5 times history was made at The Oscars 2016
1. Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins an Academy Award
Always a nominee but never a winner. This finally changed for Leo at the 88th Academy Awards when he scooped up the Best Actor award for his performance in “The Revenant.”
DiCaprio gave a heartfelt thanks to his team and old friends, including Martin Scorsese, and even worked in a message on climate change saying, “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating… Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”
(Photo: Reuters)
2. Alejandro González Iñárritu wins Best Director second year in a row
Iñárritu took home the hardware for directing “The Revenant.” He won in the same category last year for directing “Birdman,” making him the first director to win back-to-back Oscars in 65 years and only the third man to have done it so far. The first was John Ford who won in 1940 for “The Grapes of Wrath” and in 1941 for “How Green Was My Valley,” and the second was Joseph L. Mankiewicz who won in 1949 for “A Letter to Three Wives” and 1950 for “All About Eve.”
3. Emmanuel Lubezki sets record with Cinematography win
Lubezki has won the award three years in a row for “Gravity,” “Birdman” and now “The Revenant.” He is the first filmmamker to achieve this streak and is only one more win away from joining Leon Shamroy and Joseph Ruttenberg to have the most awards in that category.
4. The first transgender nominee for Best Original Song
Anohni, also known as Antony Hegarty, was nominated for the song “Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction.” Hegarty is credited as the song’s writer and is only the second transgender person to be nominated ever. The first was Angela Morely who was twice nominated for Best Original Score and Adaptation.
5. Girl Scout cookies made an appearance at the Oscars
Move over Ellen, Chris Rock not only tamed the munchies but raised over $65,000 for the Girl Scouts of the USA by asking the audience to “reach into (their) millionaire pockets and buy some of my daughters’ Girl Scout cookies.” If there were an Oscar for best dad, Rock gets my vote.
