Review and Analysis of the 93rd Academy Awards

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Review and Analysis of the 93rd Academy Awards

The 93^rd Academy Awards were horrible in the presentation, even atrocious. That was to be expected, though. In terms of the actual winners, it’s a mixed bag. There were a couple of unpleasant, but also some wonderful positive surprises. Most of the winners were predictable, but those few unexpected managed to shake things up memorably.

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THE CEREMONY

There is very little to talk about here as this was the pandemic year, so they organized the worst possible ceremony that they could. I get it that the venue couldn’t have been better, but the decision to not include any clips during the awards was painfully misguided. The clips can be made at all times, even now as it is all done on the computers, so this decision befuddled me. The songs were also not performed and there weren’t any tributes whatsoever besides the in memoriam segment. It was just very cheap and highly boring. As for the speeches, there were a lot of those same-old political speeches that are always a bummer every year and there were some embarrassing ones (Daniel Kaluuya was ridiculous), but a couple were surprisingly memorable with the best one being the speech from Youn Yuh-Jung who was just so wonderful, charming and even hilarious in her delivery.

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BEST PICTURE

This year’s slate was one of the dullest in recent memory. There weren’t any truly bad movies, but there were a lot of those clichéd period dramas and political films that aren’t particularly interesting to watch. My favorites remain the wonderfully twisted Promising Young Woman, the masterful Sound of Metal and heartbreaking The Father. I would have been happy with either one of these three winning, but obviously that did not happen as the industry has been behind the hippie bullshit that is Nomadland all along. This movie has no message and no sophistication to it whatsoever, leading to the worst possible choice for Best Picture this time around. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.

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BEST DIRECTOR

The best director award went to Chloe Zhao expectedly so. Her work on Nomadland was very mediocre to me personally as I am not a big fan of her documentarian, lifeless approach at storytelling. She is the second woman and first Asian woman to win an Oscar in this category. Of the nominees, Emerald Fennel would have been the best choice, but overall this year’s slate was quite weak.

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BEST ACTOR

In a major upset that few saw coming, Anthony Hopkins ended up winning this award over Chadwick Boseman. Chadwick was good in his respective role, but an Oscar should not be given out of pity to an actor who died, but it should be given to the most deserving and best performance of the year, which was undoubtedly Hopkins’. I would have also been happy with Riz Ahmed winning as his work in Sound of Metal was terrific, but Hopkins was incredible in The Father, a film which demanded from him a plethora of emotions and he delivered. It’s his second win in this category and the most pleasant surprise of the ceremony.

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BEST ACTRESS

The opposite is the case with this one. In a twist that also few saw coming, Frances McDormand ended up winning over the likes of the great Viola Davis and the horribly robbed Carey Mulligan and Vanessa Kirby. Literally every single one of these ladies would have been a worthy choice, especially Mulligan as she still hasn’t won an Oscar, but they went out and gave the award to the person who didn’t even deserve to be nominated for that very uninspired, predictable performance.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

This was a predictable win and although Kaluuya was definitely good in Judas and the Black Messiah, his co-star Lakeith Stanfield was much better and more memorable. Of the nominees, Paul Raci gave the best and deepest performance in the emotional Sound of Metal.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I personally would have gone with Maria Bakalova for Borat 2 as she was the only great thing in that terrible movie, but a nomination for a comedy was a reward enough coming from the comedy-averse Academy. Youn Yuh-jung was so lovely that I am glad that she won.

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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

This was one of the most deserved winners as Emerald Fennel’s script was incredible. Sound of Metal was wonderfully written as well, but it was Promising Young Woman that felt genuinely exciting and different from all the other nominees.

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BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

I would have personally gone with The White Tiger as that overall horribly snubbed movie was superbly adapted from the eponymous book, but The Father was ultimately a worthy winner as this film is cleverly written while also being unexpectedly cinematic and authentic.

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BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Unlike last year’s very undeserving Pixar winner, this year the studio won for Soul in a predictable turn of course, but the only right choice as all the other nominees are much inferior. Soul is not only the best animated movie of the year, but the best film period as its depth and imagination are unparalleled. Onward was the best among the other nominees while Wolfwalkers was a fine, but surprisingly disappointing turn from Tomm Moore.

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BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

This slate was very mediocre. In fact, this was the most disappointing list of nominees this year as 2020 was a particularly strong year for international cinema, much better than the American counterparts. The best movies were shamelessly snubbed – the exhilarating Jallikattu and the deep Endless Trench. Of the nominees, clearly the best one was Romania’s Collective as the most important and best crafted film of the bunch. Another Round was the second best nominee, but this was simply the Academy giving the Oscar to Vinterberg for his previous work rather than for this one.

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BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

In a move that I anticipated but did not quite lock, My Octopus Teacher ended up getting the crown and I couldn’t be happier as that was by far the best documentary of the year and one of the ten best movies overall of 2020. This was a strong slate with Collective and Crip Camp also being deserving nominees, but a highly moving nature documentary winning over political films was a turn that rarely happens and I was all for it.

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BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Two Distant Strangers only won for its relevant theme of police brutality against black people. But in terms of the actual quality, this was by far the worst film of the five nominated. It is implausible and frankly even dumb. Feeling Through should have won for its sweet and very inspiring storyline centered on a deaf-blind person.

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BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

If Anything Happens I Love You is definitely a very sad, heartbreaking film about school shootings, but it was hardly the best nominee in this category. That honor goes to Burrow and Opera, both amazing films for very different reasons – the former for its cuteness and message and the latter for its art and exquisite detail. It’s really a shame that neither of the two won.

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BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The expected, but the only right choice for the award here was Soul. This movie is all-around an audio-visual miracle, but the score is particularly arresting as the afterlife sequences are fittingly accompanied by the very impressive celestial theme.

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BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Probably the worst song won this time around, which was frustrating to witness. Fight for You is a typical song that won on the merits of activist lyrics, but Husavik would have been a much better choice as that song is incredibly beautiful.

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BEST SOUND

This is the first awards ceremony after the Academy’s decision to split Sound Mixing and Editing into one category alone. The now singular award went to Sound of Metal, which was a predictable, but right turn of events as that movie is all about sound and it uses it brilliantly to convey the various emotions of terror and calm.

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BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Obviously Mank won this one for its numerous sets alone that are beautiful and filled with immense detail. This movie is all about depicting Hollywood of the thirties, so it only goes to reason that it wins for the production design.

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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Wow. How clueless can the Academy be sometimes. The fact that Mank won and Nomadland lost this one is ridiculous. The cinematography in that overrated film was by far the best of the nominated movies and it losing the only award that it deserved was hilarious.

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BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom featured the most make-up of the nominees, so it was to be expected that it would win in this category.

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BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Everything that I have said above also applies here, though probably a more interesting choice would have been Mulan with its beautiful Chinese costumes.

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BEST FILM EDITING

The Father also would have been a worthy choice here, but Sound of Metal rightfully won for its incredible editing. That film is technically brilliant and that goes a long way to make it emotionally impactful.

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BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

2020 was the year where only a few blockbusters were released due to the pandemic, so this was the worst year in a long time for the VFX category. The monsters in Love and Monsters looked great, but clearly Tenet deserved its award here as it looked polished and cool. In fact, it’s the only good thing about that horrendous movie.

 

In conclusion, this was a terrible ceremony for the Oscars, but the winners themselves were quite good overall. There were some egregious snubs and terrible choices, but at least the pleasant surprises outweighed the negatives, so overall I wasn’t terribly mad about it. It was a forgettable ceremony, but some great people and films won regardless.