Oscars recap: 'Birdman' wins Best Picture award

Alejandro G. Inarritu, centre, and the cast and crew of 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' accept the award for the best picture at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015. (John Shearer / Invision)

On a night that was difficult to predict, Michael Keaton’s comeback movie ‘Birdman’ won the Academy’s top honour for best film, while Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne picked up statuettes for Best Actress and Actor. You can revisit our live blog of the 87^th Academy Awards below:

12:04 a.m. ‘Birdman’ wins the Oscar for Best Picture. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu joked that “two Mexicans in a row” winning a major Academy award may look “suspicious,” referring to Alfonso Cuaron’s win last year for “Gravity.” But he then got serious, saying he hopes that immigrants will be treated with respect in the U.S.

11:56 p.m. Julianne Moore wins the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Still Alice.” Says she read somewhere that Oscar winners may live 5 years longer, which is great since her husband is younger than her.

11:50 p.m. And the Best Actor Oscar goes to…Eddie Redmayne for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” Giddy with excitement, Redmayne promises the Hawking family that he will be his Oscar’s “custodian” and answer its every beck and call.

11:43 p.m. Another huge win for ‘Birdman.’ Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu picks up the Academy Award for Best Director. Inarritu jokes that he’s wearing “Michael Keaton tighty whities.”

11: 34 p.m. The Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay goes to “The Imitation Game.”

11:30 p.m. “Birdman” wins Best Original Screenplay.

11:23 p.m. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” just picked up another Oscar for Best Original Score.

11:20 p.m. And the second standing ovation of the night goes to Lady Gaga, who sang a mashup of songs from “The Sound of Music” to mark the movie’s 50^th anniversary. Gaga received a big hug from Julie Andrews on stage.

11:06 p.m.…and “Glory” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. “The struggle for justice is right now,” John Legend said in his speech. He spoke about the number of black men who are languishing in U.S. prisons, saying, “We live in the most incarcerated country in the world.”

11:06 p.m. …and “Glory” wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

11:02 p.m. John Legend and Common got a standing ovation for their standout performance of “Glory,” from the Best Picture-nominated movie “Selma.” Some actors in the audience were in tears.

10:51 p.m. The Oscar for Best Documentary goes to “Citizen Four,” an in-depth look at whistleblower Edward Snowden and the NSA spying scandal.

10:44 p.m. The Oscar for film editing goes to Tom Cross for “Whiplash.”

10:31 p.m. Meryl Streep introduced a moving tribute to the stars and movie makers who died over the past year. This year’s “In Memoriam” featured Mickey Rooney, Robin Williams and Maya Angelou, among others. However, Joan Rivers was notably left out, causing a stir on social media.

10:25 p.m. The Oscar for best cinematography goes to “Birdman.”

10:22 p.m. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” picks up another Oscar for best production design.

10:10 p.m. Chris Williams, a U.S.-Canadian citizen, and his co-nominees have won the Oscar for best animated feature -- "Big Hero 6."

10:07 p.m. “Feast” takes the honour for best animated short film.

10:04 p.m. “Interstellar” wins the Oscar for best visual effects.

9:53 p.m. Patricia Arquette won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. After rattling off her “thank yous,” she used her precious minutes on the stage to thank “every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen” in the country. She then called for wage equality and equal rights for women in the U.S., earning a fist pump and a resounding “Yes!” from Meryl Streep in the audience.

9: 47 p.m. Canadian Craig Mann wins for best sound mixing in “Whiplash.” Mann, who was born in Oakville, Ont. and is now based in L.A., shares the honour with co-nominees Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley.

9:43 p.m. Neil Patrick Harris just did a “Birdman”-inspired skit and ended up on stage in his tighty whities, declaring: “Acting is a noble profession.”

9:38 p.m. Tim McGraw just delivered a soulful performance of “I’m not gonna miss you,” from the documentary “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me”

The song was written by Glen Campbell, and his wife said earlier Sunday that she hopes it will bring her ailing husband an Oscar. "I'm not sure if he's really aware but he will be at his own little Oscar party tonight,” Kim Campbell said on the red carpet.

Campbell has Alzheimer's disease.

9:26 p.m. Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film goes to “The Phone Call.”

9:23 p.m. And here are two other proud Canadian stars at the Oscars:

9:21 p.m. Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara just performed “Everything is Awesome,” the super-energetic song from “The Lego Movie.”

9:11 p.m.  Polish movie “Ida” wins the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Director defiantly – but cheerfully – continued to talk on stage, thanking his late wife and parents, as the “wrap it up” music played.

9 p.m. Reese Witherspoon presents the Oscar for makeup and hairstyling to the team that worked on the cast of “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

8:56 p.m.  Jennifer Lopez and Chris Pine present the Oscar for costume design to Milena Canonero for “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

8:50 p.m.  Adam Levine performed his song “Lost Stars,” from the movie “Begin Again.”

8:45 p.m. Neil Patrick Harris designates Octavia Spencer to “guard” the Oscars ballot briefcase, locked in a glass box on the stage.  Tells her: “no bathroom breaks.”

8:40 p.m. The first Oscar of the night goes to J.K. Simmons for Best Supporting Actor. Simmons won for his role in “Whiplash.”

8:35 p.m. NPH is joined by Anna Kendrick on stage. Then Jack Black jumps up from his seat and joins them in song (before he’s told to “beat it.”)

8:30 p.m. Here we go! Neil Patrick Harris kicks off the show with a joke right off the bat: “Tonight we honour the best and whitest…I mean brightest.” Then he breaks into song, of course.