The Best/Worst Of The 2014 Academy Awards

Maddie Crichton ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
The Academy Awards were Sunday night and as always they were incredibly eventful. From Ellen’s hilarious hosting, to John Travolta’s ability to read off of a teleprompter, Emertainment Monthly breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2014 Oscars.

Best:

 5. Pharrell Williams sang “Happy” and Made Everyone Feel Happy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMQxxaCgOX0
Forget his suit shorts, those were clearly a mistake. Pharrell brought pure joy to the Dolby Theatre when he sang nominated song “Happy” from Despicable Me. There were precious children smiling on stage, there were bright colors, and he shimmied with some A-List stars like Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Also, if you watch really closely, you can see Jamie Foxx and his daughter crashing the stage. Best musical performance ever? Probably.

4. “Let it Go” Wins Best Song and Best Speech

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NHOfHwicoA&w=640&h=480] And the award for Most Adorable Couple to Grace the Academy Awards Stage goes to… Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez! The two won for the song “Let it Go” from this years most loved film Frozen. The two are married. They said their speech in a rhyming poem. And the stars of the movie Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel cheered like it was nobody’s business when the song writers won. Not to mention, Robert Lopez became the youngest person to EGOT which means he won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.

3. A Pizza Party With Ellen DeGeneres

The Academy Awards are a long show, and many actors have complained that they get hungry. So, leave it to none other than Ellen to order a pizza to give to the stars while the show was going on. Pregnant Scandal star Kerry Washington got a slice, Brad Pitt was handing out paper plates, Sandra Bullock was left to foot the bill, this sounds like the best pizza party of the decade. And the internet got some excellent memes of celebrities eating pizza, which is always nice.

2. Princess Lupita Claims Her Crown

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3XJQaMVzIo&w=640&h=480] The Best Supporting Actress category came down between beloved Jennifer Lawrence and Hollywood’s new “it girl” Lupita Nyong’o, and as many people predicted, Lupita won the trophy for her work in 12 Years a Slave. Lupita’s grace, poise, beauty, eloquence, charisma, and overall flawlessness can only be explained by the fact that she is really a princess. She looked stunning, and her speech was very touching. As she got emotional, the whole world got emotional. Lupita, no one will own the Oscars with elegance the way you do, you go girl!

1. The Group Selfie That Defines a Generation

In the middle of the show, Ellen took a star studded selfie with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jared Leto, Brad Pitt, Angeline Jolie, Kevin Spacey, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Lupita Nyong’o, and Lupita’s brother even hopped in. She posted the selfie onto Twitter, and then broke the record for most retweets, as it deserved to. All of us normal folk will be photo shopping ourselves into this picture for years to come. 12 Years a Slave, you’re great and all, but THIS was the Best Picture last night!

Worst:

5. Awkward Introduction With Kim Novak and Matthew McConaughey

Kim and Matthew presented the animation categories and it made everyone feel nothing short of uncomfortable. The way they softly mumbled, looked into each other’s eyes and said nonsensical jokes…the whole world was a third wheel to their awkward couple.

4. Illogical Hero Theme

In the past couple years, the Oscars have tried to give the show a theme, and quite frankly, they shouldn’t.  The Heroes theme was so awkwardly forced into places where it didn’t belong, and the random montages seemed so out of place. They should just cut the whole theme idea out of the show, that way it doesn’t go over time and cut into Jimmy Kimmel’s Live After Oscar Special. Because that’s what’s really important.

3. Alright, Alright, Alright!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea1d_WznLfk&w=640&h=480] Matthew McConaughey won Best Actor for his career changing work in Dallas Buyers Club and unfortunately earned a second spot on the worst list. The Oscar was well deserved, and his speech was going well, but then he had to repeat those three infamous words, “alright, alright, alright.” No actor has ever quoted one of their own characters in their real life as frequently as you do, and it’s getting pretty old.

2. Jennifer Lawrence Yells at Nothing?

JLaw, we love you. The whole world loves you. But who were you talking to when you were presenting the Best Actor award? As she entered the stage she kept snapping to the side “Why are you laughing?” “Is this funny?” There must have been something going on there for her to see, but for the millions of people watching at home, she looked like a crazy person.

1. John Travolta Introduces Adele Dazeem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaOg6tH3z0Y
Right after making a Wicked pun, John Travolta introduced Idina Menzel to sing “Let it Go” from Disney’s Frozen, well, at least he tried to. He ended up pronouncing the Broadway legend’s name as “Adele Dazeem.” This poses one very important question: HOW? He’s reading off a teleprompter, which probable clearly says “Idina Menzel.” He was likely given a sheet ahead of time that said the name “Idina Menzel.” And lastly, he’s a human living on this planet, so he should just know who Idina Menzel is and how to properly say her name. Maybe Rydell High should have been teaching its students to speak rather than hand jive? Oh well, the sad part is, someone out there is probably is named Adele Dazeem, and today she is having the weirdest day of her life.