2020 Oscar Results

In the blink of an eye, another awards season's come and gone. This year's season was an abbreviated one, and I think that the shorter timeframe worked out nicely. Especially considering it resulted in some surprise major victories I'll touch on momentarily. So what'd I think? I was delighted with last night's Oscars. While I may not have personally agreed with every single winner, I felt every winner was still a deserving choice. Also, I think I really prefer the hostless Oscars. The ceremonies from the past two years have run smoothly without one, so I say keep it up!

As for the awards themselves, I'm going to list out the nominees, my predictions, what I was rooting for, and the actual winner with additional commentary for the major categories. I'll also include some images and videos of my favorite moments from the night where appropriate, so this is basically a cliff-notes for the Oscars if you didn't tune in. For the most part, things played out as expected, and I even correctly predicted 18 winners of the total 24 categories. 

2020 Oscar Results  

 

Best Picture

"1917"
"Ford v Ferrari"
"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
"Joker"
"Little Women"
"Marriage Story"
"Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"
"Parasite"

Predicted Winner: "1917"
My Choice: "Marriage Story," "Parasite," or "1917" 

Actual winner: "Parasite"

Man, oh man, was I happy when Jane Fonda said Parasite. This is a historic win that will introduce so many people to a phenomenal foreign film. I'm hoping this encourages audiences to watch more international films and helps eliminate the stigma surrounding them. So what makes this win so special? Parasite is the first foreign language film to win Best Picture. The Oscar ceremony is intended to recognize the best of cinema but has only ever awarded English-language productions with its greatest distinction. Roma came very close to this historic win but didn't quite get there. Parasite broke the barrier because it was a universally acclaimed film. I've seriously yet to encounter anyone who's watched the film and genuinely disliked it. Therefore, it ranked well on Academy voter's preferential ballots and won the big prize. 

Best Director

Bong Joon-Ho, "Parasite"
Martin Scorsese, "The Irishman"
Quentin Tarantino, "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"
Sam Mendes, "1917"
Todd Phillips, "Joker"

Predicted Winner: Sam Mendes, "1917"
My Choice: Bong Joon-Ho, "Parasite"

Actual winner: Bong Joon-Ho, "Parasite"

This was, without a doubt, the biggest surprise of the night. Sam Mendes seemed like a lock for 1917 because it was the "showier direction," and he'd won all the precursors, but the passion for Parasite pushed Bong to a Best Director win. Bong's been an absolute joy to follow this awards season, and Parasite's such a terrific movie that I'm ecstatic to see him recognized for directing as well as writing and producing. This lead to my favorite moment of the night when Bong acknowledged his fellow nominees. It was especially cool to see him shout out Scorsese, one of his biggest influences, and Tarantino, who’s always championed his work. You can watch his acceptance speech below!

Best Actor

Adam Driver, "Marriage Story"
Antonio Banderas, "Pain and Glory"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker"
Jonathan Pryce, "The Two Popes"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"

Predicted Winner: Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker"
My Choice: Adam Driver, "Marriage Story"

Actual winner: Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker"

Everyone foresaw this, but I'm still glad Phoenix finally won an Oscar. I may not have been personally rooting for him, but his performance was unreal. It was also very sweet when he honored his late brother, River Phoenix.

Best Actress

Charlize Theron, "Bombshell"
Cynthia Erivo, "Harriet"
Renée Zellweger, "Judy"
Saoirse Ronan, "Little Women"
Scarlett Johansson, "Marriage Story"

Predicted Winner: Renée Zellweger, "Judy"
My Choice: Saoirse Ronan, "Little Women" or Scarlett Johansson, "Marriage Story"

Actual winner: Renée Zellweger, "Judy"

A commonality in the acting categories is that they were very predictable this year. Zellweger received her second Oscar and then rambled for what felt like forever in her speech. She gave a good performance in an adequate biopic.

Best Supporting Actor

Al Pacino, "The Irishman"
Anthony Hopkins, "The Two Popes"
Brad Pitt, "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"
Joe Pesci, "The Irishman"
Tom Hanks, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"

Predicted Winner: Brad Pitt, "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"
My Choice: Brad Pitt "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood" or Joe Pesci, "The Irishman"

Actual winner: Brad Pitt, "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"

Supporting performances in Tarantino's films tend to garner plenty of recognition, and this was no different. A well-deserved win. I liked that Pitt used his speech to acknowledge that the Academy should recognize stunt work considering he played a stunt man. Here's hoping they take note and add the category soon because it's long overdue!

Best Supporting Actress

Florence Pugh, "Little Women"
Kathy Bates, "Richard Jewell"
Laura Dern, "Marriage Story"
Margot Robbie, "Bombshell"
Scarlett Johansson, "Jojo Rabbit"

Predicted Winner: Laura Dern, "Marriage Story"
My Choice: Margot Robbie, "Bombshell," or Scarlett Johansson, "Jojo Rabbit"

Actual winner: Laura Dern, "Marriage Story"

Not the performance from Marriage Story I personally would award, but a solid one from Dern regardless.

Best Original Screenplay

"1917"
"Knives Out"
"Marriage Story"
"Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"
"Parasite"

Predicted Winner:  "Parasite"
My Choice: "Marriage Story"

Actual winner: "Parasite"

The standing ovation for Bong here clued me into the possibility it might win Best Picture because that also happened at the SAG Awards where the film won Best Ensemble Cast. Even then, I remained skeptical it would prevail and seriously doubted the possibility of a Best Director upset. Again, I was excited to see another win for Parasite.

Standing ovation for Parasite 👀 remember last time that happened?

— David Weiser (@weiser_david) February 10, 2020

Best Adapted Screenplay

"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
"Joker"
"Little Women"
"The Two Popes"

Predicted Winner: "Jojo Rabbit"
My Choice: "The Irishman"

Actual winner: "Jojo Rabbit"

Academy Award winner Taika Waititi has a nice ring to it. I loved Jojo Rabbit, so naturally, I'm happy about this.

#JojoRabbit's Archie Yates cheers Taika Waititi at the #Oscars pic.twitter.com/ow9gbYj2QB

— Variety (@Variety) February 10, 2020

Best Film Editing

"Ford v Ferrari"
"The Irishman"

"Jojo Rabbit"

"Joker"

"Parasite"

Predicted Winner: "Ford v Ferrari"
My Choice: "Ford v Ferrari" or "Parasite"

Actual winner: "Ford v Ferrari"

While well-deserved, I became worried about Parasite's Best Picture chances when it was announced. However, it turns out the Academy just wanted to spread the love. Every Best Picture nominee, except The Irishman, won at least one Oscar. It's still a bummer that it was tied for the second most nominations at 10 and walked away with nothing.

Best Cinematography

"1917"
"The Irishman"
"Joker"
"The Lighthouse"
"Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"

Predicted Winner: "1917"
My Choice: "1917"

Actual winner: "1917"

It was awesome to see Roger Deakins secure his second Oscar. He's one of the greatest working cinematographers, and his work in 1917 is the lynchpin of the entire production, so this seemed like a no brainer.

Best Costume Design

"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
"Joker"
"Little Women"
"Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"

Predicted Winner: "Little Women"
My Choice: "Little Women" or "Jojo Rabbit"

Actual winner: "Little Women"

Well, I'm glad that Little Women won something.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

"1917"
"Bombshell"
"Joker"
"Judy"
"Maleficent: Mistress of Evil"

Predicted Winner: "Bombshell"
My Choice: "Bombshell"

Actual winner: "Bombshell"

I'll reiterate my Vice commentary. Water is wet. I did not picture this playing out any differently.

Best Production Design

"1917"
"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
"Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"
"Parasite"

Predicted Winner: "1917"
My Choice: "1917"

Actual winner: "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"

I figured 1917 would sweep the tech categories, but I probably overestimated the Academy's appreciation for it. Considering Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood's remarkable recreations of 1969 Los Angeles, I'm content with this.

Best Visual Effects

"1917"
"Avengers: Endgame"
"The Irishman"
"The Lion King"
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

Predicted Winner: "1917"
My Choice: "1917," "The Irishman," or "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

Actual winner: "1917"

This makes total sense considering 1917's effects were the least noticeable.

Best Sound Editing

"1917"
"Ford v Ferrari"
"Joker"
"Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

Predicted Winner: "1917"
My Choice: "1917" or "Ford v Ferrari"

Actual winner: "Ford v Ferrari"

Vroom vroom.

Best Sound Mixing

"1917"
"Ad Astra"
"Ford v Ferrari"
"Joker"
"Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood"

Predicted Winner: "1917"
My Choice: "Ford v Ferrari"

Actual winner: "1917"

I figured Sound Editing and Sound Mixing would go to the same film, but there was a split here, so that took me by surprise. This category was one of my first missed predictions of the night.

Best Original Song

"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from "Toy Story 4"
"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman"
"I'm Standing With You" from "Breakthrough"
"Into The Unknown" from "Frozen II"
"Stand Up" from "Harriet"

Predicted Winner: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman"
My Choice: "Into The Unknown" from "Frozen II"

Actual winner: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman"

It was nice to see Rocketman win something since it was snubbed in the other categories. 

Best Original Score

"1917"
"Joker"
"Little Women"
"Marriage Story"
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

Predicted Winner: "Joker"
My Choice: I honestly couldn't choose a favorite between these

Actual winner: "Joker"

This was another historic win for the night as Hildur Guðnadóttir is the first solo female composer to win the Oscar for Best Original Score. And as you can see in the video below, the auditorium took note of that via a standing ovation. She's such a gifted musician, she gave a beautiful speech, and I can't wait to hear what she composes next!

Best Animated Feature

"How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"
"I Lost My Body"
"Klaus"
"Missing Link"
"Toy Story 4"

Predicted Winner: "Klaus"

My Choice: "How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"

Actual winner: "Toy Story 4"

Pixar strikes yet again. I thought the Academy was fed up with Disney, so I bet against them, but I was wrong. Against all the odds, Toy Story 4 managed to be a worthwhile continuation of the franchise, and it was justly rewarded. Though, it's a shame the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy went Oscarless like the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy.

Best International Feature Film

"Corpus Christi"
"Honeyland"
"Les Misérables"
"Pain and Glory"
"Parasite"

Predicted Winner: "Parasite"

My Choice: "Parasite"

Actual winner: "Parasite"

I wish I'd seen more of the others aside from Pain and Glory, but I was happy to see Parasite win here.

Best Documentary Feature

"American Factory"
"The Cave"
"The Edge of Democracy"
"For Sama"
"Honeyland"

Predicted Winner: "For Sama"

Actual winner: "American Factory"

Best Documentary, Short Subject

"In The Absence"
"Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're A Girl)"
"Life Overtakes Me"
"St. Louis Superman"
"Walk Run Cha-Cha"

Predicted Winner: "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're A Girl)"

Actual winner: "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're A Girl)"

Best Short Film, Live Action

"Brotherhood"
"Nefta Football Club"
"The Neighbors' Window"
"Saria"
"A Sister"

Predicted Winner: "The Neighbors' Window"

My Choice: "The Neighbors' Window"
Actual winner: "The Neighbors' Window"

For the first time, I watched two of the live-action shorts before the ceremony. It just so happened that my favorite one of those two won. I'll embed the YouTube video below if you want to check it out!

Best Short Film, Animated

"Dcera (Daughter)"

"Hair Love"

"Kitbull"

"Memorable"

"Sister"

Predicted Winner: "Hair Love"

My Choice: "Hair Love"
Actual winner: "Hair Love"

Similarly, I crammed all five of the Best Animated Short films the night before the ceremony for the first time. Hair Love also happened to be my favorite one of those I watched. I'll embed that below for those who want to view it.