MOVIES

American Culture would be nothing without mentioning the presence of Entertainment Industry and how it reflects and influences societal trends and manifestations. The Hallmark of the Entertainment Industry which is centered in Hollywood, California is the crowning glory of the movie industry called “The Academy Awards”, commonly called  “The Oscars”. Started in 1929 this annual ceremony has been a litmus test to judge new movies and the actors and crew which make them.

This year’s Academy Awards ceremony took place on March 2, 2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and was hosted by Ellen DeGenerisis.

The 86th Academy Awards ceremony was held on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles

Here is the video announcement of the announcements for the 2014 Oscar nominations which were announced  on January 16, 2014, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy, and actor Chris Hemsworth:

And here are the winners:

Category

BEST PICTURE:                                                       12 Years a Slave

BEST DIRECTOR:                                                    Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:                            Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:                       Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:                                     Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:                                  Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:                              Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:                                  12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:                                 Her (Spike Jonze)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:                             The Great Beauty (Italy)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:                                           Let it Go -Frozen

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:                                        Gravity (Steven Price)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:                             20 Feet from Stardom

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT:                  The Lady in Number 6

BEST FILM EDITING:                                             Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger)

BEST MAKE-UP & HAIRSTYLING:                            Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews)

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED):                            Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigare

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION):                        Helium (Anders Walter, Kim Magnusson )

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:      :-The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn)

BEST SOUND MIXING:   Gravity (Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher B)BEST SOUND MIXING :-  Gravity (Glenn Freemantle)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:  Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:               The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY        Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)

Here are the 2012 Must-See Movies which received Academy Awards in their various categories:

•  Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson, “Hugo”
•  Best Art Direction: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schavo, “Hugo”
•  Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges, “The Artist”
•  Best Makeup: Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, “The Iron Lady”
•  Best Foreign Language Film: “A Separation”
•  Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
•  Best Editing: Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
•  Best Sound Editing: Phillip Stockton and Eugene Gearty, “Hugo”
•  Best Sound Mixing: Tom Fleischman and John Midgley, “Hugo”
•  Best Documentary: “Undefeated”
•  Best Animated Feature: “Rango”
•  Best Visual Effects: “Hugo”
•  Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
•  Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
•  Best Original Song: Bret McKenzie, “Man or Muppet”
•  Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
•  Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
•  Best Live Action Short: “The Shore”
•  Best Documentary Short: “Saving Face”
•  Best Animated Short: “The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
•  Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
•  Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
•  Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
•  Best Picture: “The Artist”

Go To the “Rotten Tomatoes” website for more details and reviews from the critics.