A reflection on this year’s Oscar winners

The Oscars proved to be just as, if not more, entertaining than expected. This year brought surprises, shocks and shoe-ins (looking at you Joaquin and Renèe). I watched in anticipation to see some of the best movies of the year bring home the coveted golden trophy, with emotions ranging from disappointment to amazement. 

Let’s discuss.

Chris Rock and Steve Martin introduced the first nominee, cracking jokes about Eddie Murphy, Jeff Bezos and the noticeably absent Kevin Hart. Seeing the show without a host for its second year in a row was odd, but after maybe 20 minutes I didn’t notice the absence. However, it would have been nice to have a host, and hopefully next year’s Oscars can harken back to the tradition.

Unsurprisingly, Brad Pitt won the award for Best Supporting Actor. I will admit seeing Joe Pesci on stage would have been nice but, in my opinion, Pitt gave the best performance.

Then, I watched as “Toy Story 4” won Best Animated Feature, which I did not expect. I was glad to see it gain some recognition and probably should have seen it coming all along. It isn’t just a children’s movie, but a heartwarming story about determination and fighting for who you love. 

This year’s Best Original Screenplay category was stacked, and I was ecstatic that “Parasite” brought home the award. It was then that a thought entered into my head. A thought that maybe, just maybe, “Parasite” may win Best Picture. I decided not to get my hopes up.

“Little Women” took home the award for costume design, because come on—how could it not?

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” won Best Production Design, which I honestly thought would go to “Jojo Rabbit” due to the unique setting and excellent integration of the time period onto the screen. 

Best Cinematography went to the obvious choice, “1917.” After seeing the clip play for another nomination, “The Lighthouse,” I desperately wanted it to win. Distribution company A24 was snubbed hard this year and this could have been some sort of retribution for the misdeeds of The Academy. However, I was happy to see Roger Deakins receive an Oscar for his work.

Award nominee Cynthia Erivo gave an amazing performance, followed by James Corden and Rebel Wilson dressing up as cats. This was odd to watch and reminded me why the major travesty that is “Cats” did not receive a single Oscar nomination.

Moving on. Surprisingly, “1917” won the award for Best Visual Effects, something that should have gone to “Lion King” or “Avengers: End Game.” 

Unsurprisingly, “Parasite” won Best International Feature Film. Everyone saw that one coming, but it was well-deserved. My hopes for “Parasite” continued to rise, and I wanted to see the movie come out victorious by the end of the night.

Best Original Score went to “Joker,” but the competition was tough. “1917” had a shot, but ultimately came up short.

Following this award, Elton John gave a great performance, and also came out victorious with an Oscar for Best Original Song in the movie “Rocketman.” 

The biggest shock of the night came next, when Bong Joon Ho won Best Director over Sam Mendes, Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips and Quentin Tarantino. Wow. During his speech, Joon Ho gave praise to the other nominees, resulting in a standing ovation for Scorsese. 

Seeing Bong Joon Ho win this award was a shock, but I was glad he was receiving the recognition he deserved. “Parasite” has proven to be a major success and time would only tell if Hollywood would reward it with its biggest honor. 

The awards for Best Actress and Best Actor went to Renèe Zellweger and Joaquin Phoenix, respectively. This came as no surprise and both of the winners were well deserving. Phoenix gave a speech centered around political activism, mainly concerning animal rights and the environment. Zellweger’s speech contrasted that with gratitude and love for family and friends, and a message to all about the importance of film.

From here, the nominees for Best Picture were listed. In the past week, “1917” had risen to the top of selective polls, placing it above “Joker” and “Marriage Story.” These were all reasonable choices for Best Picture, but amongst the nine nominees, one stood out. “Parasite” may be an international film, but held its own with the best of American cinema. 

“1917” was a good movie, but it wasn’t great. The cinematography was amazing, but I felt it lacked when it came to plot and didn’t deserve to win Best Picture. It’s a category known for surprises. I couldn’t even rule out “Ford vs. Ferrari” at that point.

When Jane Fonda announced that the winner was indeed “Parasite,” I was shocked. Despite a night of getting my hopes up, I never truly expected a foreign film to win Best Picture. In fact, “Parasite” became the first film to ever do so in 92 years of awards. There’s no denying that the win was well-deserving of the history-making decision.