The 88th Academy Awards on Feb. 28 were a microcosm of the entire crazy awards season that finally came to a close. There were more momentum shifts during the ceremony than in last year’s World Series.
After Chris Rock’s blistering and surprisingly brilliant monologue, Spotlight took home the award for Best Original Screenplay for director Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer. Just like in the actual awards season, the film about the Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal made a nearly statement but was rarely heard from again. The film didn’t win another award until the very, very last one of the night when Morgan Freeman announced it as the Best Picture of 2015.
Seeing as the ceremony was supposed to go in order of how films are made, Mad Max: Fury Road began a dominance that made it look like it could have won Best Picture. The epic road chase movie took home six awards, including the big Best Editing Oscar. It genuinely looked like the Academy really had fallen in love with George Miller’s movie. After all, if the Oscars wanted to honor all the technicians who brought the film to life, why not honor the man whose vision they made a reality?
But then, The Revenant bear showed up. (It really did, of course.) ‘Chivo’ Emmanuel Lubezki became the first cinematographer ever to win Best Cinematography. Alejandro G. Inarritu became the third director ever - and the first since 1951 - to win back-to-back Best Director. Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Best Actor Oscar.
But then (it’s the last “but then,” we promise), Spotlight came back in the last moment to win Best Picture. Inarritu was denied the chance to become the first-ever director of two consecutive Best Picture winners.
Along the way, there were plenty of surprises. Sylvester Stallone didn’t win for Creed and the Best Supporting Actor award instead went to Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies. Bizarrely, the Academy gave Sam Smith’s awful “Writing’s On The Wall” Best Original Song, absolutely killing all the emotion built up from Lady Gaga’s powerful performance of “‘Til It Happens To You.”
By far the biggest shocker was Alex Garland’s magnificent sci-fi movie Ex Machina beating blockbusters like The Martian and Star Wars: The Force Awakens for Best Visual Effects. This was a true David-beats-Goliath moment and a great job by the Academy to recognize that part of the artistry of visual effects is integrating it easily with live action footage.
The 88th Oscars broadcast was dominated by issues that seemed to outshine the awards themselves. Rock and other presenters did hammer down the fact that there were no minority actors nominated again. DiCaprio used his speech to highlight his favorite cause: environmentalism. And Gaga’s performance was preceded by Vice President Joe Biden discussing sexual assault. But when it came to movies, the ceremony really did honor three of the best films of 2015. Now, we just need some extra sleep.