During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as the Oscars) in 23 categories honoring the films released in 1994.

[5] Other winners included Ed Wood, The Lion King, and Speed with two awards and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Blue Sky, Bob's Birthday, Bullets Over Broadway, Burnt by the Sun, Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, Legends of the Fall, The Madness of King George, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, Pulp Fiction, A Time for Justice, and Trevor with one.

[21] In addition, her Comic Relief co-host and veteran Oscar emcee Billy Crystal declined to host the show citing his commitment to his film Forget Paris which he directed, wrote, starred in, and produced.

[22] Cates explained his decision to hire the late-night talk show host saying, "He's punctual, he's well groomed, and he knows how to keep an audience awake.

Only Forrest Gump (2nd), The Client (12th), Pulp Fiction (14th), Four Weddings and a Funeral (20th), and Nell (41st) were nominated for directing, acting, screenwriting, or Best Picture.

The other top 50 box office hits that earned nominations were The Lion King (1st), True Lies (3rd), Clear and Present Danger (6th), Speed (7th), The Mask (8th), Interview with the Vampire (10th), Maverick (11th), Legends of the Fall (27th) and Little Women (31st).

John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote, "Instead of keeping things moving smartly, Mr. Letterman stuck with his late-night shtick, too often leaving the show's pacing in shambles."

Hollywood's big event was wonderfully littered by technical errors, bad taste, low comedy and lower necklines."

He concluded, "As the evening dragged on, it became obvious that Mr. Letterman had no gift for ad-libbing through the few unpredictable opportunities in a 'live' event like the Oscars.

"[37] People named the ceremony as one of the worst television broadcasts of 1995, summarizing it as follows: "a cranky skeptic visits the high temple of show business, mocks the gold-plated statuary and displays insufficient reverence for the gods.

Television critic Joyce Millman of The San Francisco Examiner noted, "In his first stint as host of the Oscar telecast, David Letterman did the impossible—he made something entertaining from what is traditionally the most boring three hours of TV this side of a test pattern.

He also added that despite a lack of surprises amongst the awards, the emotional and unexpected humorous moments provided depth and entertainment throughout the evening.

[40] Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel gave an average review of the ceremony but singled out Letterman noting that he "proved Monday night that he's among Oscar's Top 10 Hosts.

"[41] The American telecast on ABC drew an average of 48.28 million people over its length, which was a 7% increase from the previous year's ceremony.

[48][49] The annual "In Memoriam" tribute, presented by actress Sigourney Weaver, honored the following people:[32] Official websites Analysis Other resources