5 Years Later: Did The Academy Get It Right?

When you think of the year 2018, it feels like a lifetime ago. The world was seemingly spinning on a different axis to what it is now. Hollywood was going through a transitional phase; the #MeToo movement was in full swing and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon were on the rise as alternatives to the cinema going experience. So let us look back and see how well the 91st Academy Awards has aged, for better or worse. 

The 91st Academy Awards took place on 24th February 2019 at the iconic Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. The host for the evening was….. no one. Comedian Kevin Hart’s departure from the role after old material using anti-gay language resurfaced on the internet meant that the show would go on without a host. This incident wasn’t even the only major blunder for the Academy in the lead up to the night. In an attempt to garner a larger TV audience, a new category was introduced, Best Popular Film. In a year where Marvel Studios released not one but two record-breaking blockbuster smash hits with Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, the new category was primed to nominate these films so audiences would tune in to watch their favourite superheroes walk away with a “major” award in their grasp. However, the category was swiftly scrapped after both fans and filmmakers alike criticized the idea of those nominated for Best Picture not also being popular with the general movie-going public. Audiences would naturally gravitate towards Best Picture nominees like The Favourite and Spike Lee’s, BlackKklansman, both grossing nearly $100 million respectively, not to mention the music juggernauts of the Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, and the 4th remake of A Star is Born starring A-listers Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Worse still, the heads of the Academy thought it would be a good idea to try shorten the ceremony by handing out some awards during commercial breaks. Predictably, this idea was also heavily condemned, this time more from the filmmakers themselves as major awards like Best Cinematography and Best Editing would be shunned from the live telecast. With all this drama happening in the build-up, who were the actual award winners at the end of the night and did the Academy get it right?

The Golden Quartet: (From left to right) Rami Malek, Olivia Colman, Regina King and Mahershala Ali

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

With the amount of branches hosting their own award ceremonies (BAFTAs, Director’s Guild Awards, Screen Actor Guild Awards, etc) in the weeks/months  leading to the Oscars, there’s often a sense of inevitability to the winners chosen for the Academy Award. Ali’s win as gifted classical piano player, Don Shirley, in Peter Farrelly’s Green Book, a Driving Miss Daisy in reverse (no pun intended) racial roles with Viggo Mortensen as Ali’s chaperone, is richly deserved. Coming off the back of his first win in the same category for Moonlight two years earlier, Ali has cemented himself as one of cinema’s best actors in the past decade. Aging screen legend, Sam Elliot, appeared as an early contender as Bradley Cooper’s teary-eyed older brother in A Star is Born but the momentum soon shifted to Ali and there’s no denying the win here.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Like Ali, Regina King was also heavily touted to take this one home for her work in If Beale Street Could Talk by Barry Jenkins although her awards campaign wasn’t as commanding. Bafflingly enough, she wasn’t nominated for either the SAG Award or the BAFTA. However, whenever she was nominated she won convincingly. Based on the beautiful words of acclaimed writer/activist James Baldwin, Beale Street allowed King to show off her full range as the loving but stern matriarch of a family on the verge of new life while also trying to take on the might of the flawed criminal justice system. This was her first nomination after a solid almost thirty year career on film and she’s only gained more success since her win. The dual Favourite noms for both Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone respectively may have cancelled each other out if either were to pose a threat to King like was mentioned, if she was nominated she won.

Best Actress in a Leading Role - Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

While the two supporting categories seemed all but wrapped up before their names were even called out, this year’s most hotly contested category was Best Actress. The award looked like it would be between first-time nominee Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) and acting veteren, Glenn Close (The Wife), still vying for her first golden statue after being nominated for the seventh time. Academy voters have a precedent of awarding acting ingenues for their first nominations in this category (think Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday or Emma Stone for La La Land) so the odds were in Gaga’s favour, playing an singing ingenue herself in the world of A Star is Born. Close, on the other hand, had just won the SAG Award for her portrayal of an overlooked writer in the presence of her acclaimed husband. Maybe this would be a case of, “it’s your time”, for a career’s worth of past performances. In the end, it would be Olivia Colman’s stunning performance as the ludicrously wild Queen Anne that snatched her the win. “This is hilarious”, cried a visibly shocked Colman, herself a first-time nominee, and giving the best speech of the night along the way. Gaga already had her moment, winning Best Original Song for “Shallow” so she didn’t end the night empty handed. Close but no cigar for Glenn.

Jointly leading the nominations with ten apiece were Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite and Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma. The other nominees for Best Picture were BlackKklansman, Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star is Born, Vice and most significantly Black Panther. This was the first time a superhero movie had been nominated for the award as well as Netflix with Roma.