( CNN ) '' Birdman '' soared late at the 87th Academy Awards , winning the big prize : best picture . The film , about a onetime superhero actor -- played by Michael Keaton -- making a comeback bid through a Broadway play , was filled with unusual touches : filmed as if all one shot , scored with a jazzy-drum soundtrack , shaded with magical realism , largely the vision of director and co-writer Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu . `` This guy is as bold as bold could be , '' Keaton said of the director as he took a turn at the microphone during the best picture acceptance . The film won three other honors : directing , cinematography -- the second straight Oscar for cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki , who won last year for `` Gravity '' -- and original screenplay . Iñarritu is the second Mexican director to win in two years , after `` Gravity 's '' Alfonso Cuaron . `` Two Mexicans in a row , that 's suspicious , '' Iñarritu joked . Full list of winners . `` Birdman '' had appeared to take the lead in the Oscar race in recent weeks , cementing its front-runner status with wins at the Producers Guild and the Independent Spirit Awards . Its main competition was `` Boyhood , '' a chronicle of a youth 's life shot over 12 years by director Richard Linklater . `` Boyhood '' ended up with one Oscar , for best supporting actress . Activist messages . Indeed , the Oscars were pretty much as the handicappers predicted . Eddie Redmayne won best actor for his performance as the ALS-afflicted scientist Stephen Hawking in `` The Theory of Everything . '' Julianne Moore won best actress for her performance as a professor suffering from early-onset Alzheimer 's in `` Still Alice . '' `` Boyhood 's '' Patricia Arquette won best supporting actress -- and made sure that her award was a call for equality . `` 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 Stares of America , '' she said , to rousing applause . Her activist message also resonated online . Also resonating was a stirring speech by Common and John Legend , who won best song for `` Glory . '' Their performance of the song brought the film 's star David Oyelowo to tears . 'Call your mom ; call your dad ' The best supporting actor Oscar went to J.K. Simmons of `` Whiplash . '' The longtime character actor -- known to audiences for his roles in Sam Raimi 's `` Spider-Man '' films as J.Jonah Jameson , the TV show `` The Closer '' and ads for Farmers Insurance and M & Ms , among many others -- paid tribute to his family in his speech , praising his wife and his `` above-average '' children . He also put in a plug for actual phone calls . `` Call your mom ; call your dad ; do n't text ; do n't email ; tell them you love them , '' he said . Host Neil Patrick Harris tweaked him by humming the Farmers theme as Simmons left the stage . `` Whiplash '' won three Oscars , winning sound mixing and film editing along with supporting actor . `` The Grand Budapest Hotel '' tied `` Birdman '' with four Oscars : for score , production design , costume design and makeup . `` Big Hero 6 '' won best animated feature . `` Citizenfour '' won best documentary feature . Director Laura Poitras thanked the film 's subject , Edward Snowden , the NSA contractor who leaked classified files and earned the ire of the government . An attempt at a pun from Harris -- Snowden could n't be at the Oscars `` for some treason '' -- got immediate pushback online . `` The Imitation Game '' won adapted screenplay . `` Ida '' won best foreign language film . NPH leads with jokes . The Oscars -- the `` epicenter of noise and world attention , '' as `` Ida '' director Pawel Pawlikowski called them -- wasted no time in poking fun at some of the big issues facing Hollywood : diversity , economics and self-involvement . Harris led off the show with a joke about the lack of diversity among the acting nominees . `` This year we honor Hollywood 's best and whitest -- sorry , brightest , '' he joked . Then , in a mammoth opening number , he and Anna Kendrick were joined by Jack Black , who angrily hopped on stage to throw a sarcastic wet blanket over their hailing of `` Moving Pictures , '' noting that the business is as much about `` raising tents with tentpoles and chasing Chinese bucks '' than it is about art . He was summarily dismissed by Harris . The host also wandered into the audience , greeting two seat fillers among the celebrities , and at one point parodied `` Birdman '' by walking through the backstage area in his underwear -- right onto the stage . # AskHerMore . Some unexpected rain did n't dampen the spirits of the celebrities arriving for Hollywood 's biggest night . However , there was little burst of color this year among the red-carpet walkers . Instead , there were lots of whites , blacks , silvers and grays . Lady Gaga added some red with what appeared to be exaggerated dishwashing gloves . HLN : Live Oscar blog ! Arquette decided to split the difference between black and white , with her gown consisting of a white top and black skirt . So did comedian Kevin Hart , who was wearing a tuxedo featuring a white jacket with black lapels , along with a black shirt , black tie and white pants . `` When you 're on the red carpet , you might as well pop , '' he told CNN . However , the Twitter hashtag # AskHerMore was encouraging interviewers to ask celebrities more than just `` Who are you wearing ? '' One wonders what the late Joan Rivers would have thought of that . Rivers was also trending , however , for being left out of the `` In Memoriam '' montage . Well , it 's the Oscars . Only a Birdman can fly above the fray . The show aired from Hollywood 's Dolby Theatre .
`` Birdman '' wins four Oscars , including best picture . Eddie Redmayne wins best actor , Julianne Moore best actress . Patricia Arquette , J.K. Simmons win supporting awards .