My Thoughts on the Academy Awards

          Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, the Academy Awards, more commonly referred to as the Oscars, aired on ABC this evening, and there's a lot to talk about. 

         First off, I gotta give props to host Jimmy Kimmel and the many presenters, including the likes of Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Bad Bunny, Nicolas Cage, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Gosling, Michael Keaton, Jennifer Lawrence, Al Pacino, Tim Robbins, Anya Taylor-Joy, Steven Spielberg, and Zendaya. Everyone that was out on the Oscars stage tonight was on their A-game, and everyone looked absolutely fantastic on the Red Carpet and on the Oscars stage. 

          I also wanted to give some major props to some great musical performances tonight, particularly by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connor for the performance of "What Was I Made For" from Barbie, a performance by Becky G of the song "A Fire Inside" from Flaming Hot, and a performance of "Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from Killers of the Flower Moon. Oh, and there was a hilarious bit involving John Cena, in a humorous nod to an Academy Awards ceremony back in the '70s where David Niven was interrupted by a streaker running across the Oscars stage. And, I absolutely loved a moment where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito paid homage to the fact that they were both Batman movie villains back in the '90s. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of Ryan Gosling's performance of "I'm Just Ken" from Barbie. Sorry, I just don't get the hype around this song. Also, there was a little too much mocking of Madame Web as the night went on for my taste. 

        Now, let's get into the movies that were up for awards tonight. Now, as many of my readers are aware, I made no secret that my favorite film of 2023 was Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Well, to no real surprise, Oppenheimer was nominated for a total of thirteen awards tonight, with its nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, Best Adapted Screenplay for Nolan, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, respectively, Best Original Score for composer Ludwig Göransson, and such awards as Best Sound, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing. The other Best Picture nominees were as follows: American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest. Directors like Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Glazer were also up for Best Director. And, the list goes on. Oh, and while not up for Best International Feature Film, Godzilla Minus One was up for Best Visual Effects, whereas Oppenheimer was not up for a Visual Effects award. 

         So, who won? Well, Da'Vine Joy Randolph won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Holdovers, while Emma Stone won the award for Best Actress for her role in Poor Things. For animation, Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron won Best Animated Feature, while War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko won Best Animated Short Film. The award for Best Original Screenplay went to writers Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for the film Anatomy of a Fall, while writer Cord Jefferson won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for American Fiction. The award for Best Live-action Short went to The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. The awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Film went, respectively, to 20 Days in Mariupol and The Last Repair Shop. The awards for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design went to the movie Poor Things. The song "What Was I Made For" by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connor won the award for Best Original Song. The U.K. film The Zone of Interest won the awards for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound, which is nice. Lastly, the surprise hit of last December, Godzilla Minus One, took home the award for Best Visual Effects, and I think that was well deserved. 

        Of course, the Oscars had their signature In Memoriam segment, honoring the memory of those who sadly passed away in 2023 and in both January and February of the current year, including the likes of Michael Gambon, Richard Roundtree, Glynis Johns, Harry Belafonte, Alan Arkin, Norman Reynolds, Andre Braugher, Tom Wilkinson, Jane Birkin, Paul Reubens, Cynthia Weil, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Matthew Perry, Richard Lewis, Carl Weathers, Tina Turner, and so many others. And, I loved that the segment was done with a live performance of "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo. 

       Now, the question remains: how many of its thirteen nominations did Oppenheimer actually win? Well, it won the awards for Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr.'s performance as Lewis Strauss, Best Editing for Jennifer Lame, Best Cinematography for Hoyte Van Hoytema, Best Original Score for composer Ludwig Göransson, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy's performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, and the biggest award of the night: Best Picture. And, let me just say how happy I was to see Oppenheimer win so big. I have been a Christopher Nolan fan since 2008's The Dark Knight, and to have seen a film of his go on to win big at the Oscars, and take home Best Picture, was absolutely worth it. 

       Overall, the Oscars were very well done this year. Those that truly deserved to win did so, and I especially appreciated how both The Boy and the Heron and Godzilla Minus One took home Oscars tonight, as I am a big fan of both anime and Japanese monster movies. Also, big congrats to Christopher Nolan and the crew that made Oppenheimer for winning big tonight, especially with that Best Picture win. 

         Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys for my next review on Tuesday.