The 91st annual Academy Awards had its fair share of fireworks but it was a night of many firsts for the winners who took home the Oscars. “Green Book” was perhaps the biggest surprise on the night. The movie won the Oscar for Best Picture beating off strong candidates like “Roma”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and “A Star is Born.” It was also the first time in three decades that the Oscars didn’t have a host.
The show started with a concert-like performance led by Adam Lambert and the band Queen. The performance was then followed by a pseudo monologue that featured comedians Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph. There was also a passionate musical performance from Lady Gaga. But one thing that really remained constant was the voice of Bradley Cooper. He has been an announcer at the Oscars for the last ten years.
The 91st edition of the Oscars had a lot of diversity. The message was also captured in the acceptance speeches of all the winners who took home the awards. It was also the first time that the Oscar for the Best Costuming and Best Production went to African American nominees. Ruth Carter’s costuming for Black Panther defeated other nominees while Hannah Beachler was on hand to be the first person of color to win the Best Production Design award.
The award for the Best Foreign Film went to Roma. It was hardly a surprise though. The movie by Alfonso Cuaron was one of the front runners in the category.
Here’s the full list of winners. The Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role attracted five nominees and the award went to Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk.” As for the Best Documentary Feature award, it was really tight but in the end, "Free Solo" by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Evan Hayes, Jimmy Chin and Shannon Dill was honored with the award.
“Black Panther” took both the Achievement in Costume Design and Achievement in Production Design with Ruth Carter and Hannah Beachler winning the honors respectively. The movie “Roma” was also on hand to take home the Achievement in Cinematography award while John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone won the Achievement in Sound Editing award for their work in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Mahershala Ali in "Green Book" took home the Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role award while Rami Malek in "Bohemian Rhapsody" was honored by the Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role award. As for the Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role award, it was not a surprise to see Olivia Colman in "The Favourite" take it home. Alfonso Cuaron was also honored with an Achievement in Directing award for “Roma.”
The Best Motion Picture of the Year award surprisingly went to “Green Book.” The category attracted a total of eight films most of which were considered better placed to win than “Green Book.” But it was a night full of many surprises and this one indeed was the biggest. The film features Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga as its producers.
