Oscar Wrap Up 2021

Wow, I was not a fan of that ceremony. Here are some of my thoughts.

·         I did like the seating and ‘set design’ of the space.

·         I got 17 out of 23 categories correct which wasn’t too bad considering some of the difficult categories. Though I didn’t predict The Father winning anything, it was a powerful film with a great script and stellar acting.

·         I hated the lack of clip packages. As a video editor, I love myself a clip package. What kind of design template are they going to use? What clips are being chosen to highlight the film element or performance of the nominees? We only got ones for full length features, that it. Unless you count the speed-round of In Memoriam. What was that about? Id’ rather see a great nomination package rather than stars heaping praise on the nominees in flowery speeches. Boring!

·         I’m guessing Questlove was told not to play off any of the winners. Some of the speeches were way too long. Thank you, Frances McDormand for keeping it short.

·         The quiz time seemed really unnecessary, especially as the show was heading into overtime already. But at least Glenn Close was ready to party.

·         But the weirdest thing about the night was having the Best Picture be presented before the Best Actress and Best Actor. So, these performances are more important than the overall films? Also, the tradition is that the Best Actor winner from last year present the Best Actress this year, and Best Actress from last year present Best Actor. Why switch? None of the ladies want Joaquin to give them an award. I bet everyone thought that Chadwick Boseman was going to win and the producers thought that would be a great way to end the ceremony. Only, Anthony Hopkins won and he wasn’t even there! What a deflating end.

Okay, here’s who won:

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
TWO DISTANT STRANGERS (predicted)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
IF ANYTHING HAPPEN I LOVE YOU (predicted)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
COLETTE

SOUND
SOUND OF METAL (predicted)

ORIGINAL SCORE
SOUL (predicted)

ORIGINAL SONG
FIGHT FOR YOU

VISUAL EFFECTS
TENET (predicted)

MAKE-UP & HAIRSTYLING
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (predicted)

COSTUME DESIGN
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

PRODUCTION DESIGN
MANK (predicted)

FILM EDITING
SOUND OF METAL (predicted)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
MANK

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER (predicted)

ANIMATED FEATURE
SOUL (predicted)

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
ANOTHER ROUND (predicted)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE FATHER

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (predicted)

BEST DIRECTOR
CHLOE ZHAO [NOMADLAND] (predicted)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
YUH-JUNG YOUN [MINARI] (predicted)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
DANIEL KALUUYA [JUDAS & THE BLACK MESSIAH] (predicted)

BEST ACTRESS
FRANCES MCDORMAND [NOMADLAND] (predicted)

BEST ACTOR
ANTHONY HOPKINS [THE FATHER]

BEST PICTURE
NOMADLAND (predicted)

How did you do?