And The Oscar Goes To...

February 27, 2019 Kent Tong

This truly has been a wild year in the Oscar race. A year in which the Academy Awards ceremony is just as controversial as some of the films nominated resulted in an actually semi-spectacular night full of pleasant surprises.

There was no host this time around and you know what? It was all the better for it! The show started off in an exciting fashion with Adam Lambert and Queen performing the hits “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Then came a montage featuring the films of 2018 (I really do love montages), leading into Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler presenting the first award. Having no host allowed the show to move at a brisk pace and the ceremony awarded one-third of its categories within the first hour! The actual ceremony ended up lasting a little under three and a half hours - a dramatic drop from last year’s nearly four hour show. The Academy and ABC must be happy because the ratings for this year’s ceremony rose for the first time in five years (29.6 million) - a remarkable feat considering other major live events like The Grammy’s, Golden Globes, and even the Super Bowl having been bleeding ratings over the years (as is live ratings for television overall).

The awards presented started off in great fashion, with Regina King winning the first award of the night for Supporting Actress. It was a long time coming, and her work in ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ is much deserving of the recognition. Shortly after, ‘Black Panther’ won back-to-back awards for Costume Design and Production Design. If you saw my notes from my predictions for the ceremony then you know I was hesitant about these two categories. Traditionally, these two categories favor period pieces like ‘The Favourite’, and that was a safe bet on the Oscar ballot. But thankfully I went with my gut and predicted (more like hoped for) Black Panther wins in these two categories, and it paid off! I cheered when they announced Ruth E. Carter’s name for Best Costume Design, and I hoped it was a sure sign that Production Design would go the same way. Then they announced Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart’s names for Production Design, furthering my excitement. Carter and Beachler are the first Black women to win their respective categories - a momentous moment indeed.

Later in the night ‘Black Panther’ won Best Original Score - a category I wanted it to win but didn’t think it would. I’m a big fan of Ludwig Gorannsson ever since he worked on ‘Community’, my favorite show, as well as his collaboration with Childish Gambino. With these stunning wins for ‘Black Panther’, I started questioning whether or not this could mean the film may actually win Best Picture!

I was feeling pretty good about The Oscars during the first hour because all of my predictions came true. But then ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ ruined the party for me, because of course it did. This film never seems to disappoint me. They announced the film won Best Sound Editing, and that started the descent into one of my worst Oscar predictions on record. By the end of the night, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ would go on to win the most awards out of all the nominees (4). Yep.

One of the final awards presented was for Best Actress. Most of the focus during the awards race has been on Glenn Close (‘The Wife’) and Lady Gaga (‘A Star Is Born’), so it was a surprise when they announced Olivia Colman’s name. It’s a pleasant surprise, and I would’ve been happy with any of these three women winning.

Olivia Colman reacts to winning Best Actress.

Finally, it came time for the last award - Best Picture. Would ‘Roma’ win Netflix’s first award for Best Picture? Or would the more populist flick ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ crash the party one last time? ‘A Star Is Born’ was the year’s early front runner, but then it became the underdog after being overshadowed by almost every other film. There was a chance the film’s status as the new underdog could result in a surprise win! Or could ‘Black Panther’ take it all the way and not only be the first superhero film nominated here, but also win? But alas, Best Picture was ultimately awarded to… ‘Green Book’?

Director Peter Farrelly celebrates the Best Picture win for ‘Green Book’.

I know I listed the film as one of my favorites from 2018, and even said it “could win” Best Picture if not ‘Roma’, but the controversies surrounding the film ever since it became a strong awards contender has made it one of the two villains of the awards circuit (the other being ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’), so I wasn’t sure it had a chance anymore. On one hand, I shouldn’t be surprised. ‘Green Book’ is the type of film The Academy typically awards because it’s the safest one. The category’s preferential ballot system is what allows more broadly supported films win the category, rather than polarizing ones that may be more ambitious, artistic, or thought-provoking. On the other hand, I had a feeling other broadly-appealing films like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ or ‘Black Panther’ may take the win. Over the past few years The Academy’s membership has slowly become more diverse, and that has translated into more excited wins for films that would’ve never been considered Best Picture in the past - ‘Moonlight’ and ‘The Shape of Water’. With ‘Green Book’ taking the big prize it kind of feels like a step back, and it ended one of the most entertaining Academy Awards ceremonies in years in anti-climax.

Other stray thoughts:

Many are upset with ‘Green Book’ winning Best Picture, which makes sense. However, I do not agree with the comparison to 2005 when ‘Crash’ took home the award when many expected ‘Brokeback Mountain’ to win. ‘Crash’ is probably my favorite film of all time, and I think it’s a much better film than ‘Green Book’, both of which I like. ‘Crash’ is often the butt of the jokes when film writers talk about The Oscars. Many believe it to be one of the worst Best Picture winners of all time. I will not defend ‘Green Book’ winning, because I don’t think it should’ve won. But I will continue to defend ‘Crash’, much like my favorite film critic Roger Ebert has in the past.
It’s disappointing that ‘Green Book’ won when there were so many films in 2018 that handled race relations better than it did, such as one of my favorites ‘The Hate U Give’. Others include ‘Blindspotting’, ‘Sorry To Bother You’, or even ‘Black Panther’. Many like to include ‘BlacKkKlansman’ in that list, but besides the film’s closing moments, it just didn’t impact or work for me like it seems to have done for others. And after Boots Riley’s criticism of Spike Lee’s film, I cared for it even less.
Every single Best Picture nominee went home with at least one award, which is nice to see!
A record-breaking number of Black artists were awarded that night: Regina King (Supporting Actress), Mahershala Ali (Supporting Actor), Ruth E. Carter (Costume Design), Hannah Beachler (Production Design), Spike Lee (Adapted Screenplay), Kevin Willmott (Adapted Screenplay), and Peter Ramsey (Animated Feature).
Mahershala Ali became the first Black actor winning the Best Supporting Actor twice.
It was great seeing so many Asian filmmakers take home awards: Domee Shi (Animated Short), Jimmy Chin (Documentary Feature), and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Documentary Feature). Bing Liu and Dian Quon were also nominated for Documentary Feature.
Female filmmakers dominated the shorts and documentary categories!
Domee Shi is first woman director for a Pixar short and the first person of color winning.
Rami Malek is the first person of Egyptian-descent to win Best Actor. His win helped make it the first time the majority of the acting winners were people of color.
That Samuel L. Jackson - Spike Lee moment was wonderful.
The new Democratic campaign slogan for 2020 is “Do the Right Thing”
Alfonso Cuaron became the first person to win both Best Director and Best Cinematography.
That duet from Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper was perfect. I’m now pregnant.

Below are the winners and nominees from each category:

Best Picture

Winner: Green Book

Nominees: Black Panther; BlacKkKlansman; Bohemian Rhapsody; The Favourite; Roma; A Star Is Born; Vice

Best Director

Winner: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Nominees: Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite); Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman); Adam McKay (Vice); Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

Rami Malek, Olivia Colman, Regina King, and Mahershala Ali posing with their Oscars.

Best Actress

Winner: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Nominees: Yalitza Aparicio (Roma); Glenn Close (The Wife); Olivia Colman (The Favourite); Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born); Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Best Actor

Winner: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Nominees: Christian Bale (Vice); Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born); Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate); Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Regina King

Nominees: Amy Adams (Vice); Marina de Tavira (Roma); Emma Stone (The Favourite); Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Mahershala Ali

Nominees: Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman); Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born); Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?); Sam Rockwell (Vice)

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Green Book

Nominees: The Favourite; First Reformed; Roma; Vice

Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson celebrate Lee’s win for Best Adapted Screenplay with a big embrace.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: BlacKkKlansman

Nominees: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Can You Ever Forgive Me?; If Beale Street Could Talk; A Star Is Born

Best Animated Feature

Winner: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Nominees: Incredibles 2; Isle of Dogs; Mirai; Ralph Breaks the Internet

Best Foreign Language Film

Winner: Roma (Mexico)

Nominees: Capernaum (Lebanon); Cold War (Poland); Never Look Away (German); Shoplifters (Japan)

‘Free Solo’ Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin accepting the award for Best Documentary Feature.

Best Documentary Feature

Winner: Free Solo

Nominees: Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Minding the Gap; Of Fathers and Sons; RBG

Best Documentary Short

Winner: Period. End of Sentence.

Nominees: Black Sheep; End Game; Lifeboat; A Night at the Garden

Best Live Action Short

Winner: Skin

Nominees: Detainment; Fauve; Marguerite; Mother

‘Bao’ Director Domee Shi and Producer Becky Neiman-Cobb accepting the award for Best Animated Short.

Best Animated Short

Winner: Bao

Nominees: Animal Behavior; Late Afternoon; One Small Step; Weekends

Best Original Score

Winner: Black Panther

Nominees: BlacKkKlansman; If Beale Street Could Talk; Isle of Dogs; Mary Poppins Returns

Best Original Song

Winner: “Shallow” (A Star Is Born)

Nominees: “All the Stars” (Black Panther); “I’ll Fight” (RGB); “The Place Where Lost Things Go” (Mary Poppins Returns); “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)