The Oscar ceremony promised to rock us last night and it didn’t disappoint! After a spell-binding performance of “We Will Rock You,” by Queen guitarist Brian May and Adam Lambert, standing in for the late Freddie Mercury, the 91st Academy Awards took off.
8 minutes into the show, Regina King was awarded Best Supporting Actress for her role in “If Beale Street Could Talk.” “I’m an example of what it looks like when support and love is poured into someone,” King said in her emotional acceptance speech. Mahershala Ali also snagged Best Supporting Actor for “Green Book,” making this the second time he has won this award.
Ruth E. Carter and Hannah Beachler became the first African-Americans to win in their categories (Best Costume Design and Best Production Design respectively), as well as the second and third black women to ever win non-acting Oscars. They both won for their work on the superhero film “Black Panther.”
Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director for the Netflix film “Roma,” which also walked away with Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography. This is Cuaron’s second Oscar victory after winning for “Gravity” in 2014.
The ceremony continued with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s heart-stopping rendition of the song “Shallow,” which won Best Original Song. Rami Malek won Best Actor for his portrayal of the legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This blockbuster was also awarded three sound awards. Best Actress was given to Olivia Coleman for her role as Queen Anne in “The Favourite,” a considerable upset given that everyone expected this award to go to Glenn Close for “The Wife.”
The night was rounded off by “Green Book” winning the coveted Best Picture, overcoming a luke-warm reception by critics and other setbacks. The New York Times writes, “by backing “Green Book,” voters slowed the ascendency of Netflix, which had been pushing ‘Roma.’”
From The Times:
In honoring “Green Book,” voters slowed the rise of Netflix, which had aggressively pushed “Roma” in the best-picture race. Netflix made significant inroads, however, with “Roma,” about a domestic worker in 1970s-era Mexico City, winning three Oscars, including best director and cinematographer for Alfonso Cuarón. (Netflix had previously received only one Oscar for a feature-length film.)
Green Book’s win wasn’t without controversy though.
