5 Minutes For English

Academy Awards

Awarded for	Excellence in cinematic achievements
Country	United States
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
First awarded	May 16, 1929; 86 years ago
Official website	oscar.go.com

About the ceremony

 The Academy Awards, or "Oscars", is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements in the United States film industry as assessed by the Academy's voting membership.

   The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname "Oscar". The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by A.M.P.A.S.

Naming
   The origin of the name Oscar is disputed. One biography of Bette Davis, who was a president of the Academy claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson; one of the earliest mentions in print of the term Oscar dates back to a Time magazine article about the 1934 6th Academy Awards. Walt Disney is also quoted as thanking the Academy for his Oscar as early as 1932. Another claimed origin is that the Academy's Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, first saw the award in 1931 and made reference to the statuette's reminding her of her "Uncle Oscar" (a nickname for her cousin Oscar Pierce).Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick's naming and seized the name in his byline, "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'". The trophy was officially dubbed the "Oscar" in 1939 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO'S 2016 OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR

BEST ACTOR

Vocabulary:
Tireless (adj) - active, hard-working, enthusiastic
Tireless efforts
Endeavor (n) - aim, effort, struggle
Fierce (adj) - violent, angry, cruel
Fierce talent
Surpass (v)- beat, pass
Forge (v) - move forward, advance, duplicate, fabricate
Forge your way into history
Transcendent (adj) - fantastic, outstanding, perfect
A transcendent cinematic experience
Onset (n) - start, birth
The very onset of my career
Procrastinate (v)- pause, retard
Indigenous (adj)- aboriginal
Indigenous people
Underprivileged (adj)- deprived
Underprivileged people

   Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar acceptance speech was certainly one for the record books.  After six previous Academy Award nominations, DiCaprio finally joined the ranks of Oscar winners and took home the 2016 Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.  DiCaprio, now 41, was first nominated in 1993 at the ripe age of 19 for Best Supporting Actor for his work in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.  Since then, he's been nominated for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role), Blood Diamond (2006 Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role), and The Aviator (2004 Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role).

Full transcript:

   Thank you all so very much. Thank you to the Academy, thank you to all of you in this room. I have to congratulate the other incredible nominees this year for their unbelievable performances. The Revenant was the product of the tireless efforts of an unbelievable cast and crew I got to work alongside. First off, to my brother in this endeavor, Mr. Tom Hardy. Tom, your fierce talent on screen can only be surpassed by your friendship off screen. To Mr. Alejandro Innaritu, as the history of cinema unfolds, you have forged your way into history these past 2 years... thank you for creating a transcendent cinematic experience. Thank you to everybody at Fox and New Regency…my entire team. I have to thank everyone from the very onset of my career…to Mr. Jones for casting me in my first film to Mr. Scorsese for teaching me so much about the cinematic art form. To my parents, none of this would be possible without you. And to my friends, I love you dearly, you know who you are.

   And lastly I just want to say this: Making The Revenant was about man's relationship to the natural world. A world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow. Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this. For our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed. I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted. Thank you so very much.

Questions:

1.      What is the Academy Awards?

2.     Where and when is it held?

3.     Is "Oscars" an annual awards ceremony?

4.     What is the origin of the name "Oscar"?

5.     Name your "Top 3" Oscar Winners.

6.     Who is Leonardo DiCaprio? Why is he so famous?

7.     How many times was Leo nominated for?

8.    What is your opinion about "The Revenant"? Do you think it is worth getting an "Oscar"?

9.     What does Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar acceptance speech focus on?

10. Climate change: What can we do about it?

References:

• Academy Story

• Academy Awards

• Leonardo DiCaprio's 2016 Oscar Acceptance Speech for Best Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio. Biography