Well, it is official: The 87th annual Academy Awards are now a part of history. This year’s show was long winded, like most, but filled with some nice surprises. Neil Patrick Harris hosted this year and did a good job with some witty jokes.

Nominees in many categories this year were excellent, with stiff competition in some of the major categories. While there are too many awards to list each one, one of the highlights was Best Actress in a Supporting Role, which went to Patricia Arquette for her performance in “Boyhood,” a film that took 12 years to shoot, which was quite a feat itself. Best Actor in a Supporting Role went to J.K Simmons for his work in “WhipLash.” Quite a step up from starring in Farmers commercials!

In the writing category, Best Screenplay went to a well-deserving “Birdman,” which also picked up the award for Cinematography.

In a touching segment of the show, Jennifer Hudson gave a wonderful performance honoring those we have lost in the film industry this past year. Hudson’s performance was not the only moving one. John Legend and Common gave a heartfelt rendition of their song, “Glory” from the film “Selma.” Seconds after this performance, they received a well-deserved award for Song of the Year.

This year’s Academy Awards were a good forum for many social issues that the various stars were speaking out on and supporting, such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, suicide, women’s rights and racial equality. As was stated by the president of the academy, this show is broadcast to over 100 countries in many different languages, making it a wonderful platform to spread the word to a large audience about issues of our time.

Toward the end of the evening, presentations for the major awards were announced, including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Movie. Best Director went to Alejandro G. IÑárritu for “Birdman.” Julianne Moore received Best Actress for “Still Alice,” a wonderful portrayal of a woman suffering through the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. Best Actor went to Eddie Redmayne for his heartbreaking portrayal of Stephen Hawking’s life and story of dealing with ALS in “The Theory of Everything.” Finally, Best Movie went to “Birdman,” a story about a down and out actor trying to re-establish himself.

Although Julianne Moore stated in her acceptance speech that there is no best actor or actress, that can be said for all of these categories. There were many deserving people and many brilliant productions that all warrant a hand for giving us a year filled with so many entertaining, touching and outstanding films.