The 2017 Oscars’ Best Moments

By Jennifer McShane
27th Feb 2017

The best films will always inspire. Inspire greatness, inspire diversity and inspire hope for a better time. That was the theme of the 89th Academy Awards – the films that inspire us. And on showbiz’s biggest night we got to take a somewhat melancholy?trip down memory lane as Hollywood biggest stars of past – Shirley MacLaine, Michael J Fox, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty – came together with the stars of the present – to honour the premise of the best inspirational films but with a political edge. The anti-Trump sentiment was never far away as the eclectic’mix of winners used their speeches to champion the three things that the US president is against – unity, the acceptance of differences and hope.

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But before we get to more of that, let’s get to one of the most shocking mistakes in Oscar history:

The best picture mix up ?

#Oscars shocker: Warren Beatty reads the wrong Best Picture winner, ‘La La Land’ didn’t win – ‘Moonlight’ did. pic.twitter.com/iB6TLxyTn5
? Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 27, 2017

Heads are gonna roll. You couldn’t have a worse possible f-up if you tried. Team LLL still consoling each other in theater. pic.twitter.com/UUr6dlKF9S
? Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg) February 27, 2017

This warrants a moment in itself because let’s face it, we never saw it coming. Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway announced that La La Land won the Best Picture, the cast and crew were midway through acceptance speeches when they were told that, actually, it was a complete mistake: Moonlight was in fact, the Best Picture winner. ?So what the heck happened? The general report seemed to be that the cue?cards were mixed up, hence the error – so it was the producer’s fault. Yours truly was thrilled – Moonlight was a cracker – but it must have been so tough to take (and LLL team were so gracious about it) yet we imagine they were all Denzel/Casey Affleck about the whole thing:

Tonight, we are all Denzel. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/3NGs9aHOhB
? X (@XLNB) February 27, 2017

The Viola Davis Speech

She deserved to win and her speech has us all crying.

Followed by this:

From #Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi’s statement tonight pic.twitter.com/IF0kCt0RY1
? BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) February 27, 2017

In one of the most poignant moments of the ceremony, The Salesman won the Best Foreign Language Film, allowing director Asghar Farhadi, who had boycotted the ceremony,?to attack Mr Trump’s “inhuman” travel ban in his victory message.

When a Guy Named Gary From Chicago Stole the Show

Live your best life like Gary from Chicago. #Oscars https://giphy.com/gifs/oscars-academy-awards-oscars-2017-xTiN0NByj5MB5tv2z6 pic.twitter.com/qPgDk6P21w
? GIPHY (@GIPHY) February 27, 2017

Host Jimmy Kimmel – who did a swell job overall – unloaded a sightseeing bus full of unsuspecting tourists into the Dolby Theatre Sunday night, thrusting them without warning in front of everyone who’s anyone in Hollywood and millions of viewers at home. No one had even brushed their hair and it was class. At the front of the pack was Chicagoan Gary Alan Cole?and Gary was ready for the spotlight.

Gary introduced himself to Kimmel and quickly pulled out his phone to start snapping pics of the front-row celebs like he’d been preparing for the moment his whole life. He was joined, we soon learned, by his fianc?e Vickie, who could hardly contain her excitement at breathing the same air as her all-time favourite actor Denzel (DENZEL, people) and then there was this Gosling moment.

“Hampton Inn LAX, Room 117, I’m slipping the card in your pocket now, don’t react.” pic.twitter.com/lWZMfJ5lKg
? pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) February 27, 2017

Same, Vickie, same.

Kimmel’s ‘Feud’ with Matt Damon

Dead man walking the red carpet. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/j2KaUkdHTX
? Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) February 27, 2017

It’s a faux feud from years ago, but Kimmel never wasted a moment giving it to Damon for well, just being a little bit basic – and it was hilarious.

Kimmel called out Damon during his opening monologue, telling the audience: “When I first met Matt he was the fat one”.

He then went on to commend him for giving the leading role in Manchester by the Sea to Oscar-nominated Casey Affleck, instead of choosing to play it himself. ?He could have taken that part for himself but he didn’t – he gave that to Casey Affleck. He made a Chinese ponytail movie instead and that movie, The Great Wall, went on to lose 80 million dollars. Smooth move, dumb ass.” We’ll try and get more clips but the whole thing was brilliant.

Candy falling from The Sky

Andrew Garfield caught a candy parachute at the Oscars with such finesse it was inspiring https://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/andrew-garfield-caught-a-candy-parachute-at-the-oscars?bftw&utm_term=4ldqpfp#4ldqpfp pic.twitter.com/sJhhYSE1ro
? BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) February 27, 2017

THE BEST IDEA EVER.

The Trump Tweet

After Trump tried to give Meryl Streep shade at the Globes, Kimmel made sure she got an ovation at the Oscars:

Way to go Jimmy Kimmel @jimmykimmel #MerylStreep #Oscars #JimmyKimmel pic.twitter.com/LoVstROaRq
? Meryl Streep Page – (@MerylStreepPage) February 27, 2017

And then tweeted this to Trump:

Just tweeted live from the Oscar stage. #Oscars https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/836060793783267328
? Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) February 27, 2017

And to wrap up: