"It was five Big Papas at 60 square slices each,"confirmed an employee at Big Mama's & Papa's Pizzeri. "But they got a bunch more, those were just the big ones.
Here's a list of who actually ate the Oscar pizza:
Here is a breakdown of your favorite stars' pizza preferences at the #Oscarshttp://t.co/N5yFuxwIrbpic.twitter.com/K5FzVYwtma
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) March 3, 2014Watch the funny bit below:
SEE ALSO: Ellen DeGeneres Makes Fun Of Oscar Nominees In Opening Monologue
The 86th Academy Awards were last night.
Despite the ceremony being three-and-a-half hours long, host Ellen Degeneres livened up the Dolby Theater.
Here are the best GIFs from the night. (Note: It may take time for some to load.)
Ellen made fun of Jennifer Lawrence for falling all the time at the Oscars.
Pharrell got Meryl Streep to shimmy during his performance of Oscar-nominated song "Happy."
A lot of them involved host Ellen DeGeneres ... like when she handed Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper a lottery ticket as an early consolation prize.
... or when she scared the crap out of Oscar nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Sandra Bullock.
Then there was the pizza frenzy.
Ellen went around asking audience members for donations.
... and pocketed lip balm from Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o.
John Travolta considered adding to the pot, but then decided against it.
When it finally came, winner Jared Leto was anxious to grab a slice.
The mad scramble to make the most retweeted image ever.
Brad Pitt approves.
Robert De Niro looked bored during Spike Jonze's Best Original Screenplay speech for "Her."
Joseph Gordon Levitt fiddled with his Oscar envelope:
Benedict Cumberbatch tried to photobomb another image.
The many faces of presenter Jim Carrey:
Sandra Bullock teared up listening to "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuaron on stage.
Bette Midler during her beautiful performance of "The Wind Beneath My Wings":
The exact moment Matthew McConaughey realized he won the Best Actor Oscar ...
... and celebrated with a kiss to his wife Camila Alves.
And then his subsequent signature point and wink afterward on stage.
And, of course, Jennifer Lawrence making a scene on the Oscar red carpet.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Walker, James Gandolfini, and Harold Ramis were among the 47 Hollywood stars remembered during Sunday night's Oscar's "In Memoriam" segment.
But who did the Academy leave out of this year's tribute?
Actors:
Directors:
Producers:
Screenwriters:
Authors:
Editors:
Costume Designers:
Publicists:
Animators:
SEE ALSO: The 18 Best Photos From Oscar Night
Songwriter Robert Lopez achieved a huge career accomplishment last night when he won the Academy Award for Best Song for his work on the Disney Animated tale Frozen, but in actuality that’s only a fraction of what is actually an even bigger accomplishment.
With last night’s win, Lopez has become only the 13th person in history to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony, also known as EGOTing.
Lopez shared tonight’s trophy with Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who co-wrote the music and lyrics to "Let It Go," the sweeping epic song sung by Idina Menzel that absolutely blew critics and audiences away when Frozen was first released late last year.
In addition to his Oscar, Lopez won two Tonys for co-writing the Broadway hit The Book of Mormon, a Grammy for that play’s soundtrack, and a primetime Emmy for his work on the show Scrubs.
"EGOT" was an acronym first put together by actor Philip Michael Thomas, best known for playing the role of Tubbs on Miami Vice.
It was his hope that before the end of his career he would have an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony, but sadly things did not pan out that way for him.
Price does, however, belong to a group that also includes Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Aubrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, and Scott Rudin.
Rather than just having you research all of those names and their victories yourself, however, you can just reference the handy infographic we created.
While Michael Thomas may have created the goal of "EGOTing," it was really brought back into the mainstream a few years ago when it became a plotline for Tracy Morgan’s character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.
SEE ALSO: John Travolta Totally Butchered Idina Menzel's Name While Introducing Her
After the 86th annual Academy Awards concluded Sunday night, stars did a costume change and headed to the super exclusive Vanity Fair Oscar After Party in West Hollywood.
Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter’s annual bash brings out the most A-list guests, who are all able to let loose and celebrate after the big show.
This year's attendees included everyone from Rupert Murdoch and Harvey Weinstein to Sofia Vergara and a handful of Victoria's Secret models.
Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were one of the great comedic teams, responsible for classic movies like "Caddyshack,""Ghostbusters," and "Groundhog Day."
However, the two stopped speaking after the production of "Groundhog Day," which led to a decade-long feud.
But after Ramis passed away last week, Murray proved during the Oscars that it was all water under the bridge.
While presenting the award for Best Cinematography, Murray added to the end of the list of nominees, saying, “Oh, we forgot one. Harold Ramis for 'Caddyshack,' 'Ghostbusters,' and 'Groundhog Day.'”
Co-presenter Amy Adams and the rest of the crowd cheered after the remarks while Murray then apologized for taking away the focus from the actual nominees.
"Please forgive me, gentlemen," Murray said.
The award eventually went to the cinematography team from "Gravity," but the award for most surprising poignant moment at this year's Oscars went to Murray.
Watch the tribute below:
SEE ALSO: Here's Who The Academy Snubbed During The 'In Memoriam' Segment
Last night, Leonardo DiCaprio was up for Best Actor at the 86th Academy Awards for his role in "The Wolf of Wall Street."
Spoiler: He didn't take home the award. Instead, it went to his "Wolf" co-star Matthew McConaughey, who starred in "Dallas Buyers' Club."
It's the fifth time DiCaprio has been nominated for an Oscar and has gone home empty handed.
The actor has a really big following online — especially on Tumblr. He's become something of a meme for never having won an Academy Award.
So you could imagine how the Internet took the news when Leo lost for a fifth time Sunday night.
Not so well.
Leo waiting for his Oscar pic.twitter.com/YkQufLGa8s
— Lauren (@Tobias4Tris_) March 3, 2014How has Leo not won an oscar? He's been in so many amazing and classic movies!
— Kyle Serrano (@SerranoSwag8) March 3, 2014actual pic of leonardo dicaprio's heart breaking for not getting an oscar pic.twitter.com/D7StIx1jKf
— ✿ hank scorpio ✿ (@_Elinor_) March 3, 2014Fans are rattled by how close Leo has been to the Oscar ... but how he can never quite get it.
I laughed a little bit too hard. (Poor Leo never catching his Oscar.) pic.twitter.com/sK7Rvo3znp
— Fie ☻ (@kristensrunes) March 3, 2014
Can't believe Di Caprio didn't get an Oscar, but this is funny... pic.twitter.com/XsjaMuYx46
— Thomas Coxhead (@iamcoxhead) March 3, 2014This one's been going around a while, but it's still a goodie.
Basically, it's just not fair.
And fans believe it never will be.
What if someone makes a film based on Leonardo DiCaprio's life and the main actor wins an oscar for it?
— Olivia (@mxmphismayfire) March 3, 2014
Nothing will make Leo fans feel better until he gets the Oscar.
a picture of Leonardo Dicaprio crying, made out of pictures of Oscar winners pic.twitter.com/5Rz1Vig1VC
— Drug Boogers (@Puddug) March 3, 2014
Another year, another Oscar ceremony in the books.
Once the booze wears off from Matthew McConaughey’s final “Alright, alright, alright,” of our year in film, we can get down to the really important part of the Oscars and start second-guessing the winners.
Sunday night is all about rewarding actors and filmmakers for their hard work in the past year.
Monday morning is reserved for the art of tearing down our sacred idols, convincing our coworkers that we always thought American Hustle was a little overrated or that Dallas Buyers Club was more than just a Philadelphia knock-off. And somewhere in the middle of all these conversations, someone will ask about Leonardo DiCaprio.
When will the poor guy ever win an Oscar?
Last month, Esquire ran a story on Leonardo DiCaprio titled “The Moment Leonardo DiCaprio Became a Man.” In a throwaway line intended to highlight his perpetually boyish good looks, his agent Rick Yorn refers to DiCaprio as a character actor in a leading man’s body. This intended compliment instead offers a great deal of insight into DiCaprio’s performances and why he is so often overshadowed by those around him.
Including last night’s nomination for The Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio has been nominated for four acting Academy Awards (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, WoWS) without taking home a single statue. During that same period, DiCaprio’s films have generated an additional eleven nominations for his co-stars and supporting cast, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Cate Blanchett, and Christoph Waltz each walking away with the final prize. 
This statistic fails to highlight actors such as Jack Nicholson (The Departed) or Tom Hanks (Catch Me If You Can) who did not receive Oscar nominations for their performances but are widely considered among the best actors of their generation.
While Oscar nominations are only one criterion, these statistics help highlight an ongoing trend in DiCaprio’s career; namely, that he is frequently the least interesting performer in his own movies. This is the inherent difficulty in being cast as the leading man.
Characters like Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) and Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) are highlight performances intended to show the intensity of the actors. Likewise, Michael Shannon in Reservation Road is allowed to yell and scream in a movie otherwise filled with quiet desperation. Hollywood tends to reward—and remember—bombastic performances over more subtle fare, and DiCaprio’s frequent casting as the stoic protagonist allows his scenes to be eaten away by his supporting cast. He is asked to play a focal point character; actors like Nicholson, Day-Lewis, and Shannon are free to play the biggest possible version of themselves while orbiting.
DiCaprio also struggles with his penchant for multi-year biopics. Films like J. Edgar and The Aviator (for which he got a Leading Role nomination) require him to play a single character through many stages of his life, never allowing the actor to fully inhabit characters at a single point in time. The past, present, and future versions of the actor weigh heavily on his performance; his role becomes one of continuity, the personification of the narrative thread that holds the entire piece together.
When paired onscreen with actors living fully in the present—playing characters who are defined by their relationship with the lead rather than by their own complicated backstories—DiCaprio is again made to suffer. Cate Blanchett in The Aviator plays Katharine Hepburn as she was at the height of her popularity and influence. We do not need to see her rise to prominence to understand her interactions with Howard Hughes; this narrow focus allows Blanchett to carve out a character an inch wide but a mile deep, a markedly different approach than the man with which she’s sharing screentime.
Interestingly, the past few years have seen DiCaprio move away from the confines placed upon him by his persona as a leading man. In Django Unchained, DiCaprio moved back to a supporting role, freeing himself of his straight-man straitjacket and allowing him to play an antagonist with both humor and venom.
Then there’s The Wolf of Wall Street. This may be the first time that DiCaprio was genuinely free to be the most energetic and commanding character in a film, not left to share his spotlight with a veteran actor in a flashier role. This is partially due to the lack of progression for the film’s primary character, Jordan Belfort. While Belfort’s methods may change over the course of his career, his underlying motivations—greed and self-interest—remain a constant. Here DiCaprio’s singular focus on Belfort as an unbalanced addict keeps his performance elevated above his supporting cast, even with Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey doing their best to play spoiler. He is allowed to be both a character and a lead, a perfect match for his sensibilities as an actor.
Do these performances mean that DiCaprio is growing as an actor? Or is he just learning to play the game? It could be said that the villain and the addict are easier roles to play than the straight man, marked more by physicality than emotion. It seems to me that DiCaprio is an actor who has always given a great deal of thought to his craft, choosing each role as an opportunity to work with directors or actors he admires. Perhaps his clout within the industry will direct him towards smaller or secondary roles that allow him to show more personality. In fact it may happen soon as his production company recently acquired the rights to the Richard Jewell story, reportedly with the intention to cast Jonah Hill as the lead and DiCaprio as his attorney.
DiCaprio may be a very good actor who has hitherto been eluded by AMPAS greatness, but he is also one who also knows the industry well enough to play to his strengths. When DiCaprio finally wins that first Oscar, don’t be surprised if it comes in a supporting role.
SEE ALSO: This Star-Studded Oscar Selfie Breaks Record As Most Retweeted Photo Ever
The Associated Press asked Ellen DeGeneres for permission to share her now-famous Oscar selfie with subscribers to their photo service. But does Ellen have the right to give it away? Who owns that picture?
In case you're emerging from a coma long enough to have missed the story but short enough to be aware of the word "selfie," here's what happened. While hosting the Oscars on Sunday night, DeGeneres went into the audience to take a photo with a cluster of Hollywood bigwigs (and one bigwig's brother). Her (successful) goal was to beat the all-time record for retweets, which, as of writing, she's done three times over.
According to Paul Colford of the Associated Press, who spoke with The Wire by phone, the AP simply asked DeGeneres for permission to use the photo, and it was granted. "We reached out to her staff and asked for permission to use her photo," Colford said, adding that they "were allowed to use it for editorial purposes." The agency wrote a quick blog post about it saying exactly that: "Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres granted The Associated Press the rights for the editorial use …"
The problem, according to Los Angeles-area entertainment lawyer Ethan Kirschner, whom The Wire also spoke with, is that DeGeneres might not own the copyright on the photo. "Historically," Kirschner told me, "it's always been the person who pressed the shutter who's technically the person that owns copyright." In part, that's a function of the age of the art of photography; the idea that everyone has his own camera in his pocket is a fairly new one. When the courts were trying to figure out who gets copyright, they "had to assign copyright to someone; they gave it to the person that literally pressed the button."
If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscarspic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014In the case of the Oscare selfie, that person wasn't DeGeneres — it was actor Bradley Cooper. In her tweet, DeGeneres acknowledges that fact (in case the many television cameras capturing the scene hadn't made it obvious): "If only Bradley's arm was longer," she wrote, joking that more celebs could have been included in the picture. "In this case, if you go by the technical law, Cooper would own the copyright," Kirschner said.
And then he continued: "Does anyone else have a claim as a co-author of that photograph?" It's unlikely that Cooper, should he choose to do so, would be able to defend sole copyright in court. (We would, however, love to see that trial.) Kirschner points to the idea of co-authorship, a principle upheld in the case Brod v. General Publishing Group. In that case, a photographer sued a book author for using photos that he'd taken without permission. But since the author had participated in the creation of the images — how they were framed, look at proofs — he was consider a co-owner, granting him the right to publish them. If Ellen needed to keep Cooper at bay, Kirschner thinks, this is how she could do so. And not necessarily only Ellen. It could be a series of suits and counter-suits from Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt and whoever else helped compose the shot could have varying levels of claim.
The big question, though, is whether Samsung can claim copyright. The Verge reports on the phone/camera/everything company's advertising deal with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that puts on the show. Samsung has advertised on the show for years, and — although Ellen used an iPhone for her backstage pictures — the phone used for two selfies onstage was very obviously a Samsung device. Was this an in-show ad? Could Samsung actually own the photo?
Probably not, according to Kirschner. Let's say there was a contract between the Academy or DeGeneres and the phone company. "If Samsung had an agreement with Ellen that they would exclusively own the rights to the photo, that may not then apply to Bradley," he said. So if Samsung tried to enforce an agreement with Ellen (which, again, may not exist), Cooper could again muck up the works, since he's exempt from that agreement, having not, you know, agreed to it. Samsung can't say "we have copyright over all pictures taken on this device."
Could Samsung claim co-owner status, if they, say, told Ellen they'd like her to go into the audience and take a picture with those celebrities? Kirschner doubts it. In the Brod case, "he was a compositional contributor on the shot. It's a hard case to make for Samsung."
So the AP is probably safe in getting sign-off from DeGeneres but, just to be safe, it might be worth checking with Cooper's people as well. Luckily for all involved, ownership of popular images isn't the sort of thing that Hollywood types get litigious about.
Update: Quartz's Zach Seward raises another interesting wrinkle: the distribution method. Twitter doesn't claim copyright of photos published on the service, but only the right to publish it. (This situation, too, has been addressed in court.) In fact,Twitter's copyright page offers a helpful tip. "In general, the photographer and NOT the subject of a photograph is the actual rights holder of the resulting photograph."
Update: Eric Spiegelman, himself an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, presents the DeGeneres case for sole ownership.
Ellen DeGeneres came up with the idea for the selfie and proceeded to execute it. In the process of producing the selfie, it became apparent that she needed a crew, and Bradley Cooper took in upon himself to be this photographer. Ellen DeGeneres, of course, consented to his involvement. At that moment, the services of Bradley Cooper were employed by Ellen DeGeneres for some non-financial compensation (the added fame of being a part of Hollywood history, perhaps).
Usually, when an individual creative contribution becomes part of a "work made for hire," it's clearly spelled out in a written contract. Here, the parties did not have enough time to draw up an agreement. But Bradley Cooper has been working in Hollywood long enough to know that when he is employed in the production of a picture, it's always a "work for hire" situation. On every movie he's ever made, he signed a contract stating as much. Everyone who contributes anything creative to a film signs a similar agreement. As such, Bradley Cooper is aware of the standard business practice of this industry and can be reasonably expected to operate in the same way in the absence of a written contract.
SEE ALSO: This Star-Studded Oscar Selfie Breaks Record As Most Retweeted Photo Ever
During Sunday's Academy Awards, show host Ellen DeGeneres took it upon herself to feed the A-list actors in attendance by ordering 10 large pizzas and passing them out throughout the star-studded crowd.
After a call was placed to Big Mama's and Papa's pizzeria around 5pm, delivery guy Edgar had no idea he would be dragged into the audience to deliver pizza to Oscar nominees in front of 43 million viewers.
But the images of Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jared Leto, and Brad Pitt chomping down on the greasy 'za proved to be the most incredible and priceless of advertising for the 20-location pizza chain in Southern California.
According to Variety, a 30-second commercial spot during the Oscars broadcast costs around $1.8 million,
Ellen spent about two whole minutes distributing the slices and then another minute collecting money, so TMZ estimates the free advertising for the pizzeria would total around $10.8 million.
The site points out that since the chain spent no money in actually producing a commercial, they pretty much received "the best ad deal in the history of television."
The pizzeria's franchise owner confirmed the free advertising has been paying off big time.
“I would say [sales increased] 300, or 400, or 500 percent,” Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizza franchiser Aro Agakhanyan told TheWrap. “We got a lot of orders, a lot of online orders. We had over 60,000 visitors on our website in one hour; there were a lot of things happening.”
According to Agakhanyan, DeGeneres is “a regular customer” at the chain’s Burbank location,which is near her daytime talk show's studio — however, the delivery order for the Oscars telecast was placed Sunday at a different location closer to the Dolby Theatre.
“She just called over there — just made a pizza delivery order,” Agakhanyan recalled. “And then the person who took the delivery, actually, he is the franchisee of the location. It was so busy that he took the delivery himself.”
“He had no idea that he was walking to the front stage,"Agakhanyan confirmed. "He was not aware of that.”
After trying to collect money from Sandra Bullock and Harvey Weinstein to tip the delivery guy on live television, DeGeneres gave him a $1,000 tip on her talk show Monday following the awards show.
Watch Edgar recall the crazy experience below on "Ellen":
SEE ALSO: Here's A List Of Actors Who Actually Ate Ellen DeGeneres' Oscar Pizza
Before "Captain Phillips" Best Supporting Actor nominee Barkhad Abdi was thumbs-upping his way down the red carpet at Sunday's Academy Awards, the 28-year-old was driving a limo in Minnesota.
Everything changed after Abdi went to an open casting call and got the role as Somali pirate "Muse" in the Oscar-nominated Tom Hanks film based on a true story.
While the film had a $55 million production budget, the first-time actor made just $65,000 for his time on the film.
To put the paycheck into perspective, the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) minimum is $60,000 before commissions and taxes for a feature film. Abdi's fellow Best Supporting Actor nominee Jonah Hill took a similar $60,000 paycheck — but also pay cut — just to be able to work with director Martin Scorsese on "The Wolf Of Wall Street."
But now two years after Abdi's initial paycheck, a New Yorker story reveals that he is struggling to support himself.
“When Abdi is in Los Angeles to promote the film, he subsists on a per diem, good at the Beverly Hilton, where the studio likes to put him up. The town car is available only for official publicity events. His clothes are loaners. Recently Abdi requested that he be allowed to stay at a commuter hotel near LAX to be closer to his friend, a Somali cabdriver from Minneapolis, who shuttles him around for free.”
While "Captain Phillips" has since raked in nearly $218 million worldwide, Abdi returned to Minneapolis after shooting and went to work for his brother's mobile phone store.
When the movie premiered, Abdi quit the job and packed his bags for Hollywood — where he now lives with his "Captain Phillips" co-star and fellow Minnesotan, Faysal Ahmed.
While Abdi says"I’m reading some scripts now," neither new actor has any future projects listed on IMDB.
MORE: Jonah Hill Took $60,000 SAG Minimum Pay For 'Wolf Of Wall Street'
After all the Oscar talk of who won, who lost, who stole the show, and how the show ran, maybe you're exhausted on 12 Years A Slave, Gravity, Her, Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska, Philomena, American Hustle, The Wolf Of Wall Street and Captain Phillips. So, how about we look ahead to 2015?
Because it's never too soon.
There's a barrage of high-profile projects coming out in the next 10 months that can qualify for the Academy Awards, but which 10 features do we feel are fighting fit for Oscar? Sure, most of these are sight unseen. But after all the award season predictions and Oscar watching, we think we've nailed down 10 films that are ripe for a Best Picture nod next year.
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jude Law, and Tilda Swinton.
Director: Wes Anderson
Release Date: March 7th, 2014
Why It Could Win: Anderson has been Academy Awards-nominated three times, twice for Best Original Screenplay (Moonrise Kingdom and The Royal Tenenbaums) and once for Best Animated Feature (Fantastic Mr. Fox). The Grand Budapest Hotelis his most elaborate and ambitious production yet, and we suspect the Academy will take notice and pay tribute. It's got a spectacular and star-stacked cast, an earnest nostalgia for old school Hollywood fare, as well as a whimsical story of romance and regret. What's not to love? Plus, as we've seen with Her's nomination, this Academy is not so stodgy as it once was.
Cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and Anthony Hopkins
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Release Date: March 28th, 2014
Why It Could Win: On paper this biblical pic is pretty tough to beat. Writer-director Aronofsky has an enviable record with the Academy since 2000, when his second film Requiem for a Dream earned an Oscar nod for Ellen Burstyn. In 2009, The Wrestler wrangled nominations for Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Two years later, Natalie Portman won for Black Swan, which also boasted a Best Director and Best Picture nod. Now, I won't go so far as to say Aronofsky's due at this point. But no matter how daring his dramas, he's made the Academy recognize him. A nomination is almost guaranteed. But with a cast of Oscar-winners onboard, Noah could be his big winner.
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Amy Ryan, Mireille Enos, and Alessandro Nivola
Director: Atom Egoyan
Release Date: May 9th, 2014
Why It Could Win: Egoyan has had two previous brushes with Oscar, both in 1997 when he earned nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director for The Sweet Hereafter. Since then, his brand of sensual crime drama has largely been ignored by the Academy. But this time he's sinking his teeth into a twisted true crime story that has drawn headlines for decades. It's sure to pique Academy members' interest, and with a cast made up of Oscar winners (Witherspoon, Firth and Ryan) as well as actor to watch Dane DeHaan, Devil's Knot could prove darkly enticing enough to get Egoyan a Best Picture nomination at last. At the very least, it should lock down some acting nods.
