THE OSCARS. So many memorable/cringeworthy/hilarious/morally fraught moments! Let’s recap, shall we?

The big question in the lead-up to the ceremony was whether Cate Blanchett would thank Woody Allen if she won Best Actress for her performance in Blue Jasmine—as PR expert Howard Bragman pointed out in Slate, Blanchett was going to be “playing for history,” whether she liked it or not.

And play she did, in a speech equal parts sincere and savvy: first she praised her fellow nominees, then she graciously thanked Allen for casting her (cue brief applause), and then she segued into a rousing cry in support of films with female protagonists: “Audiences want to see them, and in fact, they earn money. The world is round, people!”

How could anyone take umbrage with Blanchett’s brief Woody Allen shout-out when she was using the most public platform in the world to advance the visibility of women? Exactly. It was the lean-in to end all lean-ins, and it succeeded brilliantly because it was was strategic, heartfelt, and true.

John Travolta famously fluffed his introduction of Broadway star Idina Menzel, and in half a second the internet was all over it like rash, with a parody account set up for “Adele Dazeem”:

THANK YOU, JORN TROMOLTO!

— Adela Dazeem (@AdelaDazeem) March 3, 2014

Menzel’s performance of “Let It Go” was still amazing, because as Shakespeare presciently noted, a Broadway star by any other name is still as sweet. (Side note: Travolta claims Scientology helped cure his dyslexia. Science!)

Bette Midler, looking stunning in Alaïa, performed “Wind Beneath My Wings” as part of the Academy’s tribute to members who died in the past year. (We don’t have video of the performance, but for old times’ sake, here’s the montage from Beaches.)

And in one of the best gags of the night, host Ellen DeGeneres ordered pizzas for everybody and hit up Harvey Weinstein for the bill: “No pressure, only a billion people watching. Whatever you feel is right,” she deadpanned. She took up a $300 collection in Pharrell’s hat, but no-one knows if the delivery guy actually got the tip. (TMZ is on it, though.)

What else?

Best documentary short went to The Lady in Number 6, which tells the remarkable story of the late Alice Herz-Sommer, a Holocaust survivor and virtuoso pianist.

Lupito Nyong’o was gorgeous and delightful and utterly unaffected and now everyone wants to be her best friend. (Watch out, Jennifer Lawrence?)

There was The Selfie That Broke The Internet.

Bill Murray improvised a lovely tribute to Harold Ramis.

Matthew McConaughey delivered one of the most narcissistic and entertaining acceptance speeches of all time, thanking God, and—in a you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up moment—himself, ten years into the future, for being his hero. (Time is an accordion, amirite or amirite, Detective Cohle?!) But in the paper-scissors-rock hierarchy of Hollywood, Weinstein still trumps the Almighty, so HALLELUJAH for that.

Until the next awards season: just keep living, everybody. Amen.

The post Alright, alright, alright: 2014 Oscars Round-Up! appeared first on Jewcy.

In the wake of Nelson Mandela’s death, Harvey Weinstein has made clear that he will not change any of the release plans to The Weinstein Company’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. In an interview with TheWrap, Weinstein got emotional, explaining that the film is currently showing in four theaters, and that it will move to over 800 theaters, as planned, on Christmas Day.

“This issue is important to me personally,” he told TheWrap . “There are no opportunities. I’m just going to respect the will of the family through Zindzi Mandela.”

Last week, the New York Times reported that over in Hollywood, some were suspicious of Weinstein’s rights to the Mandela biopic, considering he has historically built publicity around his films (see Fruitvale Station).

Some Hollywood insiders have speculated that Mr. Weinstein bought the rights to “Long Walk to Freedom” in February partly because he saw an opportunity in Mr. Mandela’s failing health. “Not at all,” a Weinstein spokeswoman said on Friday. “When we saw the footage, we all fell in love with it.”

But Weinstein was going to make the film with producer Anant Singh in 1999, though after some complications, Singh ended up going at in independently, TheWrap reports. And Weinstein maintains that his aims for the film are pure, especially given his own past.

“I have been so involved in politics of anti-apartheid,” he said. “I will reveal that my father was a soldier in World War II. His buddies told me my dad suffered greatly from anti-Semitism because he was down south in training before he went to active duty in Mediterranean. He had to defend himself.”

Harvey Weinstein Opens Up About ‘Mandela’ Plans in Wake of Leader’s Loss (Exclusive) [TheWrap]

(Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty)

The post Harvey Weinstein Says He Won’t Try to Profit from Mandela’s Death appeared first on Jewcy.