Disclaimer: I haven't watched all films nominated in all categories, but I have watched all the films nominated for Best Picture. So my view might be limited to only these films.
I'm so happy that Parasite won the 4 prestigious awards of the night, I so badly wanted Parasite to win but I wasn't expecting the Academy would vote for it. The Academy is usually considered to give brownie points for films made on themes like war, racism and especially issues concerning America. I would've been utterly disappointed if 1917 won these awards. Now, I have respect for the Academy for supporting cinematic brilliance. I'll discuss some categories;
Best Original Screenplay: Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won for Parasite.
For me, a strong contender behind Parasite was Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Quentin is known for writing unique dialogue and he writes movie screenplays like novels. His descriptions are solid, his screenplays are so interesting to read by themselves. But, screenplays aren't meant to be judged by how you feel reading them because the audience won't read screenplays, they'll just watch the film. The cast and crew of the film will read the screenplay and work on the movie. Screenplays can be judged on story and the structure of events and what they bring on the table in solidarity, which is where Once Upon a Time in Hollywood goes a step behind Parasite. In Parasite, most of the things you are in awe of about the movie can be found in the screenplay; the subtexts, the suspense, etc.
Best Director: Bong Joon Ho for Parasite.
The films nominated in this category other than 1917 and Joker, I think have strong directorial voices. You can't imagine someone else making these films; Bong Joon Ho, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino have their signature etched over in every frame of these films. They are auteurs. But, a director is not only about having his/her signature all over the film. Todd Phillips, what he did with Joker was path breaking, he brought together two different worlds, the world of Martin Scorsese and the world of comic book characters and created a masterpiece. But, the reason why Bong Joon Ho is my choice for this is he used every craft extensively to push storytelling; writing, editing, blocking and camera movements, production design, music, sound design. You can watch the film just to study one of these crafts individually and how it has been used in this film and you'll get to learn a lot from it. Parasite should be analysed and studied by film aspirants.
Best Actor in a leading role: Joaquin Phoenix for Joker.
This was obvious, although I haven't watched Pain and Glory yet. Some predictions had that performance over Joker, so that must have been something. It is not those scenes where there is a lot of physical energy involved, that is great acting but it is those scenes where you don't have much to do and all you have to do is absorb and react. Joaquin nailed both parts in Joker, he was passive in those scenes where he was bullied and he was brilliant in those scenes that when he is active and reacts it is so explosive. His character is dark, dangerous and yet feels empathetic which is why this film got such polarized views and carrying such performances, is not easy.
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for 1917.
This was obvious this year, but I have mixed feelings about this. The fact that the movie is conceived in a single take for a more fluid experience for the audience and for us to have a subjective view of the world around. When this is done for the first time in a mainstream film like Alejandro G. Innaritu did in Birdman, it can be appreciable but after that, only the fact that it is conceived in a single shot isn't enough for us to laud about the film or the cinematography. Apart from that, I haven't seen The Lighthouse and I found Joker to be visually strong in terms of the color palettes, lighting and the blocking.
Best Production Design: Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
My first choice was this for production design, although a strong contender was Parasite. Parasite used props, sets as storytelling devices; they visually establish the class divide that the whole films talks about. Production design was a crucial part in depicting the worlds of both the families. But, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the winner for this category because the whole film is about Hollywood back then and they recreate the life of LA back then, movie sets, movie theatres, scenes of TV shows and movies recreated and the whole vibe of the movie is carried by the production design and it is impossible for me to imagine the movie in a different setting.
Best Film Editing: Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland for Ford vs Ferrari
My first choice was Thelma Schoonmaker for The Irishman; her ability to establish a world and play around in it by cutting back and forth seamlessly is so fascinating. I didn't even observe that she does this until I watched Goodfellas more than once. The impact of her editing in Martin Scorsese's films is immense especially because of the techniques she uses like freeze frames, voice over, breaking the fourth wall; they can make or break a film because these techniques can be played around so much in the edit table. I recently watched a video essay on YouTube by Thomas Flight, they explained how editing in Ford vs Ferrari shapes our viewing of racing and after watching that I was okay with Ford vs Ferrari winning the Oscar for Best Editing because the whole film depends on how you feel while watching the race sequences.
Best Sound Editing: Donald Sylvester for Ford vs Ferrari
This was my first pick as well, I watched this film in 7.1 surround sound and I felt the races throughout. The sound design in this film, is such a crucial element of the storytelling. It was such an immersive experience, since the film is about the racing spirit it is important for us to feel and see like them. 1917 was also a strong contender in this; it won for Best Sound Mixing.
I don't know much about some crafts like VFX, costumes, hair and makeup other than just if they are looking good or not. I'm not sure how they judge these crafts, I'm thinking they must be judging based on how these crafts have been used in these films to push storytelling.
I'm so happy that Parasite won the 4 prestigious awards of the night, I so badly wanted Parasite to win but I wasn't expecting the Academy would vote for it. The Academy is usually considered to give brownie points for films made on themes like war, racism and especially issues concerning America. I would've been utterly disappointed if 1917 won these awards. Now, I have respect for the Academy for supporting cinematic brilliance. I'll discuss some categories;
Best Original Screenplay: Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won for Parasite.
For me, a strong contender behind Parasite was Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Quentin is known for writing unique dialogue and he writes movie screenplays like novels. His descriptions are solid, his screenplays are so interesting to read by themselves. But, screenplays aren't meant to be judged by how you feel reading them because the audience won't read screenplays, they'll just watch the film. The cast and crew of the film will read the screenplay and work on the movie. Screenplays can be judged on story and the structure of events and what they bring on the table in solidarity, which is where Once Upon a Time in Hollywood goes a step behind Parasite. In Parasite, most of the things you are in awe of about the movie can be found in the screenplay; the subtexts, the suspense, etc.
Best Director: Bong Joon Ho for Parasite.
The films nominated in this category other than 1917 and Joker, I think have strong directorial voices. You can't imagine someone else making these films; Bong Joon Ho, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino have their signature etched over in every frame of these films. They are auteurs. But, a director is not only about having his/her signature all over the film. Todd Phillips, what he did with Joker was path breaking, he brought together two different worlds, the world of Martin Scorsese and the world of comic book characters and created a masterpiece. But, the reason why Bong Joon Ho is my choice for this is he used every craft extensively to push storytelling; writing, editing, blocking and camera movements, production design, music, sound design. You can watch the film just to study one of these crafts individually and how it has been used in this film and you'll get to learn a lot from it. Parasite should be analysed and studied by film aspirants.
Best Actor in a leading role: Joaquin Phoenix for Joker.
This was obvious, although I haven't watched Pain and Glory yet. Some predictions had that performance over Joker, so that must have been something. It is not those scenes where there is a lot of physical energy involved, that is great acting but it is those scenes where you don't have much to do and all you have to do is absorb and react. Joaquin nailed both parts in Joker, he was passive in those scenes where he was bullied and he was brilliant in those scenes that when he is active and reacts it is so explosive. His character is dark, dangerous and yet feels empathetic which is why this film got such polarized views and carrying such performances, is not easy.
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for 1917.
This was obvious this year, but I have mixed feelings about this. The fact that the movie is conceived in a single take for a more fluid experience for the audience and for us to have a subjective view of the world around. When this is done for the first time in a mainstream film like Alejandro G. Innaritu did in Birdman, it can be appreciable but after that, only the fact that it is conceived in a single shot isn't enough for us to laud about the film or the cinematography. Apart from that, I haven't seen The Lighthouse and I found Joker to be visually strong in terms of the color palettes, lighting and the blocking.
Best Production Design: Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
My first choice was this for production design, although a strong contender was Parasite. Parasite used props, sets as storytelling devices; they visually establish the class divide that the whole films talks about. Production design was a crucial part in depicting the worlds of both the families. But, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the winner for this category because the whole film is about Hollywood back then and they recreate the life of LA back then, movie sets, movie theatres, scenes of TV shows and movies recreated and the whole vibe of the movie is carried by the production design and it is impossible for me to imagine the movie in a different setting.
Best Film Editing: Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland for Ford vs Ferrari
My first choice was Thelma Schoonmaker for The Irishman; her ability to establish a world and play around in it by cutting back and forth seamlessly is so fascinating. I didn't even observe that she does this until I watched Goodfellas more than once. The impact of her editing in Martin Scorsese's films is immense especially because of the techniques she uses like freeze frames, voice over, breaking the fourth wall; they can make or break a film because these techniques can be played around so much in the edit table. I recently watched a video essay on YouTube by Thomas Flight, they explained how editing in Ford vs Ferrari shapes our viewing of racing and after watching that I was okay with Ford vs Ferrari winning the Oscar for Best Editing because the whole film depends on how you feel while watching the race sequences.
Best Sound Editing: Donald Sylvester for Ford vs Ferrari
This was my first pick as well, I watched this film in 7.1 surround sound and I felt the races throughout. The sound design in this film, is such a crucial element of the storytelling. It was such an immersive experience, since the film is about the racing spirit it is important for us to feel and see like them. 1917 was also a strong contender in this; it won for Best Sound Mixing.
I don't know much about some crafts like VFX, costumes, hair and makeup other than just if they are looking good or not. I'm not sure how they judge these crafts, I'm thinking they must be judging based on how these crafts have been used in these films to push storytelling.
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