by Josh Sewell
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony was literally one for the record books. It’s always a nice bonus when Best Picture actually goes to the best film, and that’s what happened with Bong Joon Ho’s modern masterpiece Parasite. How we got there from Green Book in a year’s time I’ll never know, but I’m not complaining.
The film’s surprise victories, as well as the audience’s clear love for them, dominated most of the evening’s highlights. It also messed up my predictions because I went with my head (1917, which would’ve still been a solid, albeit traditional, pick for the night’s top honor) instead of my heart (which was rooting for Parasite all the way).
Aside from that, there were a fair amount of other hits, misses and delightful surprises. Here are some moments from the evening that stood out most, whether good, bad or puzzling.
The Good
Parasite, Parasite and more Parasite:
The darkly comic masterpiece about class warfare in South Korea (although its messages transcend language and culture) took home four Oscars and accomplished some firsts. Most notably, it’s the first non-English language film to win Best Picture in the Academy’s 92-year history. It also nabbed Best International Feature (the first time a South Korean film has won), as well as Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
As director Bong Joon Ho kept returning to the stage to make speeches, viewers caught a glimpse of why the film cleaned up: he’s a charmer. Soft-spoken, but incisive and witty. By the time the film shocked everyone by winning the top prize, he was pretty much out of things to say.
That’s for the best, since there was no way to top his acceptance speech for Best Director. After walking on stage to a standing ovation, he specifically called out Martin Scorsese as one of his biggest influences – which led to a second standing ovation for The Irishman director. It’s probably one of my favorite Oscar moments of all time.
(P.S. – Lest you think all the Parasite wins are Hollywood fawning over pretentious art house fare, I urge you to give it a shot. It’s dark, funny, touching, and haunting, with some important social messages that don’t feel preachy or heavy-handed.)
Steve Martin and Chris Rock provide a monologue:
The iconic comedians and former emcees got to enjoy all the perks of hosting without the pressure of carrying the show on their shoulders for almost four hours. They showed up at the beginning, told a few funny jokes (including Rock’s personal experience with a Best Picture nominee: “I’ve got a Ford and a Ferrari. It’s not even close!”) and disappeared.
Olivia Colman presenting best actor:
The delightfully charming Brit who shocked everyone (including herself) by winning Best Actress last year proved her off-the-cuff speech was no fluke. She got some of the night’s biggest laughs as she presented the award for Best Actor. (If you haven’t seen her in The Favourite or Fleabag, do so immediately.)
“Into the Unknown” with lots of Elsas:
After a fun intro from Josh Gad (the voice of Olaf) that took a good-natured dig at John Travolta mangling Idina Menzel’s name a few years ago, an international cast of Elsas performed the Best Song nominee from Frozen II. Although it didn’t win (the Oscar went to Elton John and Bernie Taupin for their Rocketman collaboration), hearing all those incredible singers combining their talents was a goosebump-inducing moment.
The Bad
Bland acceptance speeches:
Aside from sweet, memorable words of thanks from Brad Pitt, Taika Waititi and the aforementioned Bong Joon Ho, most of the night’s speeches in the major categories were kind of a bust. As expected, Renee Zellweger won Best Actress for her portrayal of Judy Garland, but her stream-of-consciousness rambling caused me to zone out after a while. Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor for Joker (also predestined) and spent most of his time going through a litany of social causes. Unlike most viewers, I don’t have a problem with winners getting political, but it went on for quite a while. At least he wrapped up with a brief tribute to his late brother River Phoenix. That was a nice touch.
No host means no crossing guard:
Last year’s experiment with no host was an unexpected success, so I understand why producers wanted to give it another shot. However, it didn’t work as well this time around, because although the host is mostly remembered for his or her jokes at the beginning, they also perform the more subtle job of keeping things moving along. With no one to spice up the proceedings when enthusiasm dipped in the middle of the lengthy ceremony, it was definitely noticeable.
The Puzzling
Eminem performing “Lose Yourself”:
I’m not sure why the rapper showed up to perform his song from 8 Mile that won Best Song back in 2003, but I enjoyed it. I don’t know if I can say the same for younger people in the crowd, like pop star Billie Eilish, who watched the proceedings with a look of befuddled amusement.
Weird backup dancers during Janelle Monae’s opening number:
After an endearing tribute to Fred Rogers and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Monae performed a song designed to get the crowd energized for the big event. However, it was hard to focus on her because all the backup dancers were dressed as characters from excellent movies that didn’t get nominated (such as Us and Midsommar). It was a weird, distracting choice.
James Corden and Rebel Wilson presenting as their Cats characters:
Look, I get Corden’s and Wilson’s desire to make a little fun of themselves for starring in one of the most notorious cinematic disasters in recent memory. However, they did so at the expense of the film’s visual effects artists, who were nowhere close to the biggest problem with that movie (and who got laid off once it opened, after working grueling 80-hour weeks to get it finished on time). They were punching down, which came across as a mean-spirited choice.
The film’s surprise victories, as well as the audience’s clear love for them, dominated most of the evening’s highlights. It also messed up my predictions because I went with my head (1917, which would’ve still been a solid, albeit traditional, pick for the night’s top honor) instead of my heart (which was rooting for Parasite all the way).
Aside from that, there were a fair amount of other hits, misses and delightful surprises. Here are some moments from the evening that stood out most, whether good, bad or puzzling.
The Good
Parasite, Parasite and more Parasite:
The darkly comic masterpiece about class warfare in South Korea (although its messages transcend language and culture) took home four Oscars and accomplished some firsts. Most notably, it’s the first non-English language film to win Best Picture in the Academy’s 92-year history. It also nabbed Best International Feature (the first time a South Korean film has won), as well as Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
As director Bong Joon Ho kept returning to the stage to make speeches, viewers caught a glimpse of why the film cleaned up: he’s a charmer. Soft-spoken, but incisive and witty. By the time the film shocked everyone by winning the top prize, he was pretty much out of things to say.
That’s for the best, since there was no way to top his acceptance speech for Best Director. After walking on stage to a standing ovation, he specifically called out Martin Scorsese as one of his biggest influences – which led to a second standing ovation for The Irishman director. It’s probably one of my favorite Oscar moments of all time.
(P.S. – Lest you think all the Parasite wins are Hollywood fawning over pretentious art house fare, I urge you to give it a shot. It’s dark, funny, touching, and haunting, with some important social messages that don’t feel preachy or heavy-handed.)
Steve Martin and Chris Rock provide a monologue:
The iconic comedians and former emcees got to enjoy all the perks of hosting without the pressure of carrying the show on their shoulders for almost four hours. They showed up at the beginning, told a few funny jokes (including Rock’s personal experience with a Best Picture nominee: “I’ve got a Ford and a Ferrari. It’s not even close!”) and disappeared.
Olivia Colman presenting best actor:
The delightfully charming Brit who shocked everyone (including herself) by winning Best Actress last year proved her off-the-cuff speech was no fluke. She got some of the night’s biggest laughs as she presented the award for Best Actor. (If you haven’t seen her in The Favourite or Fleabag, do so immediately.)
“Into the Unknown” with lots of Elsas:
After a fun intro from Josh Gad (the voice of Olaf) that took a good-natured dig at John Travolta mangling Idina Menzel’s name a few years ago, an international cast of Elsas performed the Best Song nominee from Frozen II. Although it didn’t win (the Oscar went to Elton John and Bernie Taupin for their Rocketman collaboration), hearing all those incredible singers combining their talents was a goosebump-inducing moment.
The Bad
Bland acceptance speeches:
Aside from sweet, memorable words of thanks from Brad Pitt, Taika Waititi and the aforementioned Bong Joon Ho, most of the night’s speeches in the major categories were kind of a bust. As expected, Renee Zellweger won Best Actress for her portrayal of Judy Garland, but her stream-of-consciousness rambling caused me to zone out after a while. Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor for Joker (also predestined) and spent most of his time going through a litany of social causes. Unlike most viewers, I don’t have a problem with winners getting political, but it went on for quite a while. At least he wrapped up with a brief tribute to his late brother River Phoenix. That was a nice touch.
No host means no crossing guard:
Last year’s experiment with no host was an unexpected success, so I understand why producers wanted to give it another shot. However, it didn’t work as well this time around, because although the host is mostly remembered for his or her jokes at the beginning, they also perform the more subtle job of keeping things moving along. With no one to spice up the proceedings when enthusiasm dipped in the middle of the lengthy ceremony, it was definitely noticeable.
The Puzzling
Eminem performing “Lose Yourself”:
I’m not sure why the rapper showed up to perform his song from 8 Mile that won Best Song back in 2003, but I enjoyed it. I don’t know if I can say the same for younger people in the crowd, like pop star Billie Eilish, who watched the proceedings with a look of befuddled amusement.
Weird backup dancers during Janelle Monae’s opening number:
After an endearing tribute to Fred Rogers and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Monae performed a song designed to get the crowd energized for the big event. However, it was hard to focus on her because all the backup dancers were dressed as characters from excellent movies that didn’t get nominated (such as Us and Midsommar). It was a weird, distracting choice.
James Corden and Rebel Wilson presenting as their Cats characters:
Look, I get Corden’s and Wilson’s desire to make a little fun of themselves for starring in one of the most notorious cinematic disasters in recent memory. However, they did so at the expense of the film’s visual effects artists, who were nowhere close to the biggest problem with that movie (and who got laid off once it opened, after working grueling 80-hour weeks to get it finished on time). They were punching down, which came across as a mean-spirited choice.
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