Last night’s Oscars had been surrounded by controversy leading up to the ceremony- but who were the big winners? 

Best Picture: Spotlight – this hard-hitting film telling the story of an investigative journalist team investigating child abuse cases in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests was a strong contender for this award. But in a sense it is a surprise as  The Revenant was hotly tipped and spoken of as getting the award.

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) – this has been the main talking point from the ceremony last night and it is lovely to see how happy people are that DiCaprio finally got recognised by the academy for what appears to have been a really gruelling and tough role to play. Well deserved.

Best Actress: Brie Larson (Room) – another strong category and from the glimpses of the film seen from the trailer it seems an equally well deserved award. But it has to be said, Love London Love Culture is slightly disappointed for Saoirse Ronan and Jennifer Lawrence – both putting in excellent performances in Joy and Brooklyn – two very much must see films.

Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) – this is an actor who can’t seem to put a foot wrong at the moment. Hours after winning this award, it was announced that he was nominated for an Olivier Award!

Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) – an actress whose career is now rising rapidly – guaranteed one to watch out for in future films and not purely as a supporting actress.

Other big winners on the night: Mad Max: Fury Road & The Revenant – the two major winners of awards was surprisingly Mad Max: Fury Road (Costume Design, Film Editing, Make Up, Production Design, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing). But less surprisingly was the countless awards for The Revenant (Cinematography, Direction, Best Actor).

Best Animated Film: Inside Out – a very clever concept that really does get inside your head and gets you thinking about your emotions and the way that you handle your emotions. A very unique film that doesn’t fail to win you over.

Best Original Song: Writing’s on The Wall (Spectre): although it doesn’t make sense in fitting in with the film in the traditional sense, it has been expertly crafted – even if it does bring reminders of Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ to mind.

Overall verdict: despite not getting the balance of ethnicity quite right, there was a high quality of different styles of films selected that shows how hard Hollywood is working to get audiences flocking to the cinema.