When Oprah Winfrey searched for a president for her television network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), she whittled down applicants with a question that made some people very uncomfortable, she says at a presentation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business last year. One woman even burst out crying.

It was: "What is your spiritual practice?"

First of all, the woman who cried was immediately taken out of the running, Winfrey says. But for those who protested that they weren't religious, Winfrey clarified that she wasn't asking about religion — she was asking about their inner relationship with themselves.

She was getting at, "What do you do for yourself? What do you do to keep yourself centered?" she says.

She asks this because she considers her "secret to success" the fact that she is grounded in her own self and looks for others who are as well. If we know who we are and what we want from life, Winfrey believes, then we can build meaningful relationships with others to make our visions reality.

"Everybody wants to fulfill the highest, truest expression of yourself as a human being," Winfrey says. "And because I understand that, I understand that if you work in a bakery and that's where you want to be, and that may be what you've always wanted to do ... then that's for you. And there's no difference between you and me, except that's your platform, that's your show. So my understanding of that has allowed me to reach everyone."

You can watch the full Stanford video segment below, via Slideshare:

SEE ALSO: Why Richard Branson is so successful

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NOW WATCH: How To Respond To 8 Illegal Interview Questions

Celebs are P.O.'d after Instagram announced it would no longer be verifying accounts, The New York Post reports.

Verification on Instagram, much like on Twitter, gives your account a little blue check mark to prove to other users that this account is the real deal. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio are among the verified.

But now, Instagram is backing off from this practice, so celebrities, brands, and noted public figures are SOL.

According to the Post, "...sources say Instagram, owned by Facebook, ran into “serious legal problems” over its verification process and has been forced to pause it. Some suspect Twitter, which also has a verification system, had an issue with Instagram’s."

A pointed message on the Instagram "help page" reads: “It’s not currently possible to request a verified badge.”

The Post reports that current "unverified Instagram users include Julia Roberts,Charlize Theron, Katie Holmes and Kate Hudson."

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NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

With the Academy Awards comes Hollywood's most glamorous night of the year.

While the show celebrates the best of the year in cinema, the biggest star of the Oscars? The red carpet, of course!

Leading ladies strut down the red carpet wearing gorgeous and unique outfits, and as style evolves, the dresses (or suits, if you're Diane Keaton) evolve, too.

So what does a winner look like? 

Let's take a look at what the best actress winners have worn for the past 42 years.

In 1972, Jane Fonda dressed conservatively in an Yves Saint Laurent suit for her big win for "Klute."

In 1973, Liza Minnelli dressed bright in Halston for her big win for "Cabaret."

Here she is accepting her award. You can see her long flowing yellow dress — pretty much the opposite of what her character, Sally Bowles, wore in "Cabaret."

Meryl Streep received her 19th Oscar nod when the 87th Academy Awards nominations were announced in January.

Streep, who was nominated for best supporting actress in Disney's "Into the Woods," is, by far, the most-nominated actor of all time.

Despite her 19 nods, Streep has only won three times — for "Kramer Vs. Kramer" (1979), "Sophie's Choice" (1982), and "The Iron Lady" (2012).

No other actor comes close to Streep's 19 nominations. 

We've compiled a list of the actors with the most nominations for film roles consulting the Academy Awards Databases.

The 87th Academy Awards will air Sun., Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. 

Meryl Streep, 19 nominations (3 wins)

Katharine Hepburn, 12 (4 wins)Jack Nicholson, 12 nominations (3 wins)Bette Davis, 10 nominations (2 wins)Laurence Olivier, 10 nominations (1 win, 2 honorary awards)Paul Newman, 9 nominations (1 win, 1 honorary award, 1 Hersholt award)Spencer Tracy, 9 nominations (2 wins)Marlon Brando, 8 nominations (2 wins)

Jack Lemmon, 8 nominations (2 wins)Peter O'Toole, 8 nominations (1 honorary award)Al Pacino, 8 nominations (1 win)Geraldine Page, 8 nominations (1 win)Ingrid Bergman, 7 nominations (3 wins)Richard Burton, 7 nominations (no wins)Judi Dench, 7 nominations (1 win)Robert DeNiro, 7 nominations (2 wins)Jane Fonda, 7 nominations (2 wins)Greer Garson, 7 nominations (1 win)Dustin Hoffman, 7 nominations (2 wins)

Fun fact: Walt Disney received 59 nominations (and 26 wins), making him the most-nominated person of all time.

SEE ALSO: All the Oscar nominations

AND: The biggest Oscar snubs and surprises

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NOW WATCH: This Sports Illustrated swimsuit rookie could become the next Kate Upton

In the latest episode of "Shark Tank," Christopher Gray, the cofounder and CEO of scholarship database company Scholly, left the Tank with a big smile. He'd just gotten the exact deal he wanted with two Sharks, Lori Greiner and Daymond John.

The investors, on the other hand, weren't so happy. Left by themselves, a yelling match ensued that caused Robert Herjavec, Kevin O'Leary, and Mark Cuban to walk off the set in disgust.

The Sharks regularly battle each other for deals, but it was the first time a fight got personal. We asked Greiner and Gray to break down exactly what happened and provide their perspectives on the events.

In the season six segment, Gray walks into the Tank asking for $40,000 for 15% of his company. He explains that $100 million in scholarships go unused every year, and that Scholly is a simple smartphone app that matches students with hundreds of higher education scholarships they can apply for, tailored to their demographic and home state.

Gray and his two siblings were raised in Birmingham, Alabama by a single mom with a low income. Budgeting was so tight that despite his high GPA and test scores, he could not apply everywhere he wanted to for college due to application fees. But with some digging, he was able to get a whopping $1.3 million in scholarships, including a full ride from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He enrolled at Drexel University and built Scholly with web developers Nick Pirollo and Bryson Alef. It's been less than a year and the Scholly team has had 92,000 app downloads for 99 cents each.

Every investor is interested, and John and Herjavec, who both grew up poor, tell Gray they can relate to him and admire his tenacity.

Greiner makes an offer in what seems like a few minutes into Gray's pitch. She tells Business Insider it was actually about 10 minutes in real time, before editing. Either way, it's very fast for the show, where it usually takes about an hour for all of the investors to decide if they want to make a deal or not.

"You know what, Christopher?" Greiner says. "I'm going to do something I've never done before. I haven't heard a whole lot, but I'm going to make you an offer right now." She offers exactly what Gray had asked for — $40,000 for 15% equity.

Cuban, frustrated, asks Greiner if he can first ask some real questions to learn about the company.

Greiner stays focused on Gray. "I believe in you. I believe in what you're doing," she says, which gets the other investors visibly perturbed.

Gray expresses his appreciation but says he still wants to hear what everyone else has to say. Greiner clarifies that she's not even going to ask how he plans on scaling the company and making a profit.

Seeing how aggressive she's being, John jumps in and says he wants to invest because it's "personal" for him. He wasn't able to go to college, he says, because he lacked funds and needed to support his family, and he wants to help give others an alternative. He and Greiner eventually decide to split the offer 50/50. Gray says he'd still like to hear from the others.

Herjavec, the founder of a large cyber security firm, and Cuban, a serial tech entrepreneur and investor, understand the smartphone app business very well and want to know more about how Scholly's algorithm works and what the developers' skillsets are.

It's also deeply concerning for them and O'Leary to discover that there are only between 10,000 and 20,000 scholarships in Scholly's database. Cuban and Herjavec need to know more to determine if they can scale the business. Greiner starts talking over them to say she and John don't even care about those questions. John sticks with her and says they'll figure it out as they go, and work with the other "Roberts and Mark Cubans of the world" to help them.

Greiner tells Gray that he needs to make a decision right now or she's out. He happily takes the deal.

After Gray exits the room, Cuban squirms in his chair, restraining himself from an outburst.

Herjavec turns to the other investors and then locks his gaze on Greiner. "You know, when I had nothing and couldn't rub two pennies together, you know what I really hated?" he asks. "I hated when people wanted to give me a break because they felt bad for me."

He adds that he thinks Gray is a great guy, but that neither Greiner nor John have any idea how the product they just invested in works.

A fight follows, with the Sharks yelling and shouting over each other. Here's a synopsis of each of their positions in the brawl:

• Lori Greiner: She did nothing out of pity. It can be worth taking a risk without much information because "sometimes it's about helping America and making the world a better place." Everyone else is angry because they were "scooped" out of a deal.
• Robert Herjavec: Greiner is spouting trite nonsense. "We are not the Charity Tank."
• Daymond John: Pity was not at all a factor. The numbers he saw were reassuring enough for him to commit to Gray, because his ultimate investment philosophy is to "bet on the person."
• Kevin O'Leary: It comes down to whether you want to run a business or run a charity. He could not make an informed decision about whether Scholly could be a great business because Greiner wouldn't let Gray talk and "had to force $40,000 down his throat like a goose for pâté."
• Mark Cuban: He finally refrains from biting his tongue after Greiner accuses him of being jealous. If you really want to help the guy, then learn about his business before throwing money at him, he says. Otherwise just get up and give him $100,000 for the sake of making the world a better place.

Herjavec turns to Greiner. "You know what? You're really pissing me off right now. I'm going to say something rude to you, and I don't want to say something rude to you, so I'm just going to go. Because there was no need to do something like that. You're smarter than that." He leaves the room.

Greiner doesn't back down from her position. O'Leary and Cuban grab their belongings and walk out of the room as Greiner keeps talking and John stays behind.

After the premiere on Friday, the Shark not in attendance, Barbara Corcoran, noted on Twitter that she also would have walked out on Greiner and John if she were present.

"In regards to the Shark fight," Greiner tells Business Insider, "every Shark has a unique approach to business. We're like a family, and we are not always going to agree."

In a previous interview, John said that in the Tank, "it's all in the moment. And in the moment, it does get personal here and there. None of it is for the camera." He adds: "There is real stuff at stake. There's real money, and there are also real egos."

Greiner explains her decision to invest in Scholly:

Within about 10 minutes of Scholly's pitch to the Sharks, I had heard enough to know that Scholly was already doing well, and it was clear Chris was a very smart entrepreneur. I didn't need to hear a lot more; the algorithm was already working, and I knew going forward anything else we could figure out together. It was shocking to learn that $100 million in scholarships go unused each year. I wanted to get behind Scholly to help bring these scholarships and aspiring students together.

As for Gray? He enjoyed watching the post-pitch drama unfold during the episode's premiere on ABC, and he couldn't be happier with the deal he got. He says that he wasn't shaken by the accusation from Herjavec, O'Leary, and Cuban that Greiner and John were taking pity on him, since he could have addressed any questions regarding his app's backend and growth potential.

"I could have easily answered any questions Mark, Robert, or Kevin asked, so their opinions did not bother me," he says. "However, Daymond and Lori gave me exactly what I asked for and were willing to go in together. They are savvy investors who saw Scholly's potential right from the start and those are the sorts of investors I want."

As for the business, Scholly shot up to No. 1 in the iTunes app store following the premiere of the episode. Greiner says that the team has "just re-launched an enhanced website and the database is fully up to date and growing."

Gray says that Greiner and John have "already made some incredible introductions and added a lot of value to Scholly."

And being the center of the biggest Shark fight yet doesn't bother him.

"I wasn't in a bad position, but a good one," he says. "I loved it, and I am really happy about the outcome!"

SEE ALSO: 'Shark Tank' investor Kevin O'Leary assigns almost everyone one of 5 money personalities

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NOW WATCH: Mark Cuban: This Is My Most Successful Investment Ever

The 87th Academy Awards show is Sunday.

After the Oscar statuettes are handed out, don't feel bad for the losers. They still get to go home with a gift bag worth $167,586.76.

For the past 13 years, Distinctive Assets has put together the "Everyone Wins at the Oscars Nominee Gift Bag."

Twenty-one gift bags will go out to the host and losing nominees in the categories of best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best director.

This year's swag bag is the most expensive ever, costing nearly more than double last year's then-record-breaking $85,000 Oscar bag.

In addition to lip gloss and lollipops, the list of luxury items in this year's gift bag includes a $12,500 camping trip and unlimited Audi car rentals for a year valued at $20,000.

A $5.49 bottle of Dove Dry Spray antiperspirant and another bottle of Dove Men+Care antiperspirant.

$24.99 for a 5-pack of assorted fabric cloth pieces from The Tie Thing which help hold ties in place.

Visit their website here.

$36 non-sticky, Vegan-friendly lip gloss from Flickable.

Visit their website here.

Taking inspiration from her hometown of Malaysia, Red Hongyi put together a portrait using 20,000 tea bags. Red spent two months planning, filming, and creating this piece.

Video courtesy of Red Hongyi

Follow artist Red Hongyi: On Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Follow BI Video: On Facebook

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Warning: There are spoilers ahead if you haven't watched the "Two and a Half Men" finale.

The series finale of "Two and a Half Men" aired Thursday, and many tuned in to see whether or not Charlie Sheen would return to reprise his lead character of Charlie Harper.

Sheen was famously fired from the show four years ago after making negative comments about series creator Chuck Lorre on radio and TMZ, and subsequently exhibited strange behavior in a string of network interviews.

Ratings for the CBS comedy plummeted after Sheen was awkwardly killed off the show and was replaced with Ashton Kutcher.

The series finale revolved entirely around Sheen's character.

It turned out Harper was alive and was being held prisoner for the past four years in a giant pit in the basement of an obsessive lover — a nod to "Silence of the Lambs."

However, Sheen never appears once in the episode. 

Instead, viewers are introduced to the backside of a Sheen lookalike at the episode's end. Before he can turn around, a piano is dropped onto the lookalike, killing Sheen's character for good this time.

The camera pans over to "Two and A Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre who turns to look at the camera and says "winning," a phrase that Sheen adopted while on his interview spree in 2011.  

Right after, a second piano falls upon his head.

It was a bizarre, strange ending to the 12-season series.

Why bother to make an entire episode revolve around a character who was killed off four years ago when he's not going to make an appearance? 

Apparently, Lorre and the producers did want Sheen to come back and reprise his character.

A title card at the end of the series from Lorre revealed Sheen was asked to come back for the finale. 

Here's the message that appeared on screen:

Here's what it says in full:

I know a lot of you might be disappointed that you didn't get to see Charlie Sheen in tonight's finale. For the record, he was offered a role. Our idea was to have him walk up to the front door in the last scene, ring the doorbell, then turn, look directly into the camera and go off on a maniacal rant about the dangers of drug abuse. He would then explain that these dangers only applied to average people. That he was far above average. He was a ninja warrior from Mars. He was invincible.

And then we would drop a piano on him.

We thought it was funny. 

He didn't. 

Instead, he wanted us to write a heart-warming scene that would set up his return to primetime TV in a new sitcom called The Harpers starring him and Jon Cryer.

We thought that was funny too.

In an interview for the New York Times, Lorre said he never personally spoke with Sheen about inviting him to come back. Two executive producers, Jim Patterson and Don Reo, were in touch with Sheen.

Lorre also expanded on why he thought Sheen turned down the offer to return.

Via the NYT:

I can’t say. I just have to assume that he didn’t see the humor in it, which is all right. What are you going to do? We thought that was a terrific way to end the series. He certainly understood there was a huge pent-up demand to see Charlie in the finale, and there would be creative closure in that. I wanted to make that happen, but it wasn’t meant to be.

We made what I know to be a sincere effort to include him in the finale, in a way that would give him a real featured moment, and a funny moment—a self-deprecating and outrageous moment. The final moment would have been his. He chose not to do it. That was an effort not to just give him what he wanted, but to give the fans of the show what they wanted. I’m not clear on what else I could have done. I wasn’t about to turn creative control over the show to anybody, not at this point, not in the finale. I mean, why?

Lorre was also asked whether he gave any consideration to Sheen's proposed ending for the series.

"Not for a second," he said. "It just didn’t feel appropriate for what we were doing."

After watching the episode in its entirety, you kind of can't blame Sheen for not wanting to come back.

The entire episode appears to be one giant dig at the actor.

Throughout the finale, knocks were made at Sheen for his previous behavior. Plenty of jokes are made about drugs and prostitutes.

At one point, Ashton Kutcher's character receives the following text from Harper:

You despicable troll. You thought you could replace my ninja awesomeness, you lame clown. I will deploy army of assassins to destroy you, I will bring my bayonets of truth to the hexagon of death where I will carve my initials into your reptilian skull and cover you in tiger’s blood. 

The Washington Post has a big breakdown of the many jokes made at Sheen's expense.

At the end of the day, Sheen may have gotten the last laugh after all.

Without his appearance, 13.2 million tuned in for the show's series finale. Though that number was higher compared to recent ratings for "Two and a Half Men," it was far lower than the average ratings the series was getting when Sheen was on the show.

More people tuned in earlier Thursday night on CBS for "The Big Bang Theory" (17.5 million).

The "Two and a Half Men" finale viewership is also a far cry from the over 27 million people who tuned in when Kutcher replaced Sheen in season nine.

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NOW WATCH: This Sports Illustrated swimsuit rookie could become the next Kate Upton

Happy Oscar Sunday!

Neil Patrick Harris will host the 87th annual Academy Awards tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.

"Birdman" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel' both lead the Oscar race as top nominees for the evening with nine nominations apiece. Frontrunner "Boyhood" has six nominations.

Here is everyone up for an Academy Award Sunday evening:

Best Picture:

"American Sniper" Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper, and Peter Morgan, Producers
"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers
"Boyhood" Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
"The Imitation Game" Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
"Selma" Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
"The Theory of Everything" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, and Anthony McCarten, Producers
"Whiplash" Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, and David Lancaster, Producers

Best Actor:

Steve Carell in "Foxcatcher"
Bradley Cooper in "American Sniper"
Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Imitation Game"
Michael Keaton in "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
Eddie Redmayne in "The Theory of Everything"

Best Actress:

Marion Cotillard in "Two Days, One Night"
Felicity Jones in "The Theory of Everything"
Julianne Moore in "Still Alice"
Rosamund Pike in "Gone Girl"
Reese Witherspoon in "Wild"

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette in "Boyhood"
Laura Dern in "Wild"
Keira Knightley in "The Imitation Game"
Emma Stone in "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
Meryl Streep in "Into the Woods"

Best Supporting Actor:

Robert Duvall in "The Judge"
Ethan Hawke in "Boyhood"
Edward Norton in "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
Mark Ruffalo in "Foxcatcher"
J.K. Simmons in "Whiplash"

Best Director:

"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" Alejandro G. Iñárritu
"Boyhood" Richard Linklater
"Foxcatcher" Bennett Miller
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Wes Anderson
"The Imitation Game" Morten Tyldum

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Big Hero 6" Don Hall, Chris Williams, and Roy Conli
"The Boxtrolls" Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable, and Travis Knight
"How to Train Your Dragon 2" Dean DeBlois, and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea" Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Best Documentary Feature:

"CitizenFour" Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky
"Finding Vivian Maier" John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
"Last Days in Vietnam" Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
"The Salt of the Earth" Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and David Rosier
"Virunga" Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best Original Song:

"Everything Is Awesome" from "The Lego Movie"
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
"Glory" from "Selma"
Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
"Grateful" from "Beyond the Lights"
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from "Glen Campbell…I'll Be Me"
Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
"Lost Stars" from "Begin Again"
Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Alexandre Desplat
"The Imitation Game" Alexandre Desplat
"Interstellar" Hans Zimmer
"Mr. Turner" Gary Yershon
"The Theory of Everything" Jóhann Jóhannsson

Achievement in cinematography:

"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" Emmanuel Lubezki
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Robert Yeoman
"Ida" Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
"Mr. Turner" Dick Pope
"Unbroken" Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design:

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Milena Canonero
"Inherent Vice" Mark Bridges
"Into the Woods" Colleen Atwood
"Maleficent" Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
"Mr. Turner" Jacqueline Durran

Best documentary short subject:

"Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1" Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
"Joanna" Aneta Kopacz
"Our Curse" Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
"The Reaper (La Parka)" Gabriel Serra Arguello
"White Earth" J. Christian Jensen

Achievement in film editing:

"American Sniper" Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
"Boyhood" Sandra Adair
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Barney Pilling
"The Imitation Game" William Goldenberg
"Whiplash" Tom Cross

Best foreign-language film of the year:

"Ida" Poland
"Leviathan" Russia
"Tangerines" Estonia
"Timbuktu" Mauritania
"Wild Tales" Argentina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling:

"Foxcatcher" Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
"Guardians of the Galaxy" Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Achievement in production design:

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"The Imitation Game" Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
"Interstellar" Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
"Into the Woods" Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Mr. Turner" Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best animated short film:

"The Bigger Picture" Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
"The Dam Keeper" Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
"Feast" Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
"Me and My Moulton" Torill Kove
"A Single Life" Joris Oprins

Best live-action short film:

"Aya" Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
"Boogaloo and Graham" Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
"Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)" Hu Wei and Julien Féret
"Parvaneh" Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
"The Phone Call" Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Achievement in sound editing:

"American Sniper" Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
"Interstellar" Richard King
"Unbroken" Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Achievement in sound mixing: 

"American Sniper" John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, and Thomas Varga
"Interstellar" Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker, and Mark Weingarten
"Unbroken" Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, and David Lee
"Whiplash" Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, and Thomas Curley

Achievement in visual effects:

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
"Guardians of the Galaxy" Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
"Interstellar" Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Adapted screenplay:

"American Sniper" Written by Jason Hall
"The Imitation Game" Written by Graham Moore
"Inherent Vice" Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
"The Theory of Everything" Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
"Whiplash" Written by Damien Chazelle

Original screenplay: 

"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
"Boyhood" Written by Richard Linklater
"Foxcatcher" Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
"Nightcrawler" Written by Dan Gilroy

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's the first trailer for George Clooney's new movie 'Tomorrowland'

Each actor who took home a big award for the night had one thing in common: they were all first time winners.

Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette, J.K. Simmons, and Eddie Redmayne all took home their first Oscars at the 87th Academy Awards.

While three of the four were first time nominees, this was Moore's fifth nomination.

The last time the actress received an Oscar nod was in 2003 for both "Far from Heaven" and "The Hours." 

They weren't the only first time winners on Sunday.

"Birdman" director Alejandro González Iñárritu took home his first Oscar wins for best director and original screenplay.

Composer Alexandre Desplat also won his first Oscar for original score after eight nominations.

Check out the full list of winners from Oscar night here.

SEE ALSO: Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez had an incredible reaction to Patricia Arquette's demand for wage equality

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's the new trailer for season two of HBO's 'Silicon Valley'

There's nothing like your first Oscar win.

Nobody proved that more than Eddie Redmayne Sunday night.  

The 33-year-old actor was absolutely floored when his name was revealed as the best actor winner for his role in "The Theory of Everything."

Redmayne beat out favorite Michael Keaton ("Birdman") along with Bradley Cooper ("American Sniper"), Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher"), and Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game") to win his first Academy Award.

Redmayne sat patiently with his wife Hannah Bagshawe holding his hand to keep him calm as he waited for the winner to be announced. 

Here's how he looked when he first heard his name called out:

Redmayne looked like he was on the verge of tears as he embraced his wife.

As the win hit him, he couldn't contain his excitement.

Even when he was on stage, he couldn't hold back.

He started his acceptance speech, but midway through, he was overwhelmed by the thrill of his win again.

Wow indeed. 

SEE ALSO: Benedict Cumberbatch brought a flask to the Oscars

AND: Neil Patrick Harris mocks 'white Oscars' in show opening

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Reese Witherspoon was nominated for a best actress Oscar this year for her role in "Wild."

While Witherspoon lost out to "Still Alice" star Julianne Moore, she is consistently one of the friendliest celebrities on the red carpet.

This year Witherspoon seemed especially affable, shaking hands (wrists?) with her fellow best actress nominee "The Theory of Everything" star Felicity Jones ...

... chatting up Anna Faris ...

... and getting giggly with Nicole Kidman.

She took the time to take selfies with fans ...

... and waved her way down the red carpet.

Just don't cross this Southern belle!

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Last year Samsung had the undisputed best brand activation at the Oscars, with its star-studded selfie. This year, the title went to Lego. Everything was, indeed, awesome.

"The Lego Movie" may not have won any Academy Awards but it certainly provided one of the highlights of the night, as Tegan and Sara joined comedy music troupe Lonely Island to perform an epic version of the Oscar-nominated song from the movie, "Everything Is Awesome."

And that wasn't all: Questlove joined in on drums and Will Arnett (who voices Batman in "The Lego Movie") jumped on stage in a Batman costume (which apparently was the very same suit Val Kilmer wore in "Batman Forever".)

Here's the full performance:

Dancers from the performance then went on to hand out gold Lego Oscars to stars in the audience, including Oprah Winfrey, Steve Carell, and Meryl Streep.

Oprah's reaction was probably the social media meme of the night.

Emma Stone looked like she didn't want to let go of hers.

Plenty of other stars also posed for photos with their Lego Oscars.

Nathan Sawaya, the artist that made the Lego Oscars, was also active on social media throughout the night.

Lego's perfectly planned performance earned the brand 47,290 mentions on Twitter on Sunday night, according to Amobee Brand Intelligence, although that was boosted by the brand buying up Twitter ads. And now everyone wants their own Lego Oscar. Here's how to make your own:

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The 87th Academy Awards took place Sunday night.

Though Neil Patrick Harris was the host, it was the women who stole the spotlight this year, from Meryl Streep and Lady Gaga to Emma Stone and Idina Menzel.

Lego also helped make everything awesome.

If you didn't stay up for the entire show, here's what you missed.

Emma Stone was really excited to see Jennifer Aniston on the red carpet.

While Reese Witherspoon was really excited to take selfies with fans.

No, Nicole Kidman, Witherspoon will never let go.

"Birdman" was the big winner at the 87th Academy Awards.

Not only did it win best picture, but the film also won for best director, best cinematography, and best screenplay.

What made the four-time Oscar winner the best movie of the year?

"Birdman" could have easily fallen victim to its own gimmicks and wild ambitions.

For starters, it's an incredibly self-aware film that stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor best known for portraying a superhero, which sounds a bit too on the nose on paper for the "Batman" star.

The film is shot in a way meant to appear as one continuous shot, and the score is essentially just one really long drum solo. Additionally, the film's full title is "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)," which reeks of pretension but actually makes perfect sense by the end credits. In the hands of a less assured director, "Birdman" would surely fail, but with Alejandro González Iñárritu at the helm, the movie is pure cinematic bliss. 

We first meet Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) as he levitates (yes, levitates) in his dressing room with only the gruff voice that exists within his head to keep him company. Thomson is a movie star who seems to have vanished from the public eye since the wildly popular "Birdman" series was released some years ago. In an attempt to win back his spotlight or just prove something to himself, he stages an elaborate Broadway production based on a Raymond Carver short story that he plans to produce, direct, and star in. 

Keaton's performance is bold, unapologetic, and, best of all, just plain entertaining. The role is quite complex, as Thomson seems to fade in and out of reality. His "Birdman" character seems to have crossed over into his real life and manifests itself in stressful moments. It is an alter ego of sorts; Birdman's voice acts as a unique personality that exists within him. Is Thomson schizophrenic, or is Birdman simply a manifestation of the mind caused by Thomson's overwhelming audacity?

Besides Keaton, the supporting cast is arguably the film's next greatest asset. Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Naomi Watts all turn in terrific performances, but Edward Norton steals the show. Norton's take on an over-the-top method stage actor is a breath of fresh air and probably the best performance of his career. The playful exchanges between him and Keaton as they rehearse had me and the audience in stitches.

During the news conference after the screening, I asked Norton whether he had any particular inspiration for the character, to which he replied, "I basically just looked 4 feet to my left at Alejandro ... I'm wearing his scarf in the movie, I'm wearing his jacket, everything I say in the movie I've heard him say or I know he wants to say."  

This led Iñárritu to interject with his favorite on-set moment, which occurred during a scene in which Norton questions Keaton's direction choices: "I was explaining to Edward how the movement of the camera works and everything and he began to question me about it ... so suddenly he was basically directing me saying what the actor was saying and I was looking at the page saying, 'Oh my god this is a mirror in a mirror in a mirror.'"

Some of the film's best moments are when it leaves our world and veers off into the weird and wild unknown. The scenes in which Keaton battles the voices in his head are full of magical realism. At one point Iñárritu chooses to break the fourth wall and create a diegetic moment in which the film's drummer actually appears on screen. This interruption could have taken the viewer out of the film, but in context it works and adds to the meticulously orchestrated madness.

The camerawork throughout the film is breathtaking. Every sequence drips with chaos and energy, as the camera forces its way into the action. The smooth, sprawling transitions from one scene to the next are visually impressive and fit the tone set by the frenetic score. These elements combine to form a style that is unique and a technical marvel.

In addition to the chaotic structure, the sharp, funny, and occasionally revelatory dialogue keeps the film moving fast. We learn what we know about Thomson and those who inhabit his life through meaningful exchanges, which is how filmmaking is supposed to work but has become rare and worthy of praise in a market saturated with big-budget blockbusters and their sequels.

"Birdman" is very much about these topics without ever explicitly stating it; it is about as meta as it gets and functions as a send-up of the very idea of criticism. In the bottom right corner of the mirror in Thomson's dressing room, there is a note visible throughout the film that says, "A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing," which would be the film's thesis, if it had one. At the news conference, Iñárritu further commented on this notion by saying the film "is what it is" and that no amount of criticism can change that. At times, the film plays like catharsis for the director, and while that is true to an extent, there is much more to it than that. 

In the case of "Birdman," this critic can't recommend it enough.

SEE ALSO: Steve Carell and Channing Tatum give their best performances yet in thought-provoking 'Foxcatcher'

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During Sunday night's Oscars, and after being announced as best supporting actress for her work in Richard Linklater's "Boyhood," Patricia Arquette received whoops and cheers from the audience after drawing attention to wage equality in her acceptance speech.

Jared Leto, with his long, flowing locks, announced Arquette as the winner, and he proceeded to stand behind Arquette as she gave her speech.

"To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America," Arquette said.

Then this tweet was sent by a New York University student named Tim Lyzen:

Rare photo of Jesus blessing Patricia Arquette during her acceptance speech. pic.twitter.com/C4nr8Pp9Az

— Tim Lyzen (@TLyzen) February 23, 2015

It has been retweeted more than 10,000 times so far.

Leto, who has caught flak for his biblical-esque style, is hard to take seriously in this photo.

Arquette received a standing ovation for her remarks on women in the workplace from celebrities like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez:

Is Lyzen, an unsuspecting Twitter user with 674 followers, a comedy guy? He seems to be taking his award for best tweet of the night in stride.

@ergeekgoddess why thank you. I've been blessed with the ability to be somewhat funny 1 night of the year. T-minus 365 days till the next!

— Tim Lyzen (@TLyzen) February 23, 2015

SEE ALSO: Graham Moore gave the most inspiring acceptance speech

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"Birdman" went home as one of the big winners of the 87th Academy Awards.

It won a total of four Oscars including best picture and best director. 

The film, about a washed-up actor Riggan Thomson (Keaton) gearing up for a Broadway debut, underwent a rigorous schedule.

Shot in just 30 days in the spring of 2013 at the St. James Theatre in New York City's theater district, director Alejandro González Iñárritu insisted the film be made to appear as one continuous shot.

The camera work comes from Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki who worked on “Gravity.” Try to spot a cut in the film and you'll maybe notice one. The film plays straight through pretty seamlessly.

During a panel for the movie at New York Comic Con in October, host Chris Hardwick described what it was like watching the film:

"There are these really long scenes where the camera will follow one character into a room and then something sort of weird and special effect-y happens and then someone else will come in and it will follow that character out. Meanwhile, there's stuff going on along the way to the next destination to a whole other area of the building and then there's something else completely in progress that is being orchestrated at the same time."

In order to achieve the look, the cast underwent shots that took anywhere from seven to 10 minutes to film, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Keaton described the difficulty of prepping for the film to the magazine for its October 17 issue.

"Everybody showed up every morning frightened," Keaton told EW. "The crew too. I think we were all thinking, I don't want to be the guy who lets everybody down."

To give you an idea of how stressful it could be on set, the cast, crew, and camera team had to be readily in sync.

Here's how EW describes what one mistake would cost them on set.

"Anything—a misremembered line, an extra step taken, a camera operator stumbling on a stair or veering off course or out of focus—could blow a take, rendering the first several minutes unusable even if they had been perfect."

"You had to be word-perfect, you had to be off script, and you literally had to count your paces down to the number of steps you needed to take before turning a corner," Keaton told EW. 

"Everyone would apologize perfunctorily if they messed up ... mostly because we were aware of how hard it was on the camera operators," Keaton added. "And the camera operators didn't want to screw up because of us."

Norton didn't want to speak much about the making of the film at NYCC, wanting the film to instead speak for itself.

"I'm sure film schools will be deconstructing how a lot of it was done for a long time to come because it is really remarkable," said Norton. "I think suffice to say it was a level of planning you rarely see on a film. I thought it was wonderful because you rarely get that kind of rehearsal period on a film and you rarely get to work that intimately with the entire camera crew. It was all great. It has its challenges but it's a lot more fun actually than on a day-t0-day basis."

"It's amazing what he [Lubezki] pulled off as a cinematographer in this film," Norton added. "I think it's every bit as amazing as what he did in 'Gravity,' and yet in a totally different type of story and context." 

Watch a preview for "Birdman" below:

SEE ALSO: "Birdman" is the best movie of the year

AND: It took Michael Keaton about 27 seconds to decide to be in "Birdman"

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Oscar winners tend to be glamorous, successful, and celebrated. But the icing on the cake, according to University of Toronto epidemiologist Donald A. Redelmeier, is that winners also live an average of four years longer than mere nominees.

Before you feel bad for Oscar night losers, consider: This doesn't necessarily mean what you think it might.

Do winners live longer because they are basking in the healing glow of their statuette — or is it that actors who live more years will simply have more chances to win an Oscar?

The claim

In his 2001 study — which got plenty of press at the time — Redelmeier analyzed the lifespans of all the actors and actresses who had ever received an Academy Award or nomination. He also compared this group to 887 other actors and actresses, who matched up with the nominees according to age and sex and had appeared in the same films without being nominated.

The average life expectancy of the Oscar winners was about 80 years, compared to about 76 years among the runners-up and the controls. To put those extra four years in perspective: "The absolute difference in life expectancy," Redelmeier wrote, "is about equal to the societal consequence of curing all cancers in all people for all time."

That's no blip. The real question is whether winning an Oscar had anything to do with it.

Redelmeier pointed out that a large body of research equates higher status with longer lives, suggesting that this result, while striking, is just a logical extension of that conclusion. In other words, status differences matter not only between millionaires and the working class, but between the very successful and the very, very successful.

He hypothesized that winners would have more pressure to keep up appearances as well as more resources (money, personal trainers, chefs, etc.) than the nominees, prompting better self-care and, subsequently, longer lives. But he acknowledged that there could be underlying factors — things like resilience and social support — that contributed to both longer lives and better Oscar odds.

The blow back

While the narrative is pretty irresistible — Oscar winners get not only prestige and worldwide fame but years added to their lives! — epidemiological studies rarely give us such tidy results.

In a 2006 re-analysis of Redelmeier's data, James A. Hanley, a biostatician at McGill University, came to a totally different conclusion. The original paper, he argued, suffered from something called "immortal time bias."

In other words, Matthew Herper explained in Forbes, "those actors who live longer just have more time to win an Oscar." After all, Redelmeier observed, the mean age of Oscar winners (39) is higher than the mean age of nominees (35).

Hanley noted that a fair match-up would analyze not how long winners had lived since an arbitrary point (such as birth or turning 50), but how many additional years they had lived since winning. When Hanley did just that, he found the winners' longevity advantage vanished.

The upshot

As far back as 1843, British epidemiologist William Farr warned against analyzing people from birth as if they had been in certain categories all along. You could easily conclude, for example, that generals live longer than lieutenants — but that's probably because many lieutenants die before they have a chance to advance to the rank of general.

Similarly, another 2011 study argued, healthy people will have the chance to act in more movies, giving them more chances to win acting prizes. Oscar winners do live longer, the statisticians concluded, but "there is not strong evidence that winning an Oscar increases life expectancy."

So don't cry too hard for the losers — they just might be the winners the next time around.

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Neil Patrick Harris wasn't the only one who made some Oscar predictions that turned out correct; Microsoft's Bing prediction engine correctly predicted all but four Oscar winners.

Bing correctly predicted 84 percent of the 87th Academy Awards, according to The Verge, including best supporting actor and actress, best actor, best actress, best director, and even best picture.

The winners it missed? Bing incorrectly predicted best original screenplay, best animated feature, best original score, and best film editing, though it had each of the actual winners as the second most-likely to win.

That's still pretty impressive, but it's actually slightly down from last year's Bing's predictions, where the search engine correctly guessed 21 of the 24 Oscar winners.

Bing's prediction engine, which has been making predictions ranging from World Cup winners to NFL game outcomes, is headed up by Microsoft researcher David Rothschild. Rothschild, who famously called all 50 states in the 2012 US election, shared the outcome of his ballot predictions via Twitter on Sunday night.

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Sunday night's Oscars brought a lot to the table, but one winner's speech was so captivating it inspired a viral hashtag — #stayweird — that went wild on social media during the award show.

Graham Moore, who was crowned the winner for best adapted screenplay for the movie "The Imitation Game," shared a story of personal struggle during his moment in the limelight.

"The Imitation Game," based on the life of computer scientist Alan Turing, focuses on Turing's dedication to innovation but how he was ultimately prosecuted for being gay.

Moore accepted the award (and thanked Oprah, who presented him the award), with an incredible message:

"Here's the thing. Alan Turing never got to stand on a stage like this and look out at all of these disconcertingly attractive faces. I do. And that's the most unfair thing I've ever heard," Moore began. "So in this brief time here, what I wanted to do was say this: When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and I felt different, and I felt like I did not belong. And now I'm standing here, and so I would like this moment to be for this kid out there who feels like she's weird or she's different or she doesn't fit in anywhere: Yes, you do. I promise you do. Stay weird, stay different, and then, when it's your turn, and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along. Thank you so much!"

Incredible.

You can watch Moore's entire speech here:

The tweets came rolling in:

@MrGrahamMoore Thank you for using your moment to make a difference. Stay inspired. #StayWeird

— Kelsey Kincaid (@KelC_K) February 23, 2015

#stayweird@MrGrahamMoore thank you for saving thousands which needed to hear the words you spoke.

— Cathy Mason (@cathymasonhomes) February 23, 2015

Everyone should embrace their weirdness. If you took away my weirdness I'd be left with nothing. #stayweird#beyourself

— Danielle Morgan (@D_Morg97) February 23, 2015

Awesome to see that Graham Moore is trending again this morning. Winning an Oscar and saving lives, quite the night for him. #StayWeird

— Diana Hunt (@dkathunt) February 23, 2015

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