From LEGO to Star Wars, Oscars 2015 celebrates all things geeky

Neil Patrick Harris opened the Oscars last night with a tribute to some of the greatest movies of all time — mostly Disney-owned movies since this year’s Academy Awards broadcasting rights went to ABC. With Stormtroopers on stage and Patrick Harris superimposed into a Star Wars scene, Disney got away with free marketing for the December release of Star Wars: Episode VII.

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Samsung also got a mention although it didn’t quite play as big a role as last year. Another lucrative product placement came in the form of LEGO that featured big in gifs and memes after The Lonely Island performed their hit song “Everything Is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie.

LEGO Oscar statues were handed out to nominees which in turn became fodder for memes.

And the Oprah goes to…

A photo posted by BuzzFeed BFF (@bff) on Feb 22, 2015 at 7:23pm PST

As for the actual awards, Birdman walked away with best picture and best director. Together with The Grand Budapest Hotel, each film won four awards and were tied for the most nominations this year. The internet’s surprise in Birdman walking away with the top honours could be summed up in one gif:

Best actor went to Eddie Redmayne for his portrayal of Stephen Hawkings in The Theory of Everything. (WIRED Magazine did this great piece on the story behind the movie, in case you’re interested).

Considering how our online lives have changed since Edward Snowden told us we’re being watched, it was great to see two of the people who have helped him inform the world walk away with the Oscar for Best Documentary. CITENZENFOUR is about documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras’s first meeting with Snowden, a meeting that defined her and journalist Glenn Greenwall’s journey over the last two years. Read Greenwall’s book on the story, or pre-order it on iTunes.

Other geeky wins include Big Hero 6 for best animated movie and Interstellar that, despite its 5 nominations, only won one award for its visual effects.

As for other notable gifs from last night: Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech will probably be the one that will come to define this year’s Oscars. Calling for equal pay for women, the speech had the Kodak Theatre on its feet as Meryl Streep and J.Lo gave her their overwhelming support captured in this beautiful gif:

Below a complete list of the winners, but if you really want to know who won the geek cred awards go here:

Best Picture
Birdman

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman

Best Actress
Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Best Actor
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Adapted Screenplay
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game

Best Original Screenplay
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman

Best Foreign Language Film
Ida

Best Documentary Feature
CITIZENFOUR

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6

Best Film Editing
Whiplash

Best Original Song
“Glory” from Selma (written by Common and John Legend)

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman

Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Sound Editing
American Sniper

Best Sound Mixing
Whiplash

Best Visual Effects
Interstellar

Best Short Film, Live Action
The Phone Call

Best Short Film, Animated
Feast

Best Documentary, Short Subject
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Image: Disney | ABC Television Group via Flickr.