Last night Hollywood rolled out the red carpets for the glitziest event in its calendar: The Academy Awards.
The great and the good of the silver screen donned fabulous tuxedos and gowns to attend the Dolby Theatre in LA, where the 88th Oscars ceremony served up its fair share of drama, politics and long overdue golden statues.
If you didn’t stay up until 5am to catch the live broadcast, we don’t blame you. Here’s some highlights to cure the FOMO.
Leo, Leo, Leo.
He finally did it – he won Best Actor. Leo scooped the gong for The Revenant, in which his character Hugh Glass is grief-stricken from the loss of his family, frozen nearly to death and mauled by a bear in the uncharted wilderness of 1800s America.
This gruelling portrayal finally bagged an Academy Award for the 41-year-old star, who has been snubbed throughout the years for roles in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, Blood Diamond and The Wolf of Wall Street. He was also nominated for Wolf for ‘Best Picture’, but still missed out on an Oscar.
Who knows why poor Leo was overlooked for his previous nominations (playing an autistic child? His faultless South African accent in Blood Diamond? C’mon Academy!) but let’s hope 2016 is the first of many Oscar successes for the talented actor.
Oh, and he used this pivotal moment in his career to raise awareness of climate change.
Here’s to Mr Di Caprio.
High Fives for Brie
Brie Larson bagged the Oscar for Best Actress for her starring role in Room, a film about a mother and son trapped in a locked room by a kidnapper. Playing her son Jack in the film was 9-year-old rising star Jacob Tremblay.
The two actors shared an adorable moment when Brie’s Oscar was announced, a sly high five between the rows, and Brie thanked Jacob for being her ‘partner in all of this’ during her speech.
Teamwork makes the dreamwork.
Chris Rock
Host and outspoken comedian Chris Rock spoke up about the Hollywood ‘white-washing’ that has dominated headlines since nominations were announced.
The claim that black actors aren’t given proper recognition at the Academy Awards has caused serious debate and sparked some industry professionals to boycott the event. The judging panel are predominantly white and male, leading to further controversy.
Rock opened the event by referring to the Oscars as the “White People’s Choice Awards” and claimed if he’d been nominated for host, he wouldn’t have been given the job. The opening monologue, while tongue-in-cheek, raised hard-hitting points about race and the fight for equal rights in America.
You rock, Chris Rock.
Let’s Change The Culture
Not content with tackling racism head-on, The Oscars also set out to raise awareness of sexual assault – or rather, Lady Gaga and Vice President Joe Biden did. Gaga played ‘Til It Happens To You’, a song about her own experiences of sexual assault, then clasped hands with sexual assault survivors onstage.
Back to Black
Amy, the tragic story of singer Amy Winehouse was honoured with the Best Documentary Oscar, celebrating an incredible musical career cut short.
Using behind-the-scenes footage and family home movies, Amy pieces the singer’s fractured life together to create a moving portrait of her struggles with drug abuse, bulimia and a destructive relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil.
Mad Max: Fury Road
This dystopian adventure cleaned up at the Oscars, bagging six awards for its production: sound mixing, sound editing, film editing, production design, costume design and make-up.
Who knew end-of-the-world chic could be so fierce?
What did you make of Oscars night? Tweet us @sourcemag and tell us your thoughts.