Entertainment News Wednesdays: The Oscars

Lupita Nyong'o is All Smiles as Accepts Her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (12 Years A Slave)
Photo Credit: Getty/AFP, Kevin Winter

As I heard Lupita's name for "Best Supporting Actress", I jumped out of my bed and began screaming, "She won, She won". Sharee and I have been following her fairy tale rise from unknown actress out of Yale school to Oscar winner.

Other Highlights from the 86th Academy Awards were:

• Host Ellen DeGeneres taking a selfie (See picture below) with Kevin Spacey, Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Lupita, Lupita's brother Peter, Bradley Cooper and Meryl Streep during the middle of the Oscars.
• The selfie broked Twitter with over a million retweets
• Ellen ordering Pizza for everyone
• A frenzy on Twitter as to whether pregnant Kerry Washington got any pizza
• Pharrell singing "Happy" from Despicable Me 2 and dancing with Lupita Nyong'o and Meryl Streep
• The tribute to West Columbia, South Carolina Sarah Jones, who was killed by a train while working on the set of Midnight Rider, two weeks ago.
• The pure emotion and excitement of Steven McQueen on stage after winning Best Picture for 12 Years A Slave. (See picture below)

Director Steve McQueen
Photo Credit: Theguardian.com

Photo Credit: Ellen Twitter

The Winners of the 86th Academy Awards:

Best Picture	12 Years a Slave
Best Actor in a Leading Role	Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress in a Leading Role	Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Best Animated Feature	Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho)
Best Cinematography	Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Best Costume Design	The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin)
Best Directing	Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
Best Documentary Feature	20 Feet from Stardom (Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen, Caitrin Rogers)
Best Documentary Short	The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (Malcolm Clarke, Nicholas Reed)
Best Film Editing	Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger)
Best Foreign Language Film	The Great Beauty (Italy)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling	Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews)
Best Original Score	Gravity (Steven Price)
Best Original Song	Let It Go - Frozen (Idina Menzel)
Best Production Design	The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn)
Best Animated Short Film	Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares)
Best Live Action Short Film	Helium (Anders Walter, Kim Magnusson)
Best Sound Editing	Gravity (Glenn Freemantle)
Best Sound Mixing	Gravity (Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro)
Best Visual Effects	Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)
Best Adapted Screenplay	12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
Best Original Screenplay	Her (Spike Jonze)

Jared Leto
Photo Credit: eonline.com

Matthew McConaughey
Photo Credit: Entertainment.time.com

Great speech Matthew gave thanking God, his parents, wife, and kids.

His memorable line:
"Alright, Alright, Alright"





Jared gave an emotional speech about his mom having him and his brother as a teenager.







Did you watch the Oscars? What was your favorite moment? Should Ellen host again next year?

Entertainment News Wednesdays: Young Hollywood & The Icons at 45th Annual NAACP Awards

Young Hollywood Stars Michael B Jordan (Fruitvale Station) &
Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave) at NAACP Awards

Lupita, Lupita, Lupita. She is everywhere this Awards season and all eyes were on her and the other Young Hollywood stars at the 45th Annual NAACP Awards held on Saturday, February 22. She didn't disappoint as she won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, 12 Years A Slave. Her movie also won Outstanding Motion Picture. Michael B. Jordan, pictured above with Lupita, celebrated Outstanding Independent Motion Picture, Fruitvale Station winning.

Take a look at a few of today's current Young Hollywood stars.

Kevin Hart won 3 Awards: Entertainer of the Year; Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
and Outstanding Comedy Series for  “Real Husbands of Hollywood”. Ride Along 2 begins filming this Summer.

 

Kerry Washington, with her baby bump, won Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for Scandal.
Scandal also won for Outstanding Drama Series. Photo Credit: eonline.com

David Oyelow, won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Lee Daniel's The Butler.
Photo Credit: timesunion.com

Although we are excited about Young Hollywood, we can't forget icons Forest Whitaker & Angela Bassett. Whitaker won Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Lee Daniel's: The Butler and was presented the NAACP chairman's award. Angela Bassett (Forest Whitaker's co-star in last years Christmas movie Black Nativity) won Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Black Nativity.

A picture taken last year with Michael B Jordan, Forest Whitaker, & Angela Bassett.
Photo Credit: BET.com

 Did you watch the NAACP Awards? Did your favorite win?

Rhonda W. & Sharee W.

Oscar Nominees We Are Watching

We Connected Productions, LLC attended the Oscars Red Carpet event in 2013. A few months afterwards, the AMPAS announced Cheryl Boone Isaacs as the new President of The Academy Awards aka The Oscars. The first African-American woman President in it's 86 year history. 

Cheryl Boone Isaacs
Photo Credit: Hollywoodreporter.com

2013 was a great year for Black Hollywood, and we are excited about this years nominees. These are a few to watch out for.

Lupita Nyong'o, Best Supporting Actress Nominee for 12 Years A Slave
Photo Credit: Vogue.com

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lead Actor Nominee for 12 Years A Slave
Photo Credit: Zimbio.com

Barkhad Abdi, Best Supporting Actor  Nominee for Captain Phillips
Photo Credit: Allvoices.com

Finally, this video just makes you HAPPY for all the nominees. Congrats to Pharrell Williams on being nominated for his song "Happy" for Despicable Me 2.

Watch this video and see if you don't get "Happy".

        

Which Oscar category will you be watching closely?

Rhonda W. & Sharee W.