'Tis The Oscars
The 93rd Academy Award Ceremony was last night and as it turned out, my predicting game this year was a tiny bit off and less ideal than it had been in the previous years. Amid the ongoing pandemic, the Oscars was quite a surprising (and a little tedious) one this time, with the biggest unexpected outcome being the late Chadwick Boseman, whose brilliant turn in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was long since predicted to be a posthumous win for him. But, as last year's Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix was presenting the last award of the night, he announced that the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins, indeed prevailed, for his astounding work in The Father, which also picked up the golden statue for Best Adapted Screenplay. And although this particular result might upset some people, Sir Hopkins' triumph is nonetheless just as deserving.
For its female counterpart, the prize for the Leading Role category went to Frances McDormand. It was expected while many would argue (including me) that the title should have gone to the mesmerising Carey Mulligan, who is beyond impeccable in Promising Young Woman. The film only managed to secure one award which is Best Adapted Screenplay for writer/director Emerald Fennell. On the other hand, there's no surprise that both male and female Supporting Role honours were given to Daniel Kaluuya and Youn Yuh-Jung respectively.
Nomadland is the history-maker and the biggest winner of the prestigious event. It snatched top-prize Best Picture, as everybody already knew it would, along with the aforementioned Best Actress and Best Director for Chloé Zhao, who became the second woman ever to be handed the directing award, following Kathryn Bigelow, who won 11 years ago for The Hurt Locker. Mank and Sound of Metal each received two awards. Best Cinematography and Best Production Design for the former and Best Sound and Best Editing for the latter. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom grabbed both the Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Costume Design. Danish Another Round inevitably snatched Best International Feature and Soul is the apparent victor for Best Animated Feature.
It has been a weird year for cinema and proven to be a bit tricky. Even so, we still get to experience these admirable films and witness sterling performances, with perhaps easier access to view in comparison to how it usually is in a normal situation. Congratulations to all the winners of Class 2021. Here's hoping for more glorious, inclusive, and diverse cinematic years in the future.
