It was a bright and dazzling night at the Academy Award Ceremony in California and it was filled with lots of celebrities and paparazzi. The sight of each dress or tuxedo reminded me of a wedding; yet this was no wedding but rather a ceremony to commemorate which movie was the best from the last year.
Spoiler alert: To those who do not wish to know who won and want to see the full award ceremony on YouTube, you probably should veer away from this article. Also, be aware of some plots that might be uncovered in this article.
Anyway, throughout the 91st Academy award ceremony, there were positives and negatives regarding what film won for 2019. To start, there was no host. For decades, hosts that starred in the academy were either comedians or just regular talk show hosts with a renowned personality.
The last time that the Academy did not have a host was back in 1989, which had Rob Lowe sing a duet with Snow White. For average critics, the singing duet never lived up the hype. This year’s show, on the other hand, actually did well since it brought in me vibrant music of Queen to the audience with only one singer.
For movies, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a film about the life of Freddie Mercury and the band Queen, won four academy awards, including Best Actor, while “The Green Book,” “Black Panther” and “Roma” won three academy awards with “The Green Book” winning Best Picture.
I was stunned to hear that “Black Panther” won three academy awards. Part of it had to be my skepticism, since any action packed movie that the Academy chose never truly won.
“The Green Book,” in my opinion, was the best movie that I have seen in 2018. Based on a true story that stars Viggo Mortensen and Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor, Mahershala Ali, the film focusses on an Italian man named Tony Valleloga who tries to understand Don Shirley’s world as an African American pianist.
I instantly liked Mortensen’s character, since it gave me the impression of Tony Soprano from “The Sopranos,” but in a gentler way. I also enjoyed the chemistry that Mortensen and Ali’s character had in film, from personal arguments to Tony getting a writing critique from Don. To say the least, Mortensen might have had a shot at winning an Oscar for Best Actor if Rami Malek wasn’t also nominated for his work in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
As for drawbacks, Glenn Close did not win an Oscar but instead was given to another. This was truly a snub to Close since she has not yet been given the credit she deserves for her roles. The academy, in my mind, should have given Close her Oscar moment. After all, we WCU students waited a long time for Leonard DiCaprio to win his first Oscar win for the 2016 film, “The Reverent.”
The other snub was the political film, “Vice.” Though it won an Oscar for Best Make-Up, “Vice” did not get another Oscar for the night. I figured that Amy Adams was going to win for best supporting actress but alas, she too was snubbed along with Christian Bale.
Regardless, the 91st Academy Award ceremony was a great change for inclusivity and I hope that the next awards show would inspire and innovate WCU students to watch and participate in film.
Nicholas Bartelmo is a third-year student majoring in History. NB790429@wcupa.edu