A NIGHT OF GLORIOUS SURPRISES: 89TH ACADEMY AWARDS
A good reason why the Oscars was important this year was because of the recent protests regarding the lack of diversity in its nominations inspiring the popular hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. After years of disregarding phenomenal performances by people of color, this year's nominations were more reflective of the diversity in Hollywood. For the first time, 7 out of 20 performance nominations went to actors and actresses of color. This year's Oscars ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, which marks as his first time as emcee.
Given that the Oscars were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, it was bound to start on a humorous note. Jimmy started the show by poking fun at Donald Trump. He thanked Trump and said , "Remember last year when the Oscars were considered racist? That's done. Thanks to him." He also teased Meryl Streep by asking her if her dress was an Ivanka. Throughout the whole show he kept on teasing the likes of Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, etc.
The first major award went to Maharshala Ali for 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role' for "Moonlight". The Oscar for the 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role' went to Viola Davis for "Fences". Viola Davis also happens to be the first black actress to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony. This is a huge step towards embracing diversity the President of Academy Motion Picture and Sciences promised in nominations and awards.
The award for 'Best Actress' went to Emma Stone for "La La Land", as expected. She accepted the award very humbly, with tears on her face. This was her first ever Oscar and she won by competing with the likes of Natalie Portman and Meryl Streep. In her acceptance speech she said that she was very grateful to have been given the opportunity to be a part of "La La Land" and that she still has a lot to learn when it comes to acting.
In a surprising turn of events, Casey Affleck was the one who won the award for 'Best Actor' for "Manchester By the Sea" where a lot of people had been speculating that Andrew Garfiled would be the one winning it for "Hackshaw Ridge". Andrew Garfield's performance in the movie was widely appreciated by the audiences and critics.
Perhaps the most unexpected thing to have happened at the Oscars this year was towards the end of the show when "La La Land" was announced to have won the 'Best Picture' award where it was actually won by "Moonlight". While presenting the award for 'Best Picture', Warren Beaty showed the envelope to Faye Dunaway who then screamed "La La Land". It was after the producers of "La La Land" had started their acceptance speech that Jordan Horowitz proclaimed there had been a mistake and the award was actually won by "Moonlight". The organizers of the show later apologized and explained that the presenters were given the wrong category envelope which is why the mistake happened. But a mistake of this caliber will take years to get over.
The surprising part of the show was the underwhelming number of awards "La La Land" received. With an astonishing 14 nominations, many were expecting it to break the record of "Titanic". However, "La La Land" failed to live up to that expectation and only won in 6 out of the 14 categories it was nominated in.
The winners of the other categories are as follows:
Best Animated Feature Film - Zootopia
Cinematography - Linus Sandgren (La La Land)
Costume Design - Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them)
Directing - Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Documentary (Feature) - O. J: Made In America
Documentary (Short) - The White Helmets
Film Editing - John Gilbert (Hackshaw Ridge)
Foreign Language Film - The Salesman
Makeup and Hairstyling - Alessandro Bertolazzi (Suicide Squad)
Music (Original Score) - La La Land
Music (Original Song) - City of Stars (La La Land)
Production Design - David Wasco (La La Land)
Short Film (Animated) - Piper
Short Film (Live Action) - Sing
Sound Editing - Sylvane Bellemare (Arrival)
Sound Mixing - Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright (Hackshaw Ridge)
Visual Effects - Robert Legato, Adam Valchez (The Jungle Book)
Writing - Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Writing (Original) - Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By The Sea)
By Amira Amin
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