Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/477283
www.postmagazine.com 20 POST MARCH 2015 he party's over! The dust has settled on the red carpet and the 87th Oscars — but surely not on the golden boys whom we assume are being lovingly polished and cradled by the winners as we speak. As for the losers, they're spared all that effort of polishing and trying to decide where in the house or office to display Oscar. And of course there's always next year. But for the winners, it's the successful culmination of months and months of relentless campaigning and pressure as their movies jockeyed for position with Academy voters. And ultimately it was Birdman that soared highest, as it scored the big prize — Best Picture, along with the prestigious Director, Cinematogra- pher and Original Screenplay awards. But Oscar spread the wealth and love, and each of the eight Best Pic nominees won something: The Grand Budapest Hotel also won four Oscars — in the below-the-line categories — and Damien Chazelle's low-budget, psycho-drama Whiplash — the Sundance favorite which was shot in just 19 stressed-out days — was honored with three, including a Best Supporting Actor award and one for Editing. American Sniper, Boyhood, Selma, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything and Interstellar all won single Oscars. Here, Post takes a look at the final results and examines why voters em- braced some films and nominees, while remaining indifferent to the charms of others. BEST PICTURE The Academy can nominate up to 10 movies now, double the number voted on between 1944 and 2008, but — sur- prising many pundits — it stopped short with eight this year: American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood, Birdman, Selma, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash. And as usual, none of the nominees — apart from American Sniper, the biggest hit (over $312 million and counting) of Clint Eastwood's long and storied career — seemed to really connect with the general public. It's noteworthy that American Sniper was the only traditional studio production on the whole list; the others are largely indie productions, dealing in issues and T OSCARS WRAP UP BY IAIN BLAIR With multiple statuettes going to Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash, here's a look at what Academy voters may have been thinking Birdman was this year's big winner, taking home four Oscars, including those for Best Picture and Best Director (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, below).