Held at Dolby Theatre, LA, 2020 Oscars started traditionally with performances from Sir Elton John, Randy Newman, Chrissy Metz, and Idina Menzel and AURORA.
The biggest surprise of the night was rapper Eminem’s performance of “Lose Yourself” from his 2002 movie 8 Mile that won him the Best Original Song Oscar in 2003. He also congratulated all winners and also Quentin Tarantino for putting his films on his list.
Best Picture – Parasite
Bong Joon Ho is one director whose movies end from where they begin. Parasite is no different from rest of his creations. Calling the movie as his “Stairway Movie”, the film explores all dimensions of class revolution on the ladder towards aspiration. Parasite talks about Ki-taek and his family who plan to be employed by members of a wealthy family by entering their household impersonating as highly qualified individuals. Parasite is the first Korean film and the third film to win the Palme d’Or.
Best Actress – Renée Zellweger, Judy
Rupert Gold, an English theatre director manages to create a fantasy like portrait of American singer and actress Judy Gardland. The film follows her career during the last years of her life when she relocated her career to Britain. After gaining some initial success, Garland’s stopped making success and worsen due to health issues. Renée Zellweger delivers her best performance in this biopic. This film truly belongs to her and not Gold. She is captivating as Gardland delivering a stupendous performance.
Best Actor – Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Isn’t this a perfect movie? Joaquin Phoenix delivers a performance of a lifetime in a psychological, dark and a disturbing thriller. Joker provides an insight into the life of an important DC character. The film is set in 1981, tells the story of Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian whose lineage into anarchism inspires a counter culture revolution in Gotham City. This movie is not for everyone. So love it or hate, Joker does present it tempting fantasy.
Best Director – Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
Known for movies like Okja, Snowpiercer and Memories of Murder, Ho has managed to get the necessary eyeballs with unique methods of combining genres, telling layered stories. Ho gained international fame with his second feature film, Memories of Murder. He is the first Korean director to win the Palme d’Or and the fifth Asian filmmaker to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. This year’s Oscars has been all about Ho gaining six Academy Award nominations. The movie won 4 statuettes and 2 new records.
Best Supporting Actor – Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Bringing romantic-comedy to the suffering of divorce, Noah Baumbach trails through the life of a married couple; one a stage director and other an actress going through a coast-to-coast divorce. With sharp dialogues, innuendos and disguised history, it’s sad it talks in regards to people falling apart rather than coming together. The film is Baumbach’s strongest films till date and Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver outshine their performance as a couple caught in this spiteful yet hilarious separation in this heartbreaker.
Best Supporting Actor – Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The movie can be called at by Quentin Tarantino love letter to Hollywood. The film is rather about the movie industry rather than about a family crime business, it is a work of art. Driven by a sense of nostalgia, the film is a tribute to the classic age of Hollywood movies and also the people responsible both on and off-screen. The film is a co-production between the United States and United Kingdom following an actor and his stunt double as they sail through the changing film industry.