Oscar selfie becomes most retweeted tweet of all time: Ellen DeGeneres, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, and Oscar 2014 company.
Oscar 2014: The (nearly) all-star Oscar selfie is a social media mega-hit + TV ratings hits 10-year high in U.S.
Hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, whose “Oscars selfie” became the most retweeted tweet of all time, and featuring the likes of Angelina Jolie, Will Smith, and John Travolta as presenters – in addition to a pizza delivery man as part of an extended DeGeneres joke – the 2014 Oscar ceremony hit a 10-year high in overall viewership. In the coveted 18–49 age bracket, this year’s Oscar show drew a 12.9 rating vs. 13.0 last year; overall, in the United States an estimated 43 million people watched at least some segments of the Oscar telecast held on Sunday, March 2 – up 6 percent compared to last year’s show hosted by Seth MacFarlane, and featuring Ben Affleck’s Argo, Jennifer Lawrence, Daniel Day-Lewis, Christoph Waltz, and Anne Hathaway among the winners.
According to reports, in recent years only National Football League playoff games have reached a wider audience than the 2104 Oscar ceremony. This year’s telecast was also the most watched non-sports program on the American networks since the Friends finale back in 2004.
Oscar TV ratings higher if eventual Best Picture winner is a blockbuster?
Pundits claim that the Oscar ceremony reaches a wider TV audience when blockbusters are favorites to win at least some of the top awards, e.g., James Cameron’s Titanic (55 million in 1998) or Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (43.5 million in 2004). Lesser-known films, on the other hand, are supposed to draw less of an audience, which would help to explain the 2008 Oscar ceremony’s lowest-of-the-low viewership (32 million) – the year when Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men was voted Best Picture, and Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), and Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) took home Oscars. That Oscar “rule,” however, is hardly written in stone.
Among this year’s winners in the “popular” categories, for instance, only Best Director Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, turned out to be a domestic blockbuster. Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress Lupita Nyong’o, and Best Adapted Screenplay for John Ridley), Spike Jonze’s Her (Best Original Screenplay for writer-director Jonze), Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine (Best Actress Cate Blanchett), and Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club (Best Actor Matthew McConaughey, Best Supporting Actor Jared Leto) were all middling to minor performers at the North American box office.
Jared Leto Best Supporting Actor Oscar 2014 speech
As expected, first-time Academy Award nominee Jared Leto was the 2014 Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for his performance as an AIDS-stricken male-to-female transgender person in Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club. Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner costar.
Besides thanking those who worked on Dallas Buyers Club; his mother, “a high school dropout and a single mom” who “somehow … managed to make a better life for herself and her children”; Leto, apparently speaking for (many? some? a handful of?) other Oscar 2014 attendees, also remembered people’s protests / revolutions in Ukraine and Venezuela: “I want to say we are here and as you struggle to … to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible … We’re thinking of you tonight.”
And of course, Jared Leto also remembered those who have died of AIDS since the pandemic became world news in the early ’80s, and those suffering discrimination for being “different.”
And this for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to AIDS and to those of you out there who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love, tonight I stand here in front of the world with you and for you.
Jared Leto Best Supporting Actor Oscar 2014 competitors
Jared Leto’s fellow Best Supporting Actor nominees were Michael Fassbender for Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Barkhad Abdi for Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips, Bradley Cooper for David O. Russell’s American Hustle, and Jonah Hill for Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.
Photo of Jared Leto, Bono (a nominee for the song “Ordinary Love” from Justin Chadwick’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), and producer Guy Oseary (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Twilight Saga: New Moon) at the 2014 Oscar Nominees Luncheon: © A.M.P.A.S. / Jordan Murph.
Oscar 2014 winners & nominees
Best Picture
American Hustle – Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison & Jonathan Gordon
Captain Phillips – Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti & Michael De Luca
Dallas Buyers Club – Robbie Brenner & Rachel Winter
Gravity – Alfonso Cuarón & David Heyman
Her – Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze & Vincent Landay
Nebraska – Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa
Philomena – Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan & Tracey Seaward
* 12 Years a Slave – Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen & Anthony Katagas
The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joey McFarland & Emma Tillinger Koskoff
Best Foreign Language Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown / Alabama Monroe – Belgium
* The Great Beauty / La grande bellezza – Italy
The Hunt / Jagten – Denmark
The Missing Picture / L’Image manquante / Roubpheap del batbng – Cambodia
Omar / Umar – Palestine
Best Actress: Amy Adams, American Hustle; Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock, Gravity; Judi Dench, Philomena; Meryl Streep, August: Osage County.
Best Actor: Christian Bale, American Hustle; Bruce Dern, Nebraska; Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street; Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave; Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club.
Best Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips; Bradley Cooper, American Hustle; Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave; Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street; Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club.
Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
* Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
June Squibb – Nebraska
Best Director
* Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne – Nebraska
David O. Russell – American Hustle
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Adapted Screenplay Before Midnight, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke; Captain Phillips, Billy Ray; Philomena, Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope; 12 Years a Slave, John Ridley; The Wolf of Wall Street, Terence Winter.
Best Original Screenplay American Hustle, Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell; Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen; Dallas Buyers Club, Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack; Her, Spike Jonze; Nebraska, Bob Nelson.
Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing, Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen; Cutie and the Boxer, Zachary Heinzerling, Lydia Dean Pilcher; Dirty Wars, Richard Rowley, Jeremy Scahill; The Square, Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer; 20 Feet from Stardom, Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Gil Friesen.
Best Animated Feature: The Croods, Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco, Kristine Belson; Despicable Me 2, Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Chris Meledandri; Ernest & Celestine, Benjamin Renner, Didier Brunner; Frozen, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho; The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki.
Best Cinematography: The Grandmaster, Philippe Le Sourd; Gravity, Emmanuel Lubezki; Inside Llewyn Davis, Bruno Delbonnel; Nebraska, Phedon Papamichael; Prisoners, Roger A. Deakins.
Best Film Editing: American Hustle, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten; Captain Phillips, Christopher Rouse; Dallas Buyers Club, John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa; Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger; 12 Years a Slave, Joe Walker.
Best Original Score
The Book Thief – John Williams
* Gravity – Steven Price
Her – William Butler & Owen Pallett
Philomena – Alexandre Desplat
Saving Mr. Banks – Thomas Newman
Best Production Design
American Hustle – Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
Gravity – Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin & Joanne Woollard
* The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn
Her – K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
12 Years a Slave – Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker
Best Costume Design
American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson
The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping
* The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin
The Invisible Woman – Michael O’Connor
12 Years a Slave – Patricia Norris
Best Original Song
“Alone Yet Not Alone,” Alone Yet Not Alone – Music: Bruce Broughton; Lyrics: Dennis Spiegel
“Happy,” Despicable Me 2 – Music & Lyrics: Pharrell Williams
* “Let It Go,” Frozen – Music & Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
“The Moon Song,” Her – Music: Karen O; Lyrics: Karen O & Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love,” Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Music: Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen (U2); Lyrics: Paul Hewson (Bono)
Best Visual Effects
* Gravity – Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk & Neil Corbould
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton & Eric Reynolds
Iron Man 3 – Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash & Dan Sudick
The Lone Ranger – Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams & John Frazier
Star Trek: Into Darkness – Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann & Burt Dalton
Best Sound Editing
All Is Lost, Steve Boeddeker, Richard Hymns; Captain Phillips, Oliver Tarney; Gravity, Glenn Freemantle; The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Brent Burge; Lone Survivor, Wylie Stateman.
Best Sound Mixing
Captain Phillips, Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro; Gravity, Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro; The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Tony Johnson; Inside Llewyn Davis, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland; Lone Survivor, Andy Koyama, Beau Borders, David Brownlow.
Best Make-Up and Hairstyling: Dallas Buyers Club, Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews; Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, Stephen Prouty; The Lone Ranger, Joel Harlow, Gloria Pasqua-Casny.
Best Documentary Short: CaveDigger, Jeffrey Karoff; Facing Fear, Jason Cohen; Karama Has No Walls, Sara Ishaq; The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Malcolm Clarke, Nicholas Reed; Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall, Edgar Barens.
Best Animated Short Film: Feral, Daniel Sousa, Dan Golden; Get a Horse!, Lauren MacMullan, Dorothy McKim; Mr. Hublot, Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares; Possessions, Shuhei Morita; Room on the Broom, Max Lang, Jan Lachauer.
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, Alexandre Gavras; Helium, Anders Walter, Kim Magnusson; Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?), Selma Vilhunen, Kirsikka Saari; The Voorman Problem, Mark Gill, Baldwin Li.
Photo of Lupita Nyong’o and Jared Leto at the 2014 Oscar ceremony: Richard Harbaugh | © A.M.P.A.S.
Oscar presenters range from Alfred Hitchcock heroine to ’12 Years a Slave’ producer
Expect at least a couple of standing ovations at the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony to be held on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles. Oscar 2014 producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced earlier today the complete list of movie celebrities – all actors, including a handful of actor-directors / actor-producers – who will be presenters at the ceremony, to be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, and which will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide – even in the United States, via the ABC network. (See the full list below.)
Among the Oscar 2014 presenters, you’ll find a number of past Oscar winners and nominees. With a couple of exceptions, not from the very distant past, mind you, as the overwhelming majority of presenters are performers working in movies and/or television in the early 21st century – those whose names should mean something to television audiences in the 18-49 age bracket that advertisers love so much. In fact, there’ll be only five Oscar 2014 presenters whose film careers began in earnest before 1975.
Also, there’ll be several black presenters this year – an inevitability considering the nine nominations earned by Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave. Yet, whether or not because that film’s black actors aren’t “TV audience friendly” names, none of the 2014 Oscar ceremony’s black presenters is featured in the potential Best Picture winner.
Amy Adams & Angelina Jolie + Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence among Oscar presenters
- Five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams (Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter, The Master, American Hustle)
- Kristen Bell (Frozen, Veronica Mars)
- Jessica Biel (Total Recall, Shiva and May)
- Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dumb and Dumber To)
- six-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close (The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, The Natural, Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs – and to be seen in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy)
- two-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)
- Oscar winner Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, in addition to nominations for Volver and Nine)
- Benedict Cumberbatch (August: Osage County, The Hobbit: There and Back Again)
- two-time Oscar nominee Viola Davis (Doubt, The Help)
- three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, and Lincoln, plus nominations for In the Name of the Father and Gangs of the New York)
- two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull, plus nominations for Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Awakenings, Cape Fear, and Silver Linings Playbook)
- Zac Efron (That Awkward Moment, Neighbors)
- Two-time Oscar winner Sally Field (Norma Rae, 1979; Places in the Heart, 1984)
- Oscar nominee Harrison Ford (Witness, 1985)
- Oscar winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, 2004)
- Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 99 Homes)
- Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club, Draft Day)
- Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost, 1990)
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises)
- Oscar winner Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables, 2012)
- Oscar winner Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower, 1969)
- Chris Hemsworth (Thor: The Dark World, Snow White and the Huntsman)
- Oscar nominee Kate Hudson (Almost Famous, 2000)
- Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, 1994)
- Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (Girl Interrupted, 1999)
- Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)
- Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
- Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, in addition to nominations for Winter’s Bone and American Hustle)
- Oscar nominee Matthew McConaughey (in the running for Dallas Buyers Club)
- Ewan McGregor (August: Osage County)
- Oscar nominee Bill Murray (Lost in Translation)
- Kim Novak (Picnic, Vertigo)
- Tyler Perry (the Madea movies)
- Brad Pitt (one of the producers of 12 Years a Slave)
- Oscar winner Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, in addition to a nomination for The Defiant Ones)
- Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
- two-time Oscar nominee Will Smith (Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness)
- two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, American Beauty)
- Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses)
- Channing Tatum (Jupiter Ascending, 22 Jump Street)
- Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Monster, in addition to a nomination for North Country)
- Two-time Oscar nominee John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction)
- Two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained)
- Kerry Washington (Mother and Child, For Colored Girls)
- Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Noah)
- Two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts (21 Grams, The Impossible).
Last year’s Best Actress Academy Award winner and Oscar 2014 presenter Jennifer Lawrence image: © Sara Wood | © A.M.P.A.S.
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