One word...PARASITE.
History was made at the Oscars on Sunday when Parasite and the director Bong Joon Ho swept the floor receiving 4 Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Achievement in Directing, and the big one, Best Picture. For those of you who haven't seen Parasite, do yourself a favor and watch it ASAP. It is such an interesting film with plenty of twists and turns. That is a movie we will be talking about for years to come. But honestly, I wish someone would look at me the way Bong Joon Ho looks at his Oscar.
The night started off with a performance encompassing many of the Oscar nominees and some that were not recognized (i.e. Midsommar and Us, you can spot those red jumpsuits anywhere). Once again this year's Oscars were host-less, which I prefer in my opinion. But Chris Rock and Steve Martin came out to get the show rolling with some stand up taking jabs at the host-less show and the lack of female and minority nominees in the categories. One being that in 1929 the Oscars had not Black nominees and Rock pointed out in 2020 that there was only one: Cynthia Erivo, nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in the movie Harriet. Cynthia also gave a riveting performance of her nominated song "Stand Up".
The show rolled on with the awards and a lot of musical performances. Two notable performances are Idina Menzel was accompanied by the Elsa's that dub her voice in several countries around the world. All together they sang the Oscar nominated song from Frozen, "Into the Unknown". While not ever Elsa was hitting the correct notes, the aesthetic and idea behind the performance was very impressive. And after a montage about how music can create an essence to a movie Eminem surprised the audience with a performance of his song "Lose Yourself" which won an Oscar for Best Original Song 17 years ago. He wasn't present at the awards show then but he came back now to give the performance to which received a standing ovation. In a tweet Eminem said:
"Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity... Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get here."
Billie Eilish and Finneas performed the In Memoriam tribute, singing The Beatles song, "Yesterday". Fans (including myself) noticed that a couple familiar faces were missing from the tribute. Including, Cameron Boyce, remembered for his work with Disney and the movie Descendants. Luke Perry, remembered for his work on Beverly Hills 90210, Riverdale, and most recently his last role before he passed away was Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood; which was nominated in several categories. The Academy later released a longer tribute where the stars were recognized but to me...seemed pretty wrong.
The big four acting categories were not surprising in the least. Brad Pitt and Laura Dern took home the supporting role awards and Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger took home the leading role awards. Laura Dern made a beautiful acceptance speech about the love and heroism she had received from her parents (camera pans to Laura's mom, Diane Ladd in the audience, a beautiful moment). And Brad Pitt gave a nice speech about how wonderful it was working with everyone from Once. Including a nice quote to co-star Leonardo DiCaprio saying, "I'll ride on your coattails any day, man. The view's fantastic." Renee's speech was a long list of thank yous that didn't make much sense to anyone but her and Joaquin gave a long speech that too a few twists and turns including artificial insemination, having second chances, and ending with a touching tribute to his late brother River Phoenix.
The night ended with the cast of Parasite hitting the stage to receive the Best Picture award. When the Oscars crew shut the lights off in the middle of their speech (the telecast went over by 30min) the entire audience screamed for them to bring the lights back up. A beautiful moment of community from fellow creators who are happy to see them win. It also gave us a great gif of Tom Hanks and Charlize Theron screaming.
The 2020 Oscars may be over, but I'm excited to see what movies will make it into the fold next year (probably not RDJ's Dolittle movie). Hopefully Parasite can pave the way for many more diverse and international films to get recognized.
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