The 88th Annual Academy Awards happened today & after much fanfare, hype & ridicule (THE diversity issue), the prestigious ceremony delivered more ups than downs.
Lets face it, we love the Movies & we love knowing about the Oscars, even if we don't believe in them or don't watch them, we still do wanna know whats happening. And the Academy-Awards celebrate Movies royally, even if they don't get it right all the time in terms of their Winners.
After opening to a TERRIFIC Oscar-Intro, which featured clips from the very best films of the year, our host for the evening Chris Rock took upon the stage. Being a Black-Man, Rock did a stupendous job, while digging into THE Diversity issue, without offending many (Jada Pinkett Smith wasn't happy for sure, but then again, she wanted A Best Actor Nomination for After Earth for any of the Smith's). Rock spoke openly about the hypocrisy that exists within the Film Industry & how things have changed, but not the way they probably should have. It was a hilarious opening monologue & it was fun to see Rock in such comedic form after such a long time.
The very first Oscar of the night went to the astonishing Spotlight, picking up Best Original Screenplay. It followed with the scary economic drama The Big Short taking home Best Adapted Screenplay. A surprise followed when Ex Machina crushed its opposition to win Best Visual Effects, a surprise win, given the fact that Jedi's & Mad Max were also in contention.
And suddenly, The 88th Academy-Awards turned into The Mad Max: Fury Road Night. Oh yes, George Miller's breath-taking action-packed blockbuster won a total of 6 Oscars, as the night progressed, sweeping away with Sound Editing, Production Design, Make-Up & Hairstyling, Film Editing & Costume Design. Of What A Day, What A LOVELY DAY!
Mad Max's incredible winning streak came to an end, as Emmanuel Lubezki Won his Third Consecutive Win for Best Cinematography for his work in The Revenant. John Seale's work in Mad Max was furious, but it was Roger Deakins's matchless work in the masterful Sicario, that was the real trump card here, but that didn't stop Lubezki to create history.
Inside Out Won Best Animated Feature, Amy Won Best Documentary & Son of Saul Won Best Foreign Language Film. No Surprises in any of these categories!
And when Ennio Morricone Won Best Original Score for Tarantino's despicable The Hateful Eight, the world stood up in respect. The legend spoke in Italian & choked up, given the respect & adulation from everyone. You Deserve It!
Mark Rylance Winning Best Supporting Actor for his SUPERB Performance in Bridges of Spies, left me overjoyed. Though many rooted for Stallone's comeback performance as Rocky Balboa in the smash hit Creed, it was Rylance who defeated the hot favorite & ended up giving a beautiful speech. Alicia Vikander took home Best Supporting Actress for her sensitive performance in The Danish Girl, a film where the performances clearly made it what it is. Too bad for Jennifer Jason-Leigh, as her turn in The Hateful Eight, was the finest female performance in a Tarantino film to date.
Brie Larson continued her unbeatable streak, taking home Best Actress for her flawless performance in Room.
And then LEONARDO DICAPRIO Won the Oscar for Best Actor for his impressive (though not best) performance in The Revenant. As overwhelmed as we are for Leo, its kinda sad to know that the jokes, memes & prayers for Leo to win the Golden Statue are now a thing of the past. Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Steve Jobs, however, remained my favorite.
Best Director went to The Revenant's Alejandro González Iñárritu, A Second Win in a row for the master storyteller. George Miller's passion was killing, Tom McCarthy shook us all, but it was Iñárritu's year, yet again!
And Then Came The Night's Best & Biggest Win - SPOTLIGHT Won Best Picture. Well Deserved. Well Deserved. Well Deserved. This was a Landmark Film & it stood tall, despite strong contenders.
All in All, The 88th Annual Academy Awards rocked! After many years, The List of Winners were rather...correct!
