I really enjoyed the Oscar’s this year! Overall, I felt that the award presenters and “hosts” did a really good job. I would have loved to have seen Steve Martin and Chris Rock host the entire Oscar’s, I thought their opening comedy monologue was really enjoyable, but I get that the Academy would prefer to go “hostless” for now. Also, the surprise performance from Eminem performing “Lose Yourself” was awesome! Being from Michigan, Eminem is pretty big around here, so it was fun to watch him perform! Also, I thought that Billie Eilish had a very good performance of “Yesterday.” So very often performers have a tendency to try and do some sort of huge elaborate performance, and I thought her choice to do a low, mellow, very emotional rendition was fitting to draw focus to those who have passed away.
As with any awards show, there were a few things that disappointed me this year. Usually, I can connect with one or more of the songs chose for best original song. But this year I didn’t really feel any of them. I loved the performance by Cynthia Erivo of “Stand Up,” and based off of that performance I would have liked to see that win. However, I can’t really argue with an Elton John song winning, as he is one of the best songwriters of modern pop music.
I could write all day about every category, but I would like to just talk about a handful of them. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Original Score.
Best Original Score: I did see all the films that were nominated in this category. The winner this year was Hildur Guðnadóttir for her score for the film “Joker.” I did watch this film, I actually saw it twice in theatre’s, and once at home. While the music for the film did fit the theme and mood that the director and actors set, I did not find the score to offer as much melodic content as I would have liked. I think Hildur Guðnadóttir is a very talented Cellist, and Composer. I just don’t think this film required a melodic heavy score, which in turn just didn’t allow the music to resonate much with me personally once I left the theatre. Also, because the mood for Joker is pretty much the same throughout the entirety of the film, their wasn’t much variety in the score either. Again, he music fit the mood of the movie, I just felt Joker was a bit one dimensional of a film. Personally, I would have chosen Thomas Newman with the film “1917.” I just felt his score in that film did such a fantastic job at setting the mood throughout the film, which changed several times. He gave you melodies that related to different things, and came back and helped reference a previous situation. The score was much more complex, and much more important to the film. Without his score, I think you lose a lot of the effect of the movie.
Best Actor: I saw all of the performances my each actor, except for Antonio Banderes for “Pain and Glory.” I really want to watch it, just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Joaquin Phoenix won this year for his performance as Arthur Fleck in the film Joker. Phoenix did an absolutely amazing job in this film, and I felt he absolutely deserved to win the Oscar. However, I think the other performances by the other Actor’s were absolutely outstanding! Adam Driver’s performance in “Marriage Story” was definitely one of my favorites. He did such a great job at showing multiple sides to a character, and there are several scenes that are just amazing! Leonardo DiCaprio remains one of my favorite actors of all time. I am always captivated by what he does, and his job in “Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood” was no exception! Jonathan Pryce did an fantastic job in “The Two Popes,” and if you haven’t had a chance to see that film yet, I strongly suggest it!
Best Actress: I only had the opportunity to watch Scarlet Johansson and Saoirse Ronan this year. I am still planning on seeing Harriet, Bombshell, and Judy I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Renée Zellweger won for her performance as Judy Garland in the film “Judy.” From the clips that I have seen, she definitely seems to truly dive into the role of Judy Garland, and I am very excited to get the chance to watch it soon (hopefully this week). That being said, I just want to mention Johansson and Ronan’s performances, since I watched them both. Scarlet Johansson was phenomenal in “Marriage Story.” She was so believable, and the acting between her and Adam Driver was perfect, if you are looking for a movie with great leads, this is definitely a must watch. Saoirse Ronan was absolutely fantastic in “Little Women!” Little Women has an all star cast, but Ronan absolutely stands out as the lead. There is a reason why Saoirse Ronan has four Oscar nominations for acting already. I cannot wait to see her future performances!
Best Director: I saw all of the films that were directed by the nominees. Bong Joon-Ho won for the film “Parasite.” I was so excited to see that Bong Joon-Ho won! Parasite was a fantastic film, and the decisions he mad as director (and writer) were fantastic. While the other directors also made very good films, I felt that he absolutely deserved this win! One tough subject this year was that there was no female directors nominated for best director. I don’t want to get to detailed into discussing that, as it could be a post all and of itself, but if the academy is only going to keep five nominees for best director, the question comes in to play; did one of the female directors have a better film than one of the five films that were nominated? Out of all the female directors who have been mentioned (Greta Gerwig – “Little Women”, Lorene Scafaria – “Hustlers”, Lulu Wang – “The Farewell”, and Marielle Heller – “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”) I would say there is a strong case for Greta Gerwig to have been nominated over Martin Scorsese, or Todd Phillips. Not that either of them did a bad job as director, but I personally think Greta Gerwig did a better job with “Little Women.” For the record, I did see, “Little Women”, “Hustlers”, and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” I just didn’t find “Hustlers” or “A Beautiful Day…” to be close to the same level to those other six films.
Best Picture: I did get a chance to see all of these films, some multiple times. Since there were so many nominees this year I won’t talk too much about them all individually. I was so excited that “Parasite” won for best picture. It was a fantastic film! Ever since I saw it for the first time in November I told everyone I got a chance to go see it in theatre’s. If you got the chance to watch it and enjoyed it, I would strongly encourage you to go and watch Bong Joon-Ho’s other film “Okja.” It is an incredible film that is half in Korean, half in English. It also has a fantastic cast, and a very good story as well! It should still be on Netflix. Had “Parasite” not won, I would have been very happy to see either “1917” or “Little Women” win. I thought both of those films were fantastic. There were only a handful of things (like one or two) that I didn’t enjoy about those films, but overall they were absolutely great films. Every film that was nominated for best picture, I felt, was a fantastic film, and was absolutely worth the time.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on the Oscar’s this year. I am very excited to see what the films of 2020 will bring us this year! Stay tuned for some more movie reviews later this week!
Movie Reviews from a Film Fanatic 