Anna Bowman is a senior English and telecommunications major and writes 'Film Annalysis' for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Anna at aabowman@bsu.edu.
“The future belongs to the mad,” and apparently every Oscar ever belongs to Mad Max.
It swept the floor with every other (and oftentimes better) movie nominated, and I’m less than thrilled. Fury Road is right because I am irate. But I digress.
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Here’s a list of the pros and cons of this Oscars season:
Pros:
1.
No one avoided the race issue this year. It was the main focus, and while there were a few fumbles (Stacey Dash, I’m looking at you), it dealt with the lack of black nominees very gracefully. I think Chris Rock summed it up well (he did a surprisingly good job in general) at the end when he said, “I want to invite all of you to the BET awards this summer!” Plus, they had a black conductor in the pit. Although, they kept him beneath the stage, so I’m not sure how much of an improvement that was.
2.
Let’s face it; we’ve been waiting for this moment for two decades. Leo finally bagged an Oscar, and the world can rest easy. Was it a publicity stunt? Maybe. Do we care? The fact that he used his win to talk about the issues was just… so Leo. And he made some good points. Global warming would have saved Jack from drowning in the Atlantic, so I can understand why he was so “heated” while giving his speech.
3.
The “Best Picture” DIDN’T go to Mad Max. Although I would have wanted The Martian or The Big Short to take home that Oscar, Spotlight was good, too.
4.
The director of The Big Short got all political in his acceptance speech for “Best Writing Adapted Screenplay,” and it was glorious. In case you didn’t pick up on it when you watched his movie, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like big banks.
5.
I would have given Ex Machina all the Oscars plus my first-born child, so I may not be fair judge, but I really think it deserved its win for “Best Visual Effects.”
6.
A female director won in the “Best Documentary (Short subject)” category. She said, “This is what happens when determined women get together,” and every woman in the world shouted, “preach!”
7.
Sorry John Travolta, but the pre-pubescent kids who presented this year nailed every name. And they were completely adorable. When that kid said, “He’s the zebra — he’s hilarious,” about Chris Rock, my heart melted.
8.
The most star-struck I got all night was when C3PO, R2D2 and BB-8 took the stage. They killed it, and John Williams is the man. However, I’m glad Ennio Morricone won for “Best Original Music Score.” I didn’t mind waiting for him to slowly amble up to the stage after listening to his beautiful speech.
9.
I didn’t expect Joe Biden to be there. He said some very important things about consent, though, and it seamlessly led to “his friend” Lady Gaga’s flawless performance.
Cons:
1.
Mad Max winning at all, but more specifically, for costume design. Costume design…? I don’t know if I would go that far. They basically recycled pieces from Tom Hardy’s other film, The Dark Knight Rises. And when the designer got to the stage, I almost had a heart attack. Someone who wears a leather jacket with a bedazzled skull on the back should not be allowed in public, let alone at the Oscars.
2.
This year’s “In Memoriam” hit harder than ever before. I don’t want to talk about it. Except to say Dave Grohl was a poor choice to play the music for it. I don’t really have anything to back me up on that statement; I’ve just never been a big fan of The Foo Fighters or men who sing after chugging two gallons of straight up gravel.
3.
The rolling “thank you” credits were a brilliant idea, but they stopped about halfway through. Plus, a lot of the winners didn’t get the memo anyway (yes, Alejandro González Iñárritu, I’m talking to you. Just because you won “Best Director” two years in a row doesn’t mean you get double the air time.)
4.
The irony that the sound went out during the “Best of Sound Editing” award was not lost on me.
As you can see, there are clearly more pros than cons, so I’d chalk this Oscars show up to one of the best yet.
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