Oscars 2015 : 'Birdman' wins Best Picture, Patricia Arquette wins, and a ratings dive.

     Well, the Oscars have come and gone. I would have written a review of the Oscars yesterday but you know how life can be.

     But anyway, onto films' biggest night....

     This is one of the year's where I thought that most of my early predictions (one of my missing posts from this blog) would be correct. I didn't get a chance to see many of the nominated films but I wasn't surprised by the winners.

Best Picture: Birdman - Alexandro G. Iñárritu
This movie was definitely a front runner in the Best Picture race so it was no surprise for winning the big award of the night. Birdman, the acclaimed film about an actor battling his own inner demons - which manifest in the form of the comic-book superhero that he once portrayed - also racked up awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. 

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
This one was a surprise to me..but kind of wasn't. Considering the critical acclaim that Redmayne and Keaton both received for their roles in The Theory of Everything and Birdman, respectively, it was a toss-up between these two actors. Despite Micheal Keaton's best review performance in years (I'll be getting Birdman soon enough), when you are going up against a film about Stephen Hawking, that man will be hard to beat. 

Best Actress: Julieanne Moore - Still Alice
The long wait is over for Miss Moore. The well-established actress finally won the golden statue after four previous nominations. This award was deserved and long overdue for Julieanne Moore. Despite the fact that she has earned the European "best actress triple crown" for wins in the Berlin, Cannes, and Venice film festivals but the Academy Award has always eluded her. Her acting in Still Alice, a Columbia Linguistics professor with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, has been called stellar and gripping, praised by critics. 

     Other award winners consisted of J.K. Simmons winning Best Supporting Actor for Whiplash, Patricia Arquette for Best Supporting Actress in Boyhood. Patricia Arquette's acceptance speech was one of the strongest as she praised that it was time to fight for equality and equal rights for women in the United States of America. I'm along with Meryl Streep's reaction about that speech and thought it was the right time to have that voice heard. 

     Having the legendary NPH hosting should have helped but overall reactions are that the award show seemed dull. There was an 18% decrease from the previous year (that infamous selfie last year could have come in handy this time around). It was the lowest watched Oscar broadcast since 2009. While it wasn't stunning or terrible, it was sub-par compared to previous years...I will admit that the performance for The LEGO Movie "Everything Is Awesome" was just that: Awesome!

Opening Pandora's Velvet Box: What Fifty Shades of Grey could mean for Hollywood's immediate future

     I'm trying to refrain from writing about this topic but I'm sure everyone has not had much success in avoiding the tidal wave that is Fifty Shades of Grey (believe me, I cringe every time I see a TV spot). I can't disagree that the movie is coming in with a large wave of momentum with the books, inspired products, and finally, a big-budget movie.

     Next Friday (or Thursday if you are going to early showings), swarms of fans and newcomers who have heard about the myth from word of mouth will flock to the theaters, pack the seats, and see what all the hype is about. Sorry, I'm not going to go spend money for about two hours of awkwardness with strangers in the dark.

     If anyone has been to bookstores lately, you might have noticed a trend with books lately. This sexual awakening phenomenon has caught on and brought those books that people usually didn't speak about to the forefront of the new release shelves and the corners of each shelf. One way or another, you'll see a book in the same vein of Fifty Shades. One can hope that they are better written.

     What I'm seeing is that this trend in books might move into the realm of television and movies. Depending on the success of this film, more filmmakers might take the risk and adapt those novels into films. So far, pre-ordered ticket sales are more than people expected, especially in the South and Midwest.

     The horror of it all.

     While I love movies and books, this is one of the few that I don't support that much. I can't deny how popular this series has become and I'm already anticipating that the next two books will be adapted as well in the next few years. 

     If you do go, I hope that you enjoy the film and it might make you forget about the novels and how badly written they are. FiI'm just going to keep calk and wait for May 1 for Avengers: Age of Ultron.