Wow. I can't say this year was set in stone, and in fact our predictions only accurately predicted a measly 15 of the 24 categories. Yet again, we missed the Best Picture prize.... What does it take to win? Where Roma seemed the least-permeable in terms of weakness going in (receiving the most nominations at 10), it was ultimately Green Book that came out victorious - that film with No Best Director nomination about a black & white duo traveling around in a car. Surely the directing snub would have been enough to shut down that film's chances (and with a measly 5 nominations). Nope. 2019 will now oddly mirror 1990 in which Driving Miss Daisy (a film about a black & white duo driving around in a car) won the top prize without a directing nomination all while Spike Lee is left in the dust...
Where to begin? The show (a tight 3 hours 15 mins) did feel more streamlined due to lack of a host. We lost no categories to commercial breaks, did without the extended gags of selling Girl Scout Cookies and such, and got extra time for the winners (well, most of them). Despite the mess going into this show, maybe they are on to something with the 'no host' thing.
The biggest surprise of the night was without doubt the upset by Olivia Colman against now 7-time loser Glenn Close (the biggest living Oscar-nominated actor with 7 snubs... Amy Adams is just behind her now with 6). Initial reactions were dropped jaws as our finely-tuned ears did not echo with the expected phrase "...and the winner is Glenn Close in "The Wife." Then the realization began to sink in, and at least for me, the sheer joy of seeing the Academy reward a truly remarkable performance (the year's best for what it's worth) reminds us that sometimes they do pick the best, not the career achievement. That's not to diminish Glenn Close's subtle work, of course. Sometimes, the odds aren't on your side. Colman's speech was one of the night's highlights: spur of the moment, from the heart, and ultimately hilarious ("Lady Gaga, blerrrggghh..").
The ceremony began without a hitch (well, minus the Supporting Actress surprise), and as categories began to roll along with expected winners coming out on top (Free Solo, Vice for makeup, etc), it began to feel like we were on our way to a night of few to no surprises. One outcome that seems so obvious in hindsight is the success of Black Panther and its 3 wins (Costume, Art Direction, Score). Wow. We had a feeling The Favourite wouldn't come out on top, but as the awards clicked along, the superhero scene finally took off for the Oscars (Spider-Man was another deserving victor). It seems like now, with the 'new' Academy, we shouldn't be afraid to branch out from the English historical movies to select some of these categories. Make note: it doesn't take a British monarch to secure an Oscar anymore.
The night's biggest winner was... Bohemian Rhapsody (with 4 trophies). Both sound awards, film editing, and Best Actor. 4 months ago, Rhapsody was a critically-panned work that few expected to receive any nominations. Tonight, it won all of its nominations but one: Best Picture? What happened? Rare is it for a musical film to win Sound Mixing these days (La La Land proved that), but to win both categories is unheard of. It seems like the simple popularity of the film (nearly $1 billion at the global box office) combined with backlash from voters who said "you can't tell me what I will or will not vote for!" helped the film's chances. All I can say is how thankful I am that this year has concluded. At least no one thanked Bryan Singer in their speeches. I have a sneaking suspicion that this might come to be regarded among the worst of the Best Picture nominees in history (but again, that's just me).
Going along with that idea of backlash is Green Book and its 3 trophies (Picture, Screenplay, Supporting Actor). The award season was fraught with headlines aimed to sink the film's chances, from the denial of truth from Shirley's real-life family, to the racist tweets from screenwriter (and son of the film's main character) Nick Vallelonga. With Academy membership having been expanded by 1/3rd and recent "artsy" winners like Moonlight and Shape of Water, Green Book began to feel like it was aging poorly the moment Julia Roberts finished announcing its name. With a preferential ballot, though, we see the correlation again to the PGA Award (where it also won) and begin to see that despite these hiccups, Green Book remained the year's most generally-agreed upon film, as strange as that sounds.
Regina King surprised me, but was a safe choice for others. She is now the first actor to win an Oscar while being snubbed by SAG and BAFTA. Perhaps it was the lack of a solid second-place winner that secured it for her. What happened to Rachel Weisz? This year will forever be identical to the year of Sylvester Stallone/Mark Rylance, only with the outcomes reversed. How did King win? It will take some time to figure it out, but how great it was to hear her moving speech among a night of many moving speeches.
Roma ultimately took home 3: for cinematography, directing, and foreign film. Once a front-runner, I have a feeling that voters began to see the juggernaut of Netflix and it's massive $50+ million campaign as overkill. Where Roma felt like David, I think in reality it became more of a goliath. From a tiny art-house piece that feels so in line with Oscar trends, the Netflix bias (is it cinema or television?) and overall confusion surely led to its demise.
Still, it's that final award that hums in my brain. A film like Green Book winning is not entirely surprising, but it feels like a winner more akin to the 1960's or 1970's, not something relevant to today. As one critic stated, it's little more than "a movie about a racist teaching a black guy how to be black." In a time when our culture is divided and politics run amok, then maybe this is the best film to represent us. No, it's not really looking forward... It's just kind of sad that of all the clever, beautiful, remarkable nominees, they picked the one with probably the least amount to say about our times today. Am I upset? About Bohemian and Green Book, somewhat. When placed against Olivia Colman, though, maybe we can call it a draw.
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