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The Spotlight team wins Best Picture |
Things started relatively well when host Chris Rock began by jumping straight in to the controversy about the all-white slate of acting nominees. He roasted folks on both sides of the argument by calling out Hollywood for its casual racism and nudging Jada Pinkett Smith for her boycott by saying that she’s in TV and probably wouldn’t have been invited anyways. (Will Smith was also the subject of a few good zingers.) His monologue also acknowledged the possibility that the outrage might have been an overreaction, but the string of jokes, which mostly earned hearty laughs, respected people who felt slighted by the alleged whitewashing.
However, as his jokes continued, the absence of black
nominees essentially fueled all of his material. This choice highlighted an
ongoing problem in the #OscarsSoWhite outrage: the conversation for inclusion
has excluded Asian, Latino, LGBTQ, and other actors from the conversation.
Diversity isn’t a black and white issue, and for all the jokes that landed last
night, the conversation felt awfully simplified. Iñárritu made a great point
about opportunity in which speech, as did a member of the Mad Max team, proving some diversity among the winners.
Less amusing was a bit in which Rock highlighted the absence
of Straight Outta Compton by going to
a movie theatre in Compton and interviewing black moviegoers about the Best
Picture nominees. Rock made a fair point about a disconnect between audiences
and Academy members, but he did so by belittling nominees like Spotlight and Bridge of Spies. More often than not, however, he handled things
with the right tone, but the best laugh of the night went to a moviegoer who
called Angelina Jolie Pitt’s critically reviled By the Sea the best “white people movie” of 2015.
Otherwise, the unpredictable year for Oscars held true to
things being up in the air. Mad Max: Fury
Road dominated the technical awards as expected, while The Revenant almost seemed likely to grab Best Picture after it
netted a third consecutive Oscar for Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubezki after Gravity and Birdman, and a win that let Leonardo DiCaprio claim the Oscar that
has long eluded him. A string of upset wins made for an exciting show,
beginning with the out-of-nowhere win for Ex
Machina in the Best Visual Effects category over heavy favourites like Star Wars and Mad Max. The right film won, since Ex Machina seamlessly integrated technology and performance.
Another big, but welcome, upset was in the Best Supporting
Actor race where Mark Rylance beat favourite Sylvester Stallone in a knockout.
Rylance’s subdued performance as a Russian spy in Bridge of Spies was one of the year’s best turns. Even better, his
win proved that a performance itself, and not a campaign, could still fuel a
victory. Stallone was largely tipped to win for the sentimental factor that
went with seeing him reprise his role as Rocky Balboa for (presumably) the last
time, but Rylance’s composed performance was a favourite from the outset and
had seemed to have cooled as the actor made fewer appearances on the campaign
trail.
#Oscars: Watch @LadyGaga perform 'Til It Happens to You', up for Best Original Song tonight https://t.co/cv45ZqaBaE https://t.co/dXWQvkAOvC— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 29, 2016
Less welcome was the upset of Sam Smith in the Best Original
Song category for Spectre’s ‘Writings
on the Wall.’ This win made ‘Wall’ the second song from a James Bond film to
win an Oscar (after Adele’s “Skyfall”) and even a die-hard fan must admit that
this song is one of the worst Bond themes ever. The win seemed especially surprising
after favourite Lady Gaga commanded the house with her chilling, if awkwardly staged, performance of ‘Til
It Happens to You’ from The Hunting
Ground in which fellow survivors of sexual abuse took the stage in
solidarity. This performance was a highlight of the night, as was The Weeknd’s sexy
rendition of ‘Earned It’ from Fifty
Shades of Grey.
Other highlights included Alicia Vikander’s win for The Danish Girl in which she netted Best Supporting Actress for the year’s
single best performance. Well done. It was also nice to see Ennio Morricone
finally win a competitive Oscar for his work composing the score for The Hateful Eight. And Kate Winslet’s joyful
reaction shot of Leo winning the Oscar was priceless.
Leo’s win and the other Oscars for The Revenant made a notable showing for Canada as several films
shot in Canada, co-produced by Canada, or made by Canadians took home Oscars.
Like the Alberta-shot Revenant, whose
brutally cold shoot probably cost it a few votes after a whiny campaign irked
everyone, the Toronto-shot Spotlight
did the maple leaf well. One of the highlights of the night, in my opinion, was
simply seeing Brooklyn and Room presented together as Best Picture
nominees. As the second and third Canadian co-productions to earn Best Picture nominations,
last night really was a great spotlight for Canadian film. American actress
Brie Larson, as expected, took home Best Actress for Room, while Canadian-Pakistani winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was a
mild but worthy upset in the Best Documentary Short Subject for A Girl in the River: The Price of
Forgiveness. The director’s inspiring acceptance speech was one of the most
genuine and effective moments of the night.
Equally inspiring was the strong showing for new independent
distributors. Spotlight’s win is the
first for relative newcomer Open Road, while aggressive boutique distributor
A24 nabbed wins for Room, Ex Machina, and doc Amy. For all the concerns about a stale environment, last night’s
awards acknowledged a large group of mavericks and innovators. Rewarding
talent, after all, is the point of the show.
The winners:
Best Picture:
Best Director:
Best Actor:
★ Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Best Actress:
★Brie Larson, Room
Best Supporting Actor:
Best Supporting Actress:
Best Original Screenplay:
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Best Documentary Feature:
★ Amy
Best Foreign Language Film:
★Son of Saul – Hungary
Best Animated Film:
Best Cinematography:
Best Film Editing:
Best Costumes:
Best Production Design:
Best Original Score:
Best Original Song:
Best Visual Effects:
Best Make-Up:
Best Animated Short
Best Live Action Short
Best Documentary Short
Picks for best dressed:
Best: The Big Short's Margot Robbie
Margot Robbie, golden goddess #Oscars pic.twitter.com/YGSy9fX2Tc— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 29, 2016
Runners-up
Brooklyn's Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Ronan says that she broke her finger last #oscars2016 nighthttp://natpo.st/1oRgZpj pic.twitter.com/Vqs2LMcEKb— National Post Arts (@nparts) February 28, 2016
Kate Winslet
"I told you'd I'd never let go." - Kate Winslet, probably. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/smu1SRjHMJ— Brice Sander (@bricesander) February 29, 2016
Rachel McAdams
Good luck to Toronto's own Rachel McAdams tonight, nominated in #TIFF15 film SPOTLIGHT. Looking very regal, Rachel! pic.twitter.com/PVUyWPu1aP— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) February 29, 2016