Where to begin. Usually the Oscars are a snooze, self-indulgent, and plod along with precious few moments of fun or sincerity. But not this year.
The 2020 Oscars were entertaining, energetic and at times exuberant! From the rousing opening number by Janelle Monáe to the rousing win by Parasite for Best Picture, the Oscars were a rollicking good time.
The producers of this year’s Oscars wisely concluded this year that the best defense was a good offense. Faced with only one African American nominated for an acting role out of 20 possible slots, and faced with the fact no woman was nominated for Best Director despite a number of great films this year directed by women, the Oscars telecast, very pointedly, tried to address this by featuring a diversity of performers and presenters.
The Performers
I’ve already called out Janelle Monáe’s wonderful opening number. Utkarsh Ambudkar (he was in Pitch Perfect, people, I looked it up) nimbly rapped about the winners 2/3 of the way in – how did he do that? Loved the montage about the interplay between a good movie song and a good movie which led to an awesome surprise performance of “Lose Yourself” by Michigan’s own Eminem! Loved that many young people in the crowd were singing along. Loved that Martin Scorcese looked vaguely horrified.
The Presenters
The two best pairs of presenters were hilarious. Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph hammed it up, “acting” and singing, when presenting for Production Design and Best Costume. Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus played the parts of narcissistic actors to a T. And being a huge fan of Something’s Gotta Give, I so enjoyed Keanu Reeves’ very weird, arguably cringy presentation with Diane Keaton (shoutout to her outfit also). Steve Martin and Chris Rock were amiable and engaging as “not hosts.” Olivia Coleman was charming and funny as always. Loved that Jane Fonda closed it out!
The Details
There were a few twists this year. The acting nominees’ clips were interspersed instead of shown sequentially, which made them more fun to watch. Loved that they played snippets from the Best Score nominees, this is such an important category (second shoutout: the pulsing score from Uncut Gems should have been nominated.) Didn’t think many of the elaborate Best Song productions showed well on TV.
The Winners
Part of what made this awards show great was that 1917, despite having won almost all of the precursor awards, did not, as expected, win Best Director or Best Picture. And the crowd (myself and Spencer included) were thrilled to see Parasite, a sleeper movie from South Korea, win the big prizes. Although there were no surprises in the acting categories, the rest of awards were fairly evenly distributed and less predictable than usual. It was fun that the person we saw speak the most during this year’s Oscars was the translator for Bong Joon-ho. By the time he won for Best Picture, having already won for Best Director, Best International Feature, and Original Screenplay, Bong Joon-ho had flat-out run out of things to say. His callout to Martin Scorcese, and the standing ovation that resulted, was a generous, genuine, sweet moment.
The Speeches
There were a number of good speeches, or parts of overlong speeches that were good. Loved the Bombshell Makeup & Hairstyling winner’s nod to Charlize Theron, so sweet. Loved The Hair winner’s callout for greater representation in animation. Renee Zellweger took some time to get going, but she kindly called out the importance of Judy Garland and other people who inspire us. Liked the way Laura Dern honored her parents.
The Movies
Here is my take on the Best Picture noms, listed in order of preference (note that I did not see, and do not plan to see, The Joker).
- Little Women: I loved how Little Women sagely predicted that it wouldn’t receive the acknowledgement it deserved because it is about “domestic struggles.” Although full disclosure it is hard for me to be objective about this movie because I so adore this book and read it over and over throughout my childhood. Little Women was hands-down my favorite movie of the year. I saw it twice!
- Parasite: What a creative movie. It is funny, it makes a point, it does a great job showing the interplay and awkwardness between rich people and poor people, and the acting is amazing.
- JoJo Rabbit: This movie is interesting because it is a movie that people love and critics find “treacly.” I guess I’ll never be a movie critic because I loved this movie. When I first learned it was a Nazi satire I thought there is no way they are going to be able to pull it off. But they pulled it off! An original, funny yet heartwarming film.
- Marriage Story: A surprisingly watchable movie about a divorce, or really about the impact of divorce lawyers on divorce. Slow build of a movie which ends on a surprisingly hopeful note.
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Parts of this movie are beautifully filmed and I was glad the movie won for Production Design. And there is nothing Hollywood likes more than a movie about, well Hollywood. But the typical Tarantino history revision/bloodbath conclusion doesn’t really do it for me.
- The Irishman: Do we really need another mob movie starring Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino? I would argue that we do not. Although overlong, The Irishman is worth watching (especially if you watch it over two days.) Joe Pesci is wonderful. The digital effects used to make all the actors look younger are creepy.
- Ford v Ferrari: Boys and cars. Like many of the movies, it was too long and, despite being about car racing, dragged. An entertaining story, and Tracy Letts steals the movie as Henry Ford II.
- 1917: A gimmick. Although in theory an “important” film about Word War I, this is really an action movie, spliced together to look like one continuous take. If you want to see a movie that really was one continuous take, other than when they had to change the film roll (so it was 11 “takes”), see the Hitchcock gem Rope.
In Conclusion
Until next year, people. Please let me know what you think in the comments, or send me an email. One of the winners (forgot who) said “A well told story is a powerful thing.” Indeed. Thanks for reading!
The Judge 