Oscars 2015: Best moments from Meryl Streep whooping at Patricia Arquette's equality speech to Chris Pine in tears

Neil Patrick Harris went there with the 'white' jokes and Eddie Redmayne triumphed for the Brits - but what else went on in Hollywood last night?

Patricia Arquette making her Best Actress acceptance speech and calling for equal pay at the Oscars (Getty Images)

Last night saw Hollywood light up for the star-studded Oscars ceremony, with Birdman, Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore among the big winners.

But while the awards themselves matched most critics' predictions, it was all the other goings-on that most of us found most entertaining.

From Gaga's rendition of "The Hills Are Alive" to Patricia Arquette's call for equal pay and Benedict Cumberbatch swigging from a hipflask, here were some of our favourite Oscars moments:

Lady Gaga sings a Sound of Music medley

Julie Andrews herself led the praise for the usually eccentric singer after she stunned the audience with a soaring array of hits in a beautiful white gown. "Thank you Lady Gaga for that wonderful performance," said Andrews, who played Maria the singing nun in the 1965 film, as Hollywood gave her a standing ovation.

"Tonight we celebrate Hollywood's best and whitest...sorry brightest"

Dubbed "the whitest Oscars since 1998" after not a single black or Asian actor were nominated in the four acting categories, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was trending before the ceremony even began. Host Neil Patrick Harris was quick to mock the diversity issue.

Of the 6,000 people who get to vote in the Oscars judging panel, 93 per cent are white, 70 per cent are male and the average age is 63. Which goes some way to explaining things.

Eddie Redmayne couldn't contain himself

Eton boy Eddie took home Best Actor for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. You know, the one so good Hawking said he felt as though he were watching himself?

But if you didn't watch the ceremony itself, you may have missed his charming acceptance speech, which culminated in a rather involuntary "WOW".

#AskHerMore dominates red carpet

The hashtag trended on Twitter, encouraging journalists to ask actresses more than "What are you wearing?". Reese Witherspoon summed it up nicely before the ceremony: "This is a movement to say we're more than just our dresses. It's hard being a woman in Hollywood."

Patricia Arquette rocks it for the sisterhood in acceptance speech...

The Boyhood actress used her Best Supporting Actress win to call for equal pay for women. "We talk about equal rights for women in other countries...we don't have equal rights for women in America because when they wrote the constitution, they didn't write it for women," she said to raucous applause.

Oh and earlier on the red carpet she rejected E!'s "mani-cam" and spoke about her charity work with an ecological sanitation project instead. Atta girl.

...and wins the support of Meryl Streep

Safe to say Arquette has the support of this Hollywood royalty and J-Lo to boot.

#feministOscars

The world loved Arquette's acceptance speech so much that #FeministOscars began trending on Twitter. It didn't stop many recognising that there is a long way to go before we can truly call it that, however.

David Oyelowo and Chris Pine weep during "Glory"

Shortly before winning the Best Original Song Oscar, John Legend and Common performed Selma song "Glory" complete with backing choir and imagery of the famous march. It certainly got to Pine and Oyelowo, anyway.

John Legend gets all political

Legend drew upon the continuing civil rights struggle in his acceptance speech, emphasising that the "struggle for freedom and justice is real". "We live in the most incarcerated country in the world," he said.

"There are more black men under correctional control today then there were under slavery in 1850. When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you we are with you. We see you, we love you, and march on. God bless you."

Benedict Cumberbatch isn't content with the alcohol supply

The Imitation Game actor was caught shamelessly swigging from a hipflask at his seat and pulling...quite...the...face. Well he had to something after his U2 photobomb last year, didn't he?

Pawel Pawlikowski gets the boot...twice

The British-Polish filmmaker won Best Foreign Film for Ida but his acceptance speech went on too long for producers. Pawlikowski was ushered off stage mid-sentence but he ignored the over-zealous music and went on to dedicate his Oscar to his late wife. He was then played off again and ignored the signal...again.

Pawel Pawlikowski wins the Oscar for Best Foreign Film

Joan Rivers left out of Oscars tribute

She was given a pre-Oscars tribute on E! but Joan Rivers was missed out of the annual ceremony honours. Twitter did not miss this - asking how the deaths of marketing executives were seemingly more important than those of Rivers.

Emma Stone clutches Lego statuette

She may have missed out on an Oscar to Patricia Arquette but Emma Stone was awarded her very own Lego statuette during the performance of "Everything Is Awesome". Here she is looking ever so slighted unimpressed by the substitute.

Emma Stone clutches her Lego statuette at the Oscars