Rami Malek, Olivia Colman, Regina King and Mahershala Ali at the 91st Annual Academy Awards
The 91st annual Academy Awards will go down in the history books for a number of reasons. For the first time in 30 years there was no host. “Green Book” took the best picture crown when just about everyone predicted that “Roma” would win. Olivia Colman scored the best actress award against all odds, when again, everyone thought Glenn Close was going to win, as she had swept every other industry honor leading up to the big night.
Rami Malek had done the same, and was awarded the best actor trophy for portraying Queen’s Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a film that a small but very vocal group of critics hated.
The two best supporting acting winners –Mahershala Ali and Regina King– were African-American and two black women, Ruth E. Carter and Hannah Beachler won costume design and production design statuettes, both for “Black Panther,” making them the first women of color to win in those categories.
Spike Lee nabbed his first-ever Oscar in the adapted screenplay category for co-writing “BlacKkKlansman.” He jumped into the arms of presenter Samuel L Jackson as he took the stage.
Alfonso Cuarón became the first person to ever win best director and best cinematography for the same film, “Roma,” which was first released in theaters before streaming on Netflix.
The road to the Oscars was filled with controversy, beginning with a quickly-nixed plan announced last summer to award a most popular film statuette. Then came the debacle with host Kevin Hart. Then there was the plan to perform only two of the five nominated songs, another concept that was quickly nixed – although only four were actually performed. The missteps culminated with the announcement that four awards including those for cinematography and makeup would be presented during commercial breaks, yet another plan that was reversed after loud outcry from prominent members of the Academy.
After all this, it was pleasantly surprising that the show went off without a hitch.
In lieu of a host, the musical numbers played an important role. Actor Keegan-Michael Key descended from the rafters of Hollywood’s Dolby Theater with a Mary Poppins-style umbrella in hand to introduce Bette Midler’s performance of “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns.” Jennifer Hudson performed Diane Warren’s “I”ll Fight” from the documentary “RBG” about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings dueted on “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.”
The ratings slide was stemmed from last year, but it was still the second lowest rated Academy Awards in history, with a little less than 30 million viewers tuning in to the three hour and 20 minute program.
Here are the winners:
Best Picture
Winner: Green Book
Best Director
Winner: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Best Actress
Winner: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Best Actor
Winner: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Best Original Song
Winner: Shallow — A Star Is Born
Best Original Score
Winner: Black Panther — Ludwig Goransson
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: BlacKkKlansman — Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Green Book — Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
Best Live Action Short Film
Winner: Skin
Best Visual Effects
Winner: First Man
Best Documentary — Short Subject
Winner: Period. End of Sentence
Best Animated Short Film
Winner: Bao
Best Animated Feature Film
Winner: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Film Editing
Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Roma — Mexico
Best Sound Mixing
Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Sound Editing
Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Cinematography
Winner: Roma
Best Production Design
Winner: Black Panther
Best Costume Design
Winner: Black Panther
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Winner: Vice
Best Documentary — Feature
Winner: Free Solo
