2020 Oscars Recap

For movie buffs everywhere, Oscar season is one of the most exciting times of the year. You get to watch as many of the contenders as you can, debate with your friends about who the winner should be, and talk about how wrong the awards got it afterwards. All went according to plan… except for one aspect. People are… happy with the results? I, for one, was certainly thrilled with the winners. Let’s discuss!

I’ll start by talking about the monumental accomplishment of Bong Joon Ho and Parasite. Of the best picture nominees that I watched, Parasite was most definitely my favorite of the bunch. It was suspenseful, funny, and artfully directed. On top of that, the entire cast put in an excellent performance. With that being said, I was both stunned and overjoyed to see the Korean film clean up the competition! The film winning best international film was a stone-cold lock. The other categories, however, not so much.

I certainly hoped it would win some of the top awards, but my faith in the academy was not as strong. This was the same academy we watched reward Green Book over Roma the previous year. Maybe the academy has turned a new leaf in 2020, because they chose right this year.  Against the heavy favorites 1917 and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Parasite won the night by taking home best Picture, best original screenplay, and the best director for Bong Joon Ho.

It was a historic night on all accounts. First of all, it was the first foreign language film to win best feature. It was also the first movie to win both best picture at the academy awards and the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival since 1955. The most unbelievable of all was Bong Joon Ho winning 4 Oscars in one night, which tied the all-time record set by Walt Disney in 1953!

To recap the rest of the night, Joaquim Phoenix took home best actor for his incredible performance in Joker. Without him, the movie would not have been nearly as good. Renée Zellweger won for best actress in Judy. I saw this movie, and her performance was the only thing to take away from it. This was the only award that went towards a movie that I thought wasn’t particularly great. Brad Pitt won best supporting actor for his performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. Laura Dern took home best supporting actress for her role in Marriage Story, which I have yet to see but have heard good things about.

The show itself once again went without a host, which I think went smoothly. Steve Martin and Chris Rock were great in the beginning, and strong appearances from other celebrities continued. While I don’t dislike this format, I would not mind a return of a full host next time. I was not too thrilled with the quantity of musical performances, although seeing Eminem perform "Lose Yourself" was a thrill.

Ultimately, this was the best Oscars in years. It was a strong year for movies, and the nominees reflected that. There weren’t many “why is this movie here” nominees like there was last year, and most of the great movies ended up winning a few awards. Of course, Parasite being the big winner topped the whole thing off.

It remains to be seen if this year’s awards will signify a change going forward in terms of whether they will reward more diverse filmmakers or if this will be a one-off year. No matter what, we can all celebrate this incredible achievement.

If there’s one thing I hope that happens from Parasite winning, it’s that less people are turned off by subtitles and venture out into a whole world of movies. I’ve enjoyed movies in different languages for years, and some have even joined my favorites like Pan’s Labyrinth. International cinema really brings a lot of great ideas and performances to the table, and I really do hope that more people become exposed to it and find more movies to enjoy!