This past Sunday was the biggest night for filmmakers; the 89th Academy Awards came with many surprises. This year’s host was Jimmy Kimmel who brought his late night comedic bits and charm which made this year’s Oscars feel memorable. From dropping candy from the celling of the Dolby Theater to having tourist ‘crash’ the Oscars to having Nominated Actors read mean tweets about themselves, just some of the night’s best moments.
The opening number, Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling, which was nominated for best original song was a lively way to start off this year’s ceremony. John Legend’s performance of ‘City of Stars’ and ‘Audition Song (Fools Who Dream)’ was breath taking. Even though ‘You’re Welcome’ from Moana was not nominated for best original song, the audience was treated to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson singing just a line of the song before introducing the fan favorite ‘How Far I’ll Go’ by Auli’i Cravalho, with a rap intro by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a song writer for Moana. Auli’i Cravalho’s performance was incredible, the ribbon twirlers behind her really gave a visual of the ocean waves moving just like the movie.
There were no big winners or losers, every film nominated had their chance to shine. Most of the nine films that were nominated for best picture went home with an Oscar in one way or another. The fan Favorite La La Land walked away with 6 awards from their record breaking 14 nominations. The director of La La Land, Damien Chazelle, made history by being the youngest recipient of best director at the age of 32.
The theme of this year’s Academy awards was inspiration. Throughout the ceremony artist brought out the person that inspired them inspiration. Javier Bardem brought to the stage Meryl Streep to present Best Cinematography, Charlize Theron brought Shirley MacLaine to present the best foreign language film, but the best moment was Seth Rogen and Michel J. Fox who came out of the DeLorean to a standing ovation given to Fox for his continuing battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Accepting speeches can drag on at times but this years winners had speeches that moved audiences to tears. Viola Davis and Emma Stone, winners of the best supporting actress and best lead actress respectively, gave such heartfelt thank you’s that audiences could not resist but shed a tear. Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, winners of the Best adapted screenplay for “Moonlight”, gave such an empowered speech directed toward the LGBQT community and dedicated their , “For all you people out there who feel there is no mirror for you, that you feel your life is not reflected, the Academy has your back, …we have your back, and for the next four years … we will not forget you,” Jenkins said.
Over all, this years Oscars were Fantastic. From Jimmy Kimmel hosting and the musical performances to the special presenters and acceptance speeches, the 89th Academy Awards was a perfect celebration of the year in film.
The only mix up of the night came when it was time to announce best picture. The presenter was handed a wrong envelope, and mistakenly announced “La La Land”, while the award actually went to “moonlight”.