The 89th Academy Awards was hosted last Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in LA. Big names, big movies, and big mess-ups filled the night. Big Names included famous talk show host Jimmy Kimmel who served as emcee and Justin Timberlake who provided the on musical number for the event. JT blew me away with his performance of “Can’t Stop the Feeling”, which featured a surprise entrance and an amazing cover to Bill Wither’s “Lovely Day”.
When it came down to movies. The year’s best were mentioned and the greatest were deemed winners. Casey Affleck took home best actor for his role in “Manchester by the Sea”, a drama about an uncle taking care of his nephew after the young boy’s father dies. This took me by surprise, beating out Denzel Washington, “Fences”, and Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”, which were two very Oscar worthy performances. However, Emma Stone did land one golden award for “La La Land” by winning best actress for her role in the film, which should be no surprise. That win was very well deserved and well placed. “Zootopia” took home best animated picture. This film’s hysterical comedy won me over which starred Jason Bateman, also seen in “Horrible Bosses”, who’s sarcastic tone is always nothing but top notch. Coming in at Best Costume design, “Fantastic beasts and where to find them”, and seeing how the whole movie took place in the 50’s and had to incorporate constant magical elements and creatures this gets my vote as well. Going more into the behind-the-scenes section, “Suicide Squad” took home best Makeup and Hairstyling, this also served as an excellent choice and if you don’t agree just look up Jared Leto’s Joker performance and see if you don’t think differently then.
Coming back to the “main-squeeze” awards, one of the biggest mess ups of the night involved the biggest award. When it came time to announce the Oscar for Best Picture, “La La Land” cast and crew went up and presented prepared speeches only to come down to their seats empty handed. The award was meant for Moonlight! After an apology by Jordan Horowitz, a part of the “La La Land” crew, the Moonlight cast and crew came on stage to accept their award. Moonlight also took home best actor in a supporting role, Mahershala Ali, also seen in “Luke Cage”, won this Oscar for the film by playing a Cuban immigrant named Juan. Moonlight took a lot of the shine from the press and other critics because of the films unique plot. The film revolves around the growing pains of a gay African-American man who is discovering how to live in a rough neighborhood in the 80’s in Miami, Florida. The film is also one of the first all-star black casts to receive a best picture win that does not revolve around racism or slavery. The Academy is surely starting to change the way they view things. With Moonlight getting the win for best picture, it opens the movie industry to many creative ideas that would have gotten overlooked in the past.