The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Ugly of the 93rd Academy Awards

The longest awards season in living memory is finally over, and let’s hope we never live to see an exhaustively long season like it ever again. While most of the night went according to plan, we were still served a few upsets and surprises to spice up proceedings. But it all wrapped up with one of the most baffling and anti-climactic conclusions to an Oscar ceremony we will ever see.

As Frances McDormand famously proclaimed during her 2018 Best Actress speech, “I’ve got some things to say,” so let’s take a closer look at everything that went down with the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of the 93rd Academy Awards.

THE GOOD

Chloé, Frances, and Nomadland. The Best Picture victory of Nomadland was all but predestined this year, but it was still a great thrill to see it win, even if the announcement didn’t arrive at the conclusion of the ceremony (we’ll get to that). It’s the first dual Best Picture/Best Actress since Million Dollar Baby in 2004 and the fourth victory by Searchlight Pictures in the last eight years. It’s only the second film directed by a female filmmaker to win Best Picture and the second consecutive winner from a producer of Asian descent.

Zhao’s victory in Best Director made her the first woman of colour to win this category, the first female winner of Asian descent, and only the second female winner overall. McDormand’s third Best Actress win and her victory as one of the producers of Nomadland make her the most awarded living actress in Oscars history and the first person to win Best Actress and Best Picture for the same film.

While Nomadland couldn’t quite sweep the awards, it made history in more ways than one. Coupled with the victory of Parasite last year, its win could potentially herald a new age for the Academy Awards.

They spread the wealth. With seven of the eight Best Picture nominees walking away with at least one award and six films winning two awards, it was clear Academy members sought to acknowledge individual achievement this year and not fall into the old trap of allowing one film to sweep everything. Of course, that may be a sign there just wasn’t one singular film that could do that this year (frankly, I don’t think there ever will be again), but it’s always more enjoyable to see numerous films acknowledged.

The new location. While the reason for its existence was purely for safety reasons, Union Station proved to be a wonderfully intimate setting for this year’s ceremony and a refreshing change from the elaborate Dolby Theatre. The fact they were able to create such a beautiful vintage set in the middle of a train station is some sort of miracle and the entire ceremony felt like a throwback to the early Oscars which were more of an awards dinner than a lavish show.

Of course, we all missed the huge crowd and the rapturous applause they often erupt into. But, given the circumstances, they did the best they could and it was far more enjoyable than the awkward Zoom ceremonies we’ve suffered through the past few months.

They let the winners speak. Without the performances of the Best Original Song nominees (we’ll get there too) and no host to eat up time with goofy skits or an extended monologue, it was clear producers Steven Soderbergh, Jesse Collins, and Stacey Sher made the conscious decision to allow winners more time for their acceptance speeches than previous years. While a few did awkwardly ramble on, we were gifted with several beautiful moments that may have been cut off by the orchestra in the past.

Another Round director Thomas Vinterberg paid tribute to his late daughter. Daniel Kaluuya hilariously thanked his parents for having sex (his mother’s reaction was pure gold). And Yuh-jung Youn stole the show by gushing over Brad Pitt and expressing her displeasure with competitive awards. Winning an Academy Award is likely the biggest moment in anyone’s career. They should always be allowed their moment in the sun and it was wonderful to see them handed that this year.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom makes history. With her win for Best Costume Design, Ann Roth is now the oldest female winner in the history of the Oscars and the second oldest winner overall. Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson are the first Black women to win for Best Makeup and Hairstyling and it’s the first film with a predominantly Black cast to win this category.

Anthony Hopkins also makes history. With his upset win for Best Actor, Hopkins became the oldest winner of an Academy Award for acting, ending the late Christopher Plummer’s reign. With 29 years between his wins for The Silence of the Lambs and The Father, it’s also the longest gap between Best Actor wins in Oscars history.

Glenn Close and “Da Butt.” What began as a nauseatingly pointless skit centred on Oscars music trivia was first rescued by Andra Day, who blurted out it was “some bullshit” (this aired unedited in Australia, but I believe the audio was cut in the U.S. broadcast) Prince didn’t win Best Original Song for “Purple Rain.” But the entire sketch was saved by Close, who knew far more than anyone expected about E.U.’s “Da Butt” from Spike Lee’s School Daze and stood up and essentially twerked in her booth to the track. The whole thing was clearly scripted, but her total commitment to the bit was fabulous. Can she win an Oscar for that next year?

Sound of Metal wins Best Film Editing. Holy smokes, you’re telling me the best film editing actually won and not just the film with the “most” editing? Who would have thought?!

Yuh-jung Youn. Enough said.

THE BAD

The lack of nominee clips. In one of several confounding decisions with this ceremony, the producers did away with showing clips of the nominated work in almost all categories and had presenters spout tidbits about the nominees or just simply describe their work. While this may have occasionally added a nice personal touch, it robbed the audience of the chance to see what those nominees had actually achieved this year. That might be fine for those of us who see every nominated film and knew the nominated work intimately, but for the average viewer at home who’s seen just a handful of the selected films, it gave them absolutely no insight into why that person or film was being honoured.

No songs performed during the ceremony. For many Oscar watchers, one of the highlights each year is the performances of the Best Original Song nominees during the show. Sure, these can occasionally be a trainwreck, but think of stunning moments like Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga performing “Shallow” or John Legend and Common’s rendition of “Glory.” We didn’t get that this year. Well, you did if you watched the “In the Spotlight” preshow where the five performances were relegated to this year. I’m not sure about other countries outside the U.S., but this program did not air in Australia, so we weren’t given the luxury of tuning in early to catch the tracks performed live (though, ahem, I’m sure some of us did through unscrupulous methods).

Regardless, the songs always add a touch of entertainment to the show and provide a brief break from the awards. It felt odd not to have them this year. Sure, this was possibly due to the difficulties with safely staging musical performances during a live broadcast, but I hope this is a one-time occurrence we never see again. And, for the record, the show-stopping moment this year would have been “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, which you can enjoy here.

The In Memoriam segment. Hands down, this was one of the worst memorial segments we’ve ever seen. Stevie Wonder’s “As” is a terrific song and the sentiment of the lyrics are lovely, but the beat and the vibe of the track do not fit with an In Memoriam sequence. At all. In an unconscionable decision that borders on disrespect, the editing of the segment often matched the pacing of the song, meaning numerous departed artisans were sped through with breakneck speed, making it all but impossible to read their names or give them the respect they deserve. The construction was so haphazard, it robbed the moment of the deep emotions it usually elicits.

Glenn Close, eight-time loser. We knew it would happen, but Close now ties Peter O’Toole for the most Oscar acting nominations without a win. Is she headed for a consolation honorary Oscar someday like O’Toole? Or will the ninth time be the charm? Best start prepping that Sunset Boulevard adaptation immediately.

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY

The biggest anti-climax in Oscars history. In a stunningly stupid move that sent Film Twitter into an absolute meltdown, Best Picture was not the final award of the evening. A tradition that has stood for several decades was shattered and the Nomadland team were denied the opportunity to end the ceremony on a high. Frankly, most of our heads were still spinning in confusion when Zhao, McDormand, and co. took to the stage that we didn’t fully appreciate or enjoy their victory. To be honest, I’m still in a dazed stupor over this genuinely bizarre decision. But the presumed reason behind it is far more offensive and disgraceful.

For much of awards season, it was all but certain the late Chadwick Boseman would be winning Best Actor for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He’d won the Golden Globe, the Critics Choice Award, and the SAG Award. His performance was critically adored. Everyone wanted to see the departed star be rewarded for his spectacular final turn. And the producers clearly wanted to disgracefully milk that moment for all they could by saving the award for last. Boy, did it blow up in their faces when Anthony Hopkins won.

The producers are not aware of the winners, so they took a gamble on this category shuffle. Given they were well aware Hopkins would not be in attendance at the ceremony in Los Angeles or the satellite hubs in the UK, they made a huge risk in placing this category right at the end. An upset win for Hopkins would mean the final award of the evening would not be followed by an acceptance speech. And that’s precisely what happened. Besides the painful disappointment of Boseman’s loss, it ended the evening on a decidedly flat note that left viewers numb for numerous reasons.

Let me be clear in stating this is not Hopkins’ fault in the slightest. At 83 years of age and after the career he’s had, the man has every right to decline leaving his home in Wales in the middle of a deadly pandemic to collect an award he already won 29 years ago. Plus the announcement took place around 4am London time, so you can understand why he preferred to be in bed. As anyone who has seen The Father will attest, his victory was entirely deserved. That performance is one of the greatest you will ever see and the Academy made a great decision in rewarding it thusly.

But the way it was presented was an absolute travesty to both Hopkins and Boseman. The former is now being vilified for “not bothering to show up” and for daring to win an award over a beloved icon who will never have the chance to win again. The latter was not only denied the chance for a deserving tribute, his tragic death was shamefully exploited for a cheap stunt that failed spectacularly. Boseman’s surprise loss would have been far more palatable had it taken place anywhere else in the ceremony. But to stick Best Actor at the conclusion of the show and court disaster by virtue of an upset win by someone who wasn’t there is one of the most confoundingly idiotic decisions in Oscars history.

If Boseman had won, it would have been a highly emotional moment regardless of when it took place in the ceremony. Why did the producers need this to occur at the very end? Was it just a ratings stunt to ensure viewers watched the entire show? Would it not have been wiser to place it earlier in the evening to avoid disaster if Boseman lost or allow audiences to recover after he won and finish the evening on a glorious high with a Best Picture win for Nomadland? Naturally, this is irrelevant, as they didn’t get their wish for an emotion-charged finale. But it’s staggering they ever thought this was a good idea in any conceivable way.

We should be celebrating Zhao becoming the second female in history to win Best Director and her film winning Best Picture. We should be praising Hopkins’ performance and remembering the impeccable legacy Boseman leaves behind. We should be rejoicing at an Oscars ceremony we thought may be relegated to Zoom. We should be thrilled at a wonderful selection of winners from all across the spectrum of filmmaking. Instead, we’re left in a state of utter confusion, anger, and disappointment at the pathetic, sloppy mess that was the final moments of this year’s Academy Awards.