Well, that’s a wrap on the 92nd edition of the Academy Awards. Like all years, the Oscars had some great moments, some not-so-great moments, and some hilarious quotes! Here are my reactions to some of the major highlights from this year’s Oscars:
Best Moment: Parasite wins Best Picture
Through the first 91 years of the Academy Awards, no foreign-language film had won the Oscar for Best Picture. Last night, that streak ended. As I discussed on my post yesterday analyzing the Best Picture odds, the betting lines had gotten very tight between 1917 as the favorite and Parasite as the closest challenger. Thus, Parasite’s win was not entirely surprising, although it sure made for the best moment of the night, as it was one of my very favorite films from the past decade. (Overall, Parasite dominated this year, winning four Academy Awards, the most of any other film.) Additionally, the win made history for another noteworthy reason, as it became only the second film to win both the Palme d’Or at Cannes and Best Picture at the Oscars (the first time it’s happened in 64 years).
Worst Moment: Cutting the lights off on Parasite during the Best Picture acceptance speech
As mentioned above, the Best Picture win for Parasite was historic. When it came time for the acceptance speech, it took slightly longer than most would because the producers were speaking through interpreters. In light of all this, it was extra annoying when the ceremony cut the lights off on the winners before they were finished speaking. Although this was the worst moment, it was quickly followed by the most redeeming moment, thanks to the crowd’s audible displeasure with the situation. The camera even caught the likes of Regina King, Tom Hanks, and Charlize Theron chanting for the lights to come back up. This was a huge moment for Parasite, and I am glad that ultimately, the winners were allowed extra time to celebrate the victory!
Most Surprising Moment: Eminem!
We knew about nearly all of the musical performances last night in advance. One we didn’t know about was Eminem. A video was introduced during the ceremony that paid homage to some amazing songs in film history. Toward the end of the video, scenes from 8 Mile played, accompanied by the instrumental introduction from Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” which won for Best Original Song that year. Then, the video ended…and Eminem popped up on stage to perform a live rendition of his monster hit from the early 2000s. The moment totally caught me by surprise (as well as others in the audience, based on their reactions), but I loved every second of it. Eminem did not attend the Oscars the year “Lose Yourself” won, so it was great to finally see him on stage performing on film’s biggest night!
Sleepiest Guest: Martin Scorsese during “Lose Yourself”
Twitter was on fire last night with some hilarious reactions during Eminem’s performance, but the funniest for me was the image of The Irishman director Martin Scorsese fighting off a nap. The ceremony is long, so I get it if Marty was a bit tired. But right in the middle of a loud rap performance??
Best Jokes from the “Non-Hosts”
For the second straight year, the Oscars was without an official host. However, in the hostiest of hostless ways, comedians Steve Martin and Chris Rock (both of whom have previously hosted the show) came out following the opening musical number to deliver a monologue. Some of the highlights included an absolute roasting of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, including his divorce (“He saw Marriage Story and thought it was a comedy”); poking fun at the long runtime of Martin Scorsese’s latest film (“I loved the first season of The Irishman“); and a hilarious discussion by Chris Rock of Ford v Ferrari (“I got a Ford, I got a Ferrari…it ain’t even close. That’s like Halle Berry versus gum disease”).
Funniest Presenters: Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig
Can we just hire Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig to host every Oscars every year? The two comedy queens co-presented the awards for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, and per usual, hilarity ensued. Rudolph and Wiig wanted the directors in the room to know they “do more than comedy” and can “act.” Naturally, they crushed it!
Biggest Upset: Bong Joon-ho wins Best Director over Sam Mendes
Although I predicted that the Academy would award Best Picture to Parasite, I was certain Sam Mendes would win Best Director for 1917 for the immense technical achievement of the film. Leading up to the ceremony, Mendes was a -400 favorite to win, with Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho a +300 underdog. As I wrote about yesterday, in three of the previous four years, the Academy gave Best Director and Best Picture to different movies. Thus, I figured the split would be on again this year. But the Academy threw us all a curveball, giving Bong a clean sweep of the two awards. (Bong was the largest statistical underdog, from a betting perspective, to pull off an upset last night.)
George Miller is the Australian director behind the original Mad Max trilogy, as well as Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two. During this awards season, George Miller has already garnered the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Director. Miller was previously nominated for four Oscars: Best Original Screenplay (Lorenzo’s Oil), Best Adapted Screenplay (Babe), Best Animated Feature (Happy Feet), and Best Picture (Babe). Of those four nomination, Miller has just one Oscar win: Best Animated Feature for Happy Feet.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu is a renowned Mexican filmmaker—he is the visionary behind the Oscar-winning film Birdman and the celebrated “Death Trilogy” (Amores perros, 21 Grams, Babel). During this awards season, Iñárritu has already won the BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Director. Iñárritu has been previously nominated for seven Oscars: twice for Best Foreign Language Film (Amores perros and Biutiful), twice for Best Director (Babel and Birdman), once for Best Original Screenplay (Birdman), and twice for Best Picture (Babel and Birdman). Of those seven nominations, he has won three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Birdman.
Lenny Abrahamson is an Irish film director—he has previously directed What Richard Did (2012) and Frank (2014). In addition to his nomination for Room, Abrahamson has additionally been nominated for Best Director at the Irish Film & Television Awards and Satellite Awards. Abrahamson has never previously been nominated for an Academy Award in any category.
Adam McKay is an American filmmaker, renowned for writing and directing critically acclaimed comedies, such as Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, and additionally producing such comedies as The Campaign, Tammy, Welcome to Me, and Get Hard. In addition to the Oscars, McKay has been nominated for Best Director at the BAFTAs and Directors Guild of America. He has also earned nominations in the Best Adapted Screenplay category at the Oscars and Golden Globes, while also winning the award at the BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Writers Guild of America Awards. McKay has never previously been nominated for an Academy Award.
Tom McCarthy is an American actor, writer, and director. In his acting capacity, he is best known as Dr. Bob Banks in the Meet the Parents trilogy. He is a critically acclaimed director for films such as The Station Agent (2003) and The Visitor (2007). Additionally, he is an accomplished writer, penning scripts for the previously two named films, as well as the Oscar-nominated Up (2009). In fact, Up is his lone previous Oscar nomination (Best Original Screenplay). This awards season, McCarthy won the Best Director award at the Satellite Awards.
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