Oscars 2020 Winners

The 2019 Oscar Season is finally over and, wow, what a huge night it was! For the most part, things went as expected, as most of the major awards went to those many of us expected to win. Joaquin Phoenix (‘Joker’), Renee Zellweger (‘Judy’), Brad Pitt (‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’), and Laura Dern (‘Marriage Story’) all won as everyone predicted. It’s kind of sad how predictable the Oscars has become, but thankfully there were some huge surprises, most of which involved ‘Parasite’.

Heading into the night, ‘Joker’ had the most nominations (11), but it was ‘Parasite’ that ended up with the most wins, with four total wins from six nominations. ‘Parasite’ won Best International Feature Film as expected, but its first surprise was winning Best Original Screenplay over Oscars heavyweight Quentin Tarantino (‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’). And then came Best Director, an award pretty much everyone expected to go to Sam Mendes (‘1917’). When Bong Joon-ho’s name was announced, my friends and I literally screamed in excitement. I definitely was happy Bong won since he’s the best director nominated, but I was also a little sad because I thought his win hear meant a soon-to-be loss for Best Picture. See, Best Picture and Best Director used to go hand-in-hand, but over the past decade that’s only been true half the time. And in the last five years, that’s only happened once. When Jane Fonda was on that stage to announce Best Picture, I was certain “1917” was about to come out of her mouth. But, shockingly, ‘Parasite’ won! I was so happy!

‘Parasite’ was not only the first South Korean film win Best Picture, but it was the first to be nominated at the Oscars ever, for any category. This means it’s the first non-English-language film to win the big prize, a huge deal considering the Oscar’s almost-one-hundred-year history. It’s the first South Korean film to win Best Original Screenplay. Bong became the first South Korean filmmaker to win Best Director, continuing the decade-long trend of non-American directors winning; Tom Hooper (‘The King’s Speech’) is English; Michel Hazanavicius (‘The Artist’) is French; Ang Lee (‘Life of Pi’) is Taiwanese; and Alfonso Cuaron (‘Gravity’ & ‘Roma’), Alejandro G. Inarritu (‘Birdman’ & ‘The Revenant’), and Guillermo del Toro (‘The Shape of Water’) are Mexican.

Besides the many wins for ‘Parasite’, other surprises include Best Costume Design for ‘Little Women’. I absolutely adore the film and wish it got as much attention as other Best Picture nominees. I thought the nostalgic appeal of ‘Once Upon a Time’ would win the award, but I was happy to be wrong as I’m happy for any recognition for ‘Little Women’. Taika Waititi (‘Jojo Rabbit’) made history as the first person of Indigenous descent to win Best Adapted Screenplay. Though I felt Greta Gerwig deserved the win because ‘Little Women’ was the better film, I was still happy to see Waititi win. Also, ‘Toy Story 4’ won Best Animated Feature Film, becoming the first sequel/franchise film to win the award (‘Toy Story 3’ previously won).

Every Best Picture nominee went home with at least one award except for ‘The Irishman’, a surprise since it’s considered one of the strongest nominees. This is bad news for Netflix, who went into the night with the most nominations (24), only to go home with two wins (Laura Dern’s Best Supporting Actress win, and ‘American Factory’ winning Best Documentary Feature).

As for the ceremony itself, it definitely wasn’t as enjoyable as last year’s. Part of the reason is out of the producers’ control, since last year featured major hits like ‘Black Panther’, ‘A Star Is Born’, and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The musical performances last year included Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s earworm “Shallow,” a Queen performance, and Jennifer Hudson. This year’s nominated songs are nowhere near as memorable, with the only standout song and performance being Cynthia Erivo’s “Stand Up,” from ‘Harriet’. Seriously, I got goosebumps from her performance. Janelle Monae’s opening number (which lowkey referenced many films directed by women that the Oscars ignored this year) was fun. Idina Menzel’s performance of “Into the Unknown” from ‘Frozen 2’ with the other Elsas from around the world was kinda cool, though all of their distinct voices together was a bit awkward. Also, I may have a little crush on Thai Elsa… But the other performances from Best Song nominees were forgettable. Oh, and there was that random surprise performance from Eminem, finally performing his Academy Award-winning song “Lose Yourself” (he didn’t get to perform the song when it was nominated and won in 2003). I almost forgot about the sexual tension between Diane Keaton and Keanue Reeves.

Cynthia Erivo performs the Oscar nominated original song 'Stand Up' from HARRIET.

Like last year, The Oscars went hostless again. But unlike last year, there were noticeable issues. Last year I was in favor of having no host because I’m not a fan of boring bits that take up time. Last year went pretty smoothly, but this year it was a slog. You’d think having no host would mean the notoriously long Oscars would be shorter, but this year’s ceremony ran a whopping 3 hours and 35 minutes long - that’s ten more minutes than last year! They probably could’ve saved us so much time if they didn’t have presenters introducing presenters, who in turn introduced something else. Good lord.

Anyway, at least the ceremony ended with a surprising but worthy Best Picture win for ‘Parasite’. I’ve been watching The Oscars for years and I can’t remember ever experiencing a Best Picture win like this, one where it seemed like everyone was rooting for the same film to win. ‘Parasite’ was a rare Best Picture nominee and winner that was universally beloved, and it’s actually the best film of the year. I don’t know if this experience can ever be replicated, but if it doesn’t, I’m so glad to have been able to experience this moment in time.

When it comes to my annual Oscars predictions, I correctly guessed 19 out of 24 categories, which is pretty good but not my personal best (my record is still 21 out of 24 back in 2014). I would’ve had a more wrong had I went with math instead of my gut in certain categories, like Best Picture and Best Visual Effects. Let’s hope next year is less predictable, more exciting, and more diverse and inclusive!

Below is the list of winners from the 92nd Academy Awards:

Best Picture - Parasite

• Ford v Ferrari

• The Irishman

• Jojo Rabbit

• Joker

• Little Women

• 1917

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Director - Bong Joon-ho (‘Parasite’)

• Martin Scorsese (‘The Irishman’)

• Todd Phillips (‘Joker’)

• Sam Mendes (‘1917’)

• Quentin Tarantino (‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’)

Best Actor - Joaquin Phoenix (‘Joker’)

• Antonio Banderas (‘Pain and Glory’)

• Leonardo DiCaprio (‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’)

• Adam Driver (‘Marriage Story’)

• Jonathan Pryce (‘The Two Popes’)

Best Actress - Renee Zellweger (‘Judy’)

• Cynthia Erivo (‘Harriet’)

• Scarlett Johansson (‘Marriage Story’)

• Saoirse Ronan (‘Little Women’)

• Charlize Theron (‘Bombshell’)

Best Supporting Actor - Brad Pitt (‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’)

• Tom Hanks (‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’)

• Anthony Hopkins (‘The Two Popes’)

• Al Pacino (‘The Irishman’)

• Joe Pesci (‘The Irishman’)

Best Supporting Actress - Laura Dern (‘Marriage Story’)

• Kathy Bates (‘Richard Jewell’)

• Scarlett Johansson (‘Jojo Rabbit’)

• Florence Pugh (‘Little Women’)

• Margot Robbie (‘Bombshell’)

‘Parasite’ writer-director Bong Joon-ho admiring his first Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay as co-writer Han Jin-won speaks.

Best Original Screenplay - Parasite (Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won)

• Knives Out (Rian Johnson)

• Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)

• 1917 (Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns)

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)

Best Adapted Screenplay - Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi)

• The Irishman (Steven Zaillian)

• Joker (Todd Phillips & Scott Silver)

• Little Women (Greta Gerwig)

• The Two Popes (Anthony McCarten)

Best Animated Feature Film - Toy Story 4

• How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

• I Lost My Body

• Klaus

• Missing Link

Best International Feature Film - Parasite (South Korea)

• Corpus Christi (Poland)

• Honeyland (North Macedonia)

• Les Miserables (France)

• Pain and Glory (Spain)

Best Documentary Feature - American Factory

• The Cave

• The Edge of Democracy

• For Sama

• Honeyland

Best Documentary Short Subject - Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)

• In the Absence

• Life Overtakes Me

• St. Louis Superman

• Walk Run Cha-Cha

Best Live Action Short Film - The Neighbors’ Window

• Brotherhood

• Nefta Football Club

• Saria

• A Sister

Best Animated Short Film - Hair Love

• Dcera (Daughter)

• Kitbull

• Memorable

• Sister

Best Original Score - Joker (Hildur Guonadottir)

• Little Women (Alexandre Desplat)

• Marriage Story (Randy Newman)

• 1917 (Thomas Newman)

• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (John Williams)

Best Original Song - “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” by Elton John & Bernie Taupin, from ‘Rocketman’

• “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” by Randy Newman, from ‘Toy Story 4’

• “I’m Standing with You” by Diane Warren, from ‘Breakthrough’

• “Into the Unknown” by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, from ‘Frozen 2’

• “Stand Up” by Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo, from ‘Harriet’

Best Sound Editing - Ford v Ferrari (Donald Sylvester)

• Joker (Alan Robert Murray)

• 1917 (Oliver Tarney & Rachael Tate)

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Wylie Stateman)

• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Matthew Wood & David Acord)

Best Sound Mixing - 1917 (Mark Taylor & Stuart Wilson)

• Ad Astra (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson & Mark Ulano)

• Ford v Ferrari (Paul Massey, David Giammarco & Steven A. Morrow)

• Joker (Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic & Tod Maitland)

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Michael Minkler, Christian Pi. Minkler & Mark Ulano)

Best Production Design - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Barbara Ling & Nancy Haigh)

• The Irishman (Bob Shaw & Regina Graves)

• Jojo Rabbit (Ra Vincent & Nora Sopkova)

• 1917 (Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales)

• Parasite (Lee Ha-jun & Cho Won-woo)

Best Cinematography - 1917 (Roger Deakins)

• The Irishman (Rodrigo Prieto)

• Joker (Lawrence Sher)

• The Lighthouse (Jarin Blaschke)

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Robert Richardson)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling - Bombshell (Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan & Vivian Baker)

• Joker (Nicki Ledermann & Kay Georgiou)

• Judy (Jeremy Woodhead)

• Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten & David White)

• 1917 (Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis & Rebecca Cole)

Best Costume Design - Little Women (Jacqueline Durran)

• The Irishman (Sandy Powell & Christopher Peterson)

• Jojo Rabbit (Mayes C. Rubeo)

• Joker (Mark Bridges)

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Arianne Phillips)

Best Film Editing - Ford v Ferrari (Andrew Buckland & Michael McCusker)

• The Irishman (Thelma Schoonmaker)

• Jojo Rabbit (Tom Eagles)

• Joker (Jeff Groth)

• Parasite (Yang Jin-mo)

Best Visual Effects - 1917 (Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler & Dominic Tuohy)

• Avengers: Endgame (Dan DeLeeuw, Matt Aitken, Russel Earl & Dan Sudick)

• The Irishman (Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli & Nelson Sepulveda)

• The Lion King (Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones & Elliot Newman)

• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach & Dominic Tuohy)