Oscars round-up... who won what?

How could you miss the Oscars?! But for those that didn't manage to catch it, here's a round-up of the winners of the big six awards; Best Director, Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

In the nights other award categories Gravity truly ran supreme taking home the Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Other than Gravity, The Great Gatsby managed to pick up a couple of Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design which is great for a film that has not been given the greatest reviews from critics.

The Disney film Frozen won Best Animated Feature and also got the Oscar for Best Original Song; a great night for them and also the award is Disney's first Best Animated Feature Oscar in the 14 years that the category has been around. The outstanding Her, directed by Spike Jonze, only managed the one Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Ellen DeGeneres hosted the awards and although some critics have said her hosting was flat, I felt DeGeneres did a magnificent job, she was relaxed throughout and interacted wonderfully with the celebrities with her highlights including the ridiculously awesome selfie and a pizza delivery. The night was going excellently and the announcement of the big six awards made it even better.

Best Film: 12 Years a Slave

As the night went on I feared that 12 Years a Slave would fall victim to the Gravity dominance; but I'm so glad it didn't. 12 Years a Slave is stunningly crafted by the miraculously brilliant Steve McQueen and included outstanding performances from the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender. What I feel set this film apart from Gravity and the other nominees was its gripping true story that was phenomenally told. A film that will not be forgotten any time soon.

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Gravity gained its 7th Oscar with Cuaron gaining the Best Director award. Cuaron created a film that will be remembered for its technical prowess. However, I shocked that this award did end up in Cuaron's hands as I felt the direction from Steve McQueen was more worthy. Alfonso Cuaron had already been handed the award for Best Film Editing and I feel that that was where his personal Oscar lay, but not for Best Director.

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Matthew McConaughey was sublime in a performance that rightly deserved the Oscar. The man who was renowned for his rom-coms has proven himself on the big stage and shown everyone that his transformation into dramatic acting is complete. Alright Alright Alright.

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

This was hardly a surprise as Leto's performance as HIV-positive transgender woman is quite honestly immense. Leto was the strong favourite out-doing great performances from Jonah Hill and Michael Fassbender.

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

What a shock! Oh wait... no it wasn't. Blanchett was the bookies favourite and now has her second academy award; gaining her first for her performance in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)

I was so happy to see Lupita gain this award as her portrayal of Patsey was harrowing and so powerful that it just wouldn't have been right for anyone else to win the Oscar. I had a horrible feeling that Jennifer Lawrence would snatch the award in a similar fashion to last year but thankfully not.


2013 was a wonderful year for cinema... here's to an even better 2014!

J.Henderson