It is finally a wrap on arguably one the worst awards seasons in recent memory.
This year’s Oscars were surrounded by controversy, leading them to hold film’s biggest night hostless for the first time in thirty years. So, how did it go? Well let’s find out, shall we?
This year’s Academy Awards were hostless, which came as a shock to many. Kevin Hart had originally been set to host the awards show but dropped out after he was asked to apologize for homophobic tweets from the past. This meant that the Oscars Ceremony started out rather in a rather unconventional fashion.
Instead of opening with a monologue from a well-known actor, the ceremony started out with a tribute to Queen. Adam Lambert next to the remaining Queen members performed “We Will Rock You” in a spectacular montage. Needless to say that it was an awesome performance filled with great energy. It was an excellent way to start off the night. After the tribute, the ceremony proceeded with a video highlighting all of the 2018 films. It was a nice reminder that we are all here tonight to celebrate art in all of its many forms.
Then came a moment in which pretty much everyone thought the same thing: The Oscars lost the chance at having amazing hosts in the form of Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey. They delighted the audience with what could have been.
The comedy trifecta presented the first award of the evening: Supporting Actress which went to Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk.
The show flowed nicely, with everything going as predicted as Vice won the award for Makeup and Hairstyling and Black Panther won for Best Costume Design. Free Solo won the Oscar for Documentary Feature. As the night progressed, Black Panther accumulated awards. The superhero film won Best Production Design, and Best Music (Original Score).
Alfonso Cuaron won what was the first of many wins for his work in Roma’s cinematography. Cut to me screaming, “VIVA CUARON!” at the top of my lungs. He won once again for Best Foreign Language Film. VIVA CUARON! Guillermo del Toro, a longtime friend of Cuaron and last year’s Best Director winner, presented Cuaron with the Oscar for Best Director. It was my favorite moment of the night. VIVA CUARON!
Bohemian Rhapsody went on to win every technical award, which was a major surprise. In my opinion, it shouldn’t have won, but what can be done now. That film’s editing and sound mixing were not extraordinary, it was kind of messy compared to the other films. It seems as if no one saw The Favourite or BlacKkKlansman because those two had better editing and sound mixing than Bohemian Rhapsody. In my opinion, the Freddie Mercury biopic only deserved to win one award, and that is Leading Actor. Rami Malek did win the Oscar for his role as Freddie Mercury, and it made me happy because he truly was the best part of the movie.
Other deserving winners were SpiderMan: Into the SpiderVerse for Best Animated Feature Film and Mahershala Ali for Best Supporting Actor for Green Book. Green Book won in the Original Screenplay category, beating The Favourite (which was the favorite) and it was a very surprising win. Spike Lee finally won an Oscar for his work in BlacKkKlansman in the Adapted Screenplay category. It was an awesome moment when Samuel L. Jackson handed the award to a shocked and excited Spike.
However, The Favourite still scored one award: Leading Actress. Olivia Colman beat Glenn Close, who was expected to win the award after sweeping all of the previous awards. It was a welcoming surprise and one to which Olivia reacted in an adorable way.
To the adoration of her many fans, Lady Gaga is now officially an Academy Award winner, winning the award for the song “Shallow” from the film A Star Is Born. Added to that win was a chill-inducing performance of the song alongside her co-star Bradley Cooper. One of the highlights of the night.
The biggest award of the night, Best Picture, went to Green Book. Yeah, well, this was not a La La Land situation where the real winner, Moonlight, was crowned later. Green Book actually won. Nothing we can do about it. The now Best Picture winner has been the subject for many controversies since premiering last year. There was widespread criticism of the nature of the film since the film didn’t do justice to the real-life events and it disrespected the memory of Don Shirley. Spike Lee reacted poorly, though some would argue it was justified: he stormed out of the awards after the win was announced. This win further confirmed that Hollywood loves the white savior narrative.
The ceremony went well, it flowed nicely without a host, which was surprising and I was glad to see that. Awards season is finally over and now we can reflect about this and hope that next year is better. Because it really needs to be better, let’s not repeat this year, please. Many big films will be coming out this year, and I’m hopeful that the 2020 nominees will be outstanding.
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