— J.K. Simmons, accepting his supporting actor Oscar for “Whiplash”“Call your mom, call your dad. If you’re lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call ‘em.
Don’t text. Don’t email. Call them on the phone.”
Neil Patrick Harris Sings, Jokes, Strips
A veteran host of other awards ceremonies, Neil Patrick Harris made his Oscar debut on the Dolby Theater stage and did a little bit of everything. There was a spectacle-packed opening number featuring the DeLorean time machine from “Back to the Future” and several Marilyn Monroes. And there was his parody of a scene from “Birdman,” in which Michael Keaton runs through Times Square in his underpants. Mr. Harris ran through backstage corridors and onto the stage in white briefs and black socks and shoes.
The show itself was an awkward mix of socially charged commentary — like Patricia Arquette’s call for gender equity and John Legend's plea to protect voting rights — and traditional segments like a tribute to “The Sound of Music.” After Laura Poitras collected the Oscar for her documentary “Citizenfour” and praised her subject, the whistleblower Edward J. Snowden, “for his courage,” Mr. Harris joked that he “couldn’t be here for some treason.”