Oscars Mix-up, Political Jabs Make for a Memorable Academy Awards

Sunday's 89th Academy Awards ceremony was packed with memorable moments from start to finish. But much of the Monday morning buzz is about the bungled presentation for best picture, which came at the very end of the show.

Actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were somehow given the wrong envelope, which lead them to mistakenly present the best picture Oscar award to the cast of "La La Land" instead of "Moonlight."  

"The folks of 'La La Land' were so gracious. I can't imagine being in their position and having to do that," "Moonlight" director Barry Jenkins told reporters backstage. "It was unfortunate that things happened as they did... but we won best picture."

Unforgettable Moments

Prior to that flawed finish there were a series of sweet surprise appearances, unforgettable acceptance speeches and stellar music performances.

The audience stood and cheered when NASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle escorted the real life Katherine Johnson, 98, to the stage to join the stars of the "Hidden Figures." The Oscar-nominated film is based on Johnson's life as one of NASA's early African-American mathematicians whose calculations made space flight possible.

Actress Viola Davis' acceptance speech for her best supporting actress silenced the crowd and moved many to tears. She starred opposite Denzel Washington in the film "Fences," which was adapted from August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

Without notes or teleprompter, Davis observed the wealth of talent and dreams buried in graveyards, saying, "People ask me all the time, what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola? And I say, exhume those bodies, exhume those stories, the stories of the people who dreamed."

She continued, "I became an artist, and thank God I did because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. So here's to August Wilson, who exhumed and exalted the ordinary people."

Also honored at Sunday's award celebration was the true story of a man whose faith moved him to join the military during Word War II.

Mel Gibson directed "Hacksaw Ridge," which chronicles Desmond Doss' courageous rescue of more than 70 men from battle -- all without using a single weapon. His faith also inspired his refusal to bear arms.

The film earned Oscars for best editing and best sound mixing. Kevin O'Connell lead the sound team. It was his 21st nomination and his very first win.

Celebs Take Shots at Trump

O'Connell's win, Johnson's surprise appearance and Davis' moving acceptance speech all fit perfectly with this year's theme for the Oscars: inspiration.

That inspiration, however, didn't come without political messages and jabs at President Donald Trump.

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi stayed home in protest of Trump's embattled executive order on immigration. And he sent a representative with that message to accept his award for best foreign film for "The Salesman."

Before presenting the nominees for best animated feature, actor Gael García Bernal spoke out against the president's plan to build a border wall.

"As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I'm against any form of walls that wants to separate us," Bernal said.  

Film director Ava DuVernay wore a gown from a Lebanese designer, and tweeted, "A small sign of solidarity. I chose to wear a gown by a designer from a majority Muslim country."
 
Some entertainers in the audience wore blue ribbons on their formal attire, with a message of support for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Ruth Negga, Karlie Kloss, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Busy Phillips were among them.

The show's host, Jimmy Kimmel, took political pot shots during his opening monologue and throughout much of the evening.

Kimmel joked, "I want to say thank you to President Trump. I mean, remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?"

At the end of his opening monologue, Kimmel told the audience, "Some of you will get to come up on this stage tonight and give a speech that the president of United States will tweet about in all caps during his 5 a.m. bowel movement tomorrow, and I think that's pretty darned excellent if you ask me!"

At one point during show, Kimmel projected his phone on a giant screen, as he checked President Trump's Twitter feed and tweeted messages, hoping for a response.

But President Trump was too busy to watch the Oscars Sunday. Instead, he and first lady Melania Trump hosted the nation's governors at the White House.

In the evening's toast, Trump said, "I hear this is a record number of governors, 46 -- that's the highest that have ever showed up for this evening."

It is a yearly tradition for the president to host governors to the White House for a dinner.