The Academy Awards aired last night. I didn’t watch it, but I was catching up with the winners throughout the night on social media, and it did appear that Steven Soderbergh brought a nice, intimate vibe with the ceremony, which was nice to see in the handful of clips that I saw. I also got a a few of my predictions wrong, though for some, they were a close second choice anyway. But before I get into my overall thoughts on the winners, here’s a list of them, in case you missed the program.

 

Best Picture: “Nomadland” (Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”)

Best International Feature Film: “Another Round” (Denmark)

Best Adapted Screenplay: “The Father,” Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

Best Original Screenplay: “Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell

Best Film Editing: “Sound of Metal,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Best Cinematography: “Mank,” Erik Messerschmidt

Best Production Design: “Mank.” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale

Best Original Song: “Fight for You,” (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas

Best Original Score: “Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste

Best Sound: “Sound of Metal,” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

Best Costume Design: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ann Roth

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson

Best Visual Effects: “Tenet,” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

Best Documentary Feature: “My Octopus Teacher,” Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster

Best Documentary Short Subject: “Colette,” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard

Best Animated Feature Film: “Soul” (Pixar)

Best Animated Short Film: “If Anything Happens I Love You” (Netflix)

Best Live-Action Short Film: “Two Distant Strangers”

 

There’s no major surprises here except arguably the two leading performance categories. While Frances McDormand would’ve been my second choice prediction (I thought Carey Mulligan would take it), I figured her performance was too subtle for the Academy. And with Anthony Hopkins, he would have been my personal pick regardless, but I assumed Chadwick Boseman would get the Heath Ledger treatment, it felt so guaranteed leading up to the show, and since they ended with that category, I assumed the folks involved in putting the show together thought the same as well. That is a shame considering it would have been a nice way to end the night, and add a nice bow to his legacy as an actor and figure.

Once it was all said and done, there wasn’t any winner that I was actively disappointed or annoyed with, but full disclosure, I have not seen My Octopus Teacher, and I fully intend on living in ignorance of that because I’m sure I will be annoyed once I do. With the exception of perhaps Yuh-Jung Youn, most of these winners fall in line with what the Academy usually goes for in picking winners. That’s not to say any of these folks weren’t deserving. I did like most of these films, a number of them ended up on my 50 Films I Loved In 2020 list, and you can expect The Father to end up in my 2021 list. Personally, I would have wanted to see Minari get more love, as that would probably be my number one film of 2020, if I were to rank. And I’m still disappointed that Delroy Lindo didn’t get nominated (if anyone deserved a win over Hopkins, it would be Lindo). However, like I said when the nominations were first announced, I wish that the Academy took the opportunity that came with so many films being moved to embrace films that otherwise would have struggled to get the attention of award shows like this in a normal year. Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way, and I’m sure things will go back to something much closer to normal at the next ceremony.

Oh, well. Congrats to the winners, and let’s hope for a more interesting set of nominations come next year when all the movies that were pushed back are now dealing with more competition. I’m sure that will be fun to witness.