Oscars Wrap Up and Ceremony Thoughts

 One week later...

I'm super late getting to this final post, but the combination of life, March Madness, and the ho-humness of the Oscars ceremony hasn't led to much of a drive to write this capstone post. So, even though the interest and excitement over Hollywood's biggest night has significantly waned by this point, I'm going to finish what I started and wrap up my Oscars journey with some final thoughts. 

To start, I went 17 of 23 on my predictions for winners this year. It would have been 19 of 23, but I had a couple of weak moments when writing my predictions and followed my head rather than my gut instinct on Lead Actress and Documentary Short. Either way, the fact that I was able to correctly predict 74% of the winners just goes to show you how amazing at this I am. Or just how uneventful this year's ceremony was. It's the latter of those two options. 

Oppenheimer...this was the high-speed bullet train that was stopping for no one. It swept all of the major categories it was nominated for, to absolutely no one's surprise or displeasure. This was by far and away the best picture of the year, and it was right recognized as such, across all of the major aspects of filmmaking. My favorite win for this picture was its recognition for film editing. Jennifer Lame won for her outstanding work on this film, and I was so excited to see a female win in a historically male-dominated category. I was also quite pleased to see this win for best original score, another tough category. 

Poor Things - while Oppenheimer cleaned up in the major categories, this film took home most of the "smaller" categories. I was happy to see it recognized for production design and costume design - two elements that were key components of this film's visual appeal. Emma Stone did pull off a semi-surprise win in the lead actress category over Lily Gladstone, but I think it's a deserving win. This was an incredible performance for her, which so much more worthy of this award than her performance in La La Land. 

Screenplays - LOVED both of these wins (American Fiction in Adapted; Anatomy of a Fall in Original). Neither of these films were going to be able to overcome the cinematic beast of Oppenheimer, but I love that they were recognized for writing. Both of these films were so much more than what their taglines and movie posters suggested and took major deviations from other stories within their genres. 

 Barbie Soundtrack - only one of these songs could win, and the correct one did. Billie Eilish and Phinneas O'Connell won for "What Was I Made For?" and their live performance was stunningly gorgeous to kick off the original song nominees. But let's face it, the moment of the night went to Ryan Gosling and the Kens. Their performance of "I'm Just Ken" lit up the room with comradery, humor, and some good ole clean fun. This performance was everything I was hoping the Barbie movie was going to be - playful, not too serious, and entertaining. 

Barbenheimer - as snooty as the Oscars can be, they did not shy away from acknowledging how big Barbie and Oppenheimer were this summer, especially as the writers and actors' strikes really started to impact the film industry. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt presented together, and couldn't help but play into the Barbie vs. Oppenheimer debate. They were charming, the playful banter was clever, and these two need to host something, anything soon!

Zone of Interest - this won for best sound and was one of my top three favorite wins of the night! I gushed about the use of sound in this movie in both my post about this film and my prediction post, so I won't go back into that here, but I screamed with elation when this film won in that category. It also won for international feature, which wasn't shocking, but very much well deserved. 

Da'Vine Joy Randolph - our beloved best supporting actress stole the hearts of the entire audience with the first win of the night, making Paul Giamatti and many others shed tears of joy during acceptance speech. She was such a scene-stealer in the Holdovers, continued to be one at the Oscars, and I hope this is the first of many roles for her that will lead to a nomination. 

Timing - the ceremony was moved up an hour, started 6 minutes late, and actually ended 3 minutes early! I can't explain the math, but whatever they did to the timing this year, do that again next year. 

Overall, the ceremony was largely uneventful or suspenseful, but I still had a blast watching it because I had a true vested interest in many of these films and their work in the nominated categories. This year's group of films was one of the more pleasant ones I've sat through in a while. I didn't love all of them, and I probably will only rewatch 3 or 4, but as a group, it was an entertaining group that provided new insights on traditional genres. 

So, final thoughts, what do I recommend? Well, Oppenheimer is a no-brainer. It's so, so good and I'm looking forward to my next viewing. It does not disappoint. My surprise favorite was The Holdovers, which I will happily add to my annual must-watch Christmas movie line up. I enjoyed the new angles of storytelling Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives, and American Fiction provide and would probably benefit from seeing those films again to gain more appreciation. Zone of Interest still haunts me - I'm not sure I can physically watch it again, but it falls into that category of films that everyone should see at least once because of the ugly aspects of humanity it forces you to confront. Barbie is ok, Poor Things has a ton of nudity, and Killers of the Flower Moon is super violent. Viewer beware on those last two. Skip Maestro. 

Thanks to all who have joined me in this tour of the best picture nominees! Now, let the March Madness begin!!