Oscar Feels.

It’s all over now, Mr. Frodo. An awfully long awards season, featuring some very good films, that has felt like something of an extension of 2020 is now officially concluded. There was a ceremony, some shocks, and a couple of major takeaways that I’ll outline for you. I’ll be covering the top 10 categories that I care about, in the order that they happened, but there are no more major awards for these films to win.

The Telecast. Oscar-winning and super stylish director Steven Soderbergh certainly mixed up the ceremony to some good and bad results. Visually, the show was more stunning than it’s ever been; I loved the booths, the lighting, the décor, and the chill environment compared to a whole bunch of auditorium seats on my screen. However, the recent tradition of hosting the Oscars without a host felt pretty stark this year; where were the laughs? The jokes? The references? I’ll submit my resume to the Academy for their consideration now, but I think we need to get back to the vibes that Billy Crystal would bring whenever he hosted; he could curate the personality of an outsider, crack jokes, while also indoctrinating great films into the lexicon of history. I really believe that audiences – especially audiences who maybe watched one of these movies – need to understand the stakes, who’s nominated, and what kind of history might be made this year in order to get drawn in at the beginning.

It’s quite remarkable that without a host, or any in-depth comedic bits save one that began at 10:43 p.m. EST (not ideal), the show still managed to go on for over 3 hours. That’s gotta change, and I pledge as future host to play music to kill speeches, help create super short montages of each of the nominated films to keep each category short, and not start a comedic bit after 10:30 p.m. EST. I look forward to accepting the Academy’s offer.

The Outcomes. The Academy is larger and more diverse than it ever has been, and that diversity isn’t just ethnic; more people who work in various crafts related to the film industry have joined the Academy, meaning the technical categories are as rigorously voted on as they ever have been. This might mean that the days of a single film sweeping up the technical categories like Costume, Make-up, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design are behind us. Just look at what happened – no film won more than 3 Oscars, which is quite interesting. In years past, even 2015, a film like Mank might have brought home 5 technical Oscars, but only ended up with 2 this year.

What follows is what I was thinking watching it all unfold.

Best Original Screenplay:

• Who won: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

• Who I would have preferred: Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

• How I feel: First award of the night and I guess I’m feeling vindicated in the sense that I got my prediction right, but that my true favorite screenplay of the year won’t win. I really, really hope this isn’t the beginning of some Promising Young Woman winning streak. Also RIP to Trial of the Chicago 7; this was the only award I think you were capable of winning tonight, and you really do have a good script.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• Who won: Florian Zeller, The Father

• Who I would have preferred: Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami

• How I feel: This was probably One Night’s only chance to win an Oscar, similar to Chicago 7. Also, is this the start of an Oscar run for The Father, coming off some heat at the BAFTAs? Should I have seen The Father??

Best Supporting Actor:

• Who won: Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah

• Who I would have preferred: This is the one!

• How I feel: Woohoo! An early win for the good guys that I also predicted! Maybe I do know this stuff after all. Go me. Go Daniel.

Best Director:

• Who won: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland

• Who I would have preferred: This is the one!

• How I feel: Similar to Dunkirk, this film is sparse on dialogue and therefore only works because of its director; unlike Dunkirk, the effect here is a deeply reflective and moving picture that conveys wanderlust, discontentment with society, grief, loneliness and togetherness. I’m also pumped that I got to witness some history – Chloe Zhao is only the second woman to ever win a Directing Oscar, and the first Asian-American to do so. Chloe - Hollywood is yours for the taking; go do some more great things.

Best Animated Feature:

• Who won: Soul

• Who I would have preferred: This is the one!

• How I feel: I think this was the most widely seen and widely loved of all these movies, and it also aligns with my predictions. Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.

Best Supporting Actress:

• Who won: Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

• Who I would have preferred: This is the one!

• How I feel: What a night it’s been. Youn has been acting far longer than I’ve been alive but had the same reaction we all would if it was Brad Pitt handing us her Oscar. We’re getting pretty deep into the ceremony now, and I’m thinking this might even end early??? Unfortunately, I think Minari’s wins might stop here, unless something wild happens in Best Picture; the Best Director for Nomadland might have secured that film’s win there though.

Best Cinematography:

• Who won: Erik Messerschmidt, Mank

• Who I would have preferred: I mean maybe Nomadland, but I love this win.

• How I feel: Including Cinematography among my top 10 Oscar categories is a deeply personal choice, but this is a deeply personal blog so there you are. I love an awful lot of things about Mank, especially how it looks. The creamy visuals that also incorporate Noir-inspired lighting and shadow are incredible here; with several notable films in the last few years appearing in black and white, it’s cool to see one rewarded this year. And another win for Mank is certainly not a bad thing, especially since it would seem that Chicago 7 is getting nothing tonight.

Best Picture:

• Who won: Nomadland

• Who I would have preferred: Minari or Judas but I’m not mad.

• How I feel: I guess we're doing this category now, and not at the end? Frances McDormand, you’re certainly talented but you’re also certainly weird. You’ve just got a third Oscar, placing you in a very small club. Congrats! This win felt like the heavyweight favorite, which has been chugging along from victory to victory over the last 3 months at this point. It’s also like 10:40 p.m.! What a night!

Best Actress:

• Who won: Frances McDormand, Nomadland

• Who I would have preferred: Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

• How I feel: It’s 11:08 p.m. EST and Fran, you’re getting even weirder. You now have 3 Best Actress Oscars; not even Meryl Streep has 3 of those, in addition to the one you got in the last category (but 20 damn minutes ago) for producing; it’s your world Frances. We are just living in it. Viola, you’re an icon in your own right. At least Promising Young Woman hasn’t won an award since the very beginning of the show.

Best Actor:

• Who won: Anthony Hopkins, The Father

• Who I would have preferred: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

• How I feel: WOWOWOW. That’s a stunner at 11:15 p.m. EST on a Sunday night! Chadwick’s performance was incredible, and the added baggage of this being a posthumous award (not to mention taking a place on a very, very short list of Black men to win this award) only makes this decision sting a little more. But from what I can tell, Chadwick was certainly not robbed; I just wish that someone had tipped Hopkins off so that he would have attended, meaning that they wouldn’t hand an award to someone who wasn’t there over someone who passed away. That situation is not ideal; I’m tired; my head hurts; the longest, weirdest, saddest awards season ended with some CONTROVERSY. Only time will tell us if this was the right call.