I was thinking long and hard today about whether or not I should give my thoughts on last night’s Oscars. I haven’t watched any of these awards shows in years. It’s not that I find them arbitrary. They serve an actual purpose, not just for entertainment, but for legitimate recognition within the industry. That being said, I normally don’t pay attention to the Academy Awards, because I often strongly disagree with a lot of the nomination and the selection of the winners. I understand that the votes are made by “professionals” with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS), but the Academy has had a reputation for mostly ignoring films in certain genres like science fiction, fantasy and horror. Every once in a while you will see a sci-fi or fantasy film get nominated, but even more rare than that is when a movie in those genres gets an actual award. Take James Cameron’s Aliens for example. It actually won two Oscars: One for Best Visual Effects and one for Sound Effects Editing. It was also nominated for 5 additional Oscars including Best Actress in a Leading Role, which was Sigourney Weaver. Another example is The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which won 11 Oscars including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Music, and Best Film Editing. I love it when films like these win, because it shows that even fantasy and science fiction can have powerhouse movies that deserve serious recognition. But aside from maybe a handful of films, the Academy generally only looks at films in the comedy and drama categories. I wasn’t going to pay attention to anything that the Oscars were nominating for last year, except for the fact that last year had some of the best films in any category. So, what I’m going to for this post is go over some of the nominations and winners that took home an award last night. Be aware that I haven’t seen all these movies, so I won’t be commenting on them at all.
Let’s start with Best Song. The nominees were: “Shallow” from A Star is Born, “All the Stars” from Black Panther, “I’ll Fight” from RBG, “The Place Were Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns, and “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The winner, unsurprisingly to me at least, went to Lady Gaga and “Shallow” from A Star is Born. This one didn’t surprise me, because it was a damn good song from an excellent film. A duet with Bradley Cooper, “Shallow” is an incredibly powerful and uplifting song that really defines the relationship between the two lead characters in the film. I’ve had that song on repeat for quite some time, it’s that good. I completely underestimated Lady Gaga’s talents as a musician. That woman is a force to be reckoned with. She’s definitely got my attention now:
I’m going to briefly discuss Best Actress, as I only saw one movie in the category. Lady Gaga ultimately didn’t win the nomination, but for someone whose first lead role landed her a nomination, that speaks volumes about Gaga and her talents as an entertainer. She went above and beyond to play Ally in A Star is Born, going so far as to strip away all the make-up and costumes and reverting to her natural brown hair color. Lady Gaga just crushed it playing a character that had all but given up on her dreams of being a singer. Not only that, she had legitimate chemistry with Bradley Cooper, who also starred in and directed the film. After the first two musical numbers, I fell in love with the movie. While Lady Gaga is definitely a musician first, I’m going to be paying attention to her acting career as well. She’s definitely got it where it counts.
I never would have thought it possible for a Marvel film to win any kind of award from the Academy, let alone be nominated, but this surprised the hell out of me. Last year’s Black Panther was nominated not for one but SEVEN awards, taking home three of them. This is a huge first for ANY Marvel film, and I’m glad it was Black Panther that secured at least three awards. What this shows to me is that the Academy is finally opening themselves to see what comic book movies can offer. Black Panther brought home awards for Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design. The costumes in Black Panther are something to behold. They had done research among the various tribes in Africa and took elements from each tribe to create their own unique look. The production design on the film was absolutely incredible. Look at the set designs as well as the weaponry and the city-state of Wakanda. It blew my mind. I loved the soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson. It had a combination of an orchestra as well as various tribal sounds that gave the film its unique identity. So, kudos to Black Panther.
When it comes to Best Visual Effects, the one that really should have won was Avengers: Infinity War. The reason that I feel that Avengers should have won is because of how the character Thanos was realized. Yes, he was a CGI character, but the design of the character was unique and felt like he was lifted straight from the comics. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Josh Brolin nailed the character to a tee. The CGI was so damn good, that Thanos looked like a real being, that’s how detailed he is. If there was a category for Best Character Design, I believe it would’ve gone to this guy:
Now, I want to talk about the movies that were completely snubbed by the Oscars, and I don’t think they should have been. First off, The Hate U Give is one of the best films of 2018, period. I get why people were apprehensive about the film as it deals with a very uncomfortable subject matter, but it’s a film that has relevance in today’s society. Not only that, it also boasts some of the best performances I’ve seen in 2018. Amandla Stenberg gave one of the best break-out performances I’ve ever seen. The fact that she wasn’t even nominated is a disgrace, in my opinion. Russell Hornsby was also NOT nominated. How The Hate U Give didn’t get a single nomination is beyond my capacity to understand. Yeah, it was a risky movie, but I felt that it paid off. Also not nominated was Toni Collette from Hereditary. On one hand, I kind of figured that she wouldn’t get nominated at all, but it still irks me that she didn’t, because she puts in a powerhouse performance in one of the best horror movies of the decade. Emily Blunt also got shafted, because her performance in A Quiet Place was just as amazing as Toni Collette’s.
I haven’t commented on films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book, because I haven’t seen them yet. I plan on it, but I only have so much time in the day and the week to get around to it. So, with that in mind, what are my final thoughts on the 2019 Oscars? For me, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, because while some of the winners definitely deserved the award, some didn’t and I feel that there other movies that should have gotten a nomination at least, but didn’t. It’s one of those things that you can just take or leave. Ultimately, it still doesn’t change my opinion that these award shows generally don’t get right. I love it when they do, but I’m not surprised when they don’t. Ultimately, I prefer to rely on the fans and blogs to deliver their own awards for movies, because it’s the fans that help make these movies as successful as they are. Another year, another award show. Those are my thoughts, anyway. If you have any thoughts of your own, feel free to post them down below as to what movies you think should have won.