The Oscars, 2017
09:30
I really love awards season, for movies that is. Every year I see a handful of the nominated movies and see the rewards and recognition go to the people who did such a good job with these films at these events. I watched the Golden Globes and the BAFTA'S too, but the Oscars are where its at. And this year was no different.
I'll stay away from all the political nonsense because that isn't what platform my blog is, or what the Oscars should be, but hey ho. So, I'll start with the big mishap that saw 'La La Land' wrongfully be given the award for 'Best Picture,' which was meant to go to Barry Jenkins' masterpiece 'Moonlight.' 'Bonnie and Clyde' stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were allegedly given an envelope that read Emma Stone's win for 'Best Actress' for 'La La Land,' so with that I see the confusion... but it was revealed as the cast and crew for the hit musical swarmed the stage to collect their prize that the actual victor was 'Moonlight.' Yikes. Its quite embarrassing and sad for 'La La Land' and 'Moonlight' for the reason that one had their cast and crew excited and gleaming for their win up until the mistake was confirmed, and the latter had their special moment made not so special in the end. Sad times. But hey, Jimmy Kimmel was a good presenter, unlike the irritating Chris Rock from last year, so that's something!
So 'Moonlight' took home 'Best Picture' which, I'm very happy it won, as it was most definitely my favourite film nominated in this category and one of my favourites from last year. Mahershala Ali took home 'Best Supporting Actor' for his role in the film, which was well deserved, and was my pick for the winning along with Michael Shannon for 'Nocturnal Animals.' It won a third award for 'Best Adapted Screenplay' which again, was well deserved. 'Moonlight' was a truly breathtaking film. From the acting, the script, the direction and cinematography and its truly amazing story and structure, it's without a doubt a film I'd recommend to anyone. It's not usual that I'd enjoy a film like this so much, but Jenkins really touched my heart strings and created a work of brilliance with this one.
Then of course, 'La La Land' took home the awards for 'Best Actress,' 'Best Director,' 'Best Cinematography,' 'Best Production Design,' 'Best Score' and 'Best Song.' That's a good six awards out of fourteen nominations I believe, and that's really not bad at all. I very much enjoyed this one, Damien Chazelle really impressed me with his last film 'Whiplash' so I was exited for this, especially with my favourite actor Ryan Gosling being part of the cast. I'm not a massive musical fan but right after I saw it, I purchased the soundtrack straight away because of its originality, heart and warmth. The cinematography was truly remarkable, and whilst I think Mel Gibson, Barry Jenkins and Denis Villeneuve all deserved 'Best Director' just as much as Chazelle, he should truly be proud.
Now I didn't get to see all of the films that were nominated this year. I missed out on 'Manchester by the Sea,' 'Lion' and 'Fences' in particular which I wanted to see but missed. Congrats to Casey Affleck, who was given the award for 'Best Actor' and Viola Davis who won 'Best Supporting Actress.' 'Arrival' was one of my favourites in the technical side of things, that won the award for 'Best Sound Editing' which was something I adored about the film, and unfortunately lost out on the 'Best Sound Mixing' award which went to 'Hacksaw Ridge.' 'Zootopia' took home 'Best Animated Film' which I was very happy about, it was definitely a gem from last year and one I easily forget about, but it wholeheartedly deserved the award.
So if we're talking snubs, I'd say that Amy Adams not being nominated for 'Best Actress' for 'Arrival' is pretty upsetting. She's becoming a bit of a Leonardo DiCaprio it seems with her lack of Oscars and actual nominations for that matter, hopefully she can shine again and hopefully the academy will notice her talent a bit more closely next time. I'm sad that my second favourite film from last year, 'Nocturnal Animals' wasn't given nominations for 'Best Picture,' 'Best Adapted Screenplay' and 'Best Director' because those three catagories were really lacking the talent that Tom Ford and his team gave in this film, which I can't say a bad thing about. Amy Adams was in this too, and again, she was snubbed for an award. It's very sad that Martin Scorsese's passion project 'Silence' was only nominated for 'Best Cinematography' wish I think should have gotten more credit. Andrew Garfield, who was remarkable in 'Hacksaw Ridge' was also brilliant in this movie. In both movies he really helped the film stay memorable for me, a big factor of them I have to say. Whilst I haven't seen Affleck's performance which he won 'Best Actor' for, Garfield should have gotten two nominations of both of these films, or at least won for one of the other. I know that's not how it works, but he's truly an underrated actor.
Now before I end this blog, I've got to show my dismay for 'Suicide Squad' winning 'Best Make-Up and Hairstyling.' Like, seriously, really? I mean it wasn't terrible, I remember first seeing Killer Croc for the first time and being impressed, but looking back on it now he looked pretty awful in the movie. Enchantress had some good make-up too, as did Joker I guess, but did it really deserve it? I wasn't a massive fan of 'Star Trek Beyond' and didn't see 'A Man Called Ove' (the other two nominees) but from what I saw/have seen the make-up looks ten times as better! It's heart wrenching to say that 'Suicide Squad' has more Oscars than 'The Shawshank Redemption' or more than all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies... its sad to wake up to this new reality, and for myself, it'll be hard adjusting to this. *cries*
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