Award season has finally come to an end, and now film twitter can stop bickering about Hollywood snubs and annoying behind-the-scenes controversies. Well, they need to let their frustration out first with the Oscars. The 91^stAcademy Awards were on February 24^th, 2019 and it seemed like all of Hollywood was there to celebrate all of film. I personally was impressed at the Oscars this year. Not too impressed but also didn't think it was trash. I had my fair share of praise and gripes and it's time we break down the Oscars and see how we can strive better for next year.

Before the actual award ceremony began, Ryan Seacrest was hosting his segment of the preshow. Describing the best picture nominees ranging from critical to popular films. That rubbed me the wrong way for a bit, as I thought we pushed aside the popular film idea for films. Even if it's not a direct category for the Oscars I don't feel like we should be describing the best film nominees as a film that is most popular. Because my mind goes to "Black Panther" (2018). After the preshow, the introduction began.

Skipping the musical performance, because it's the Oscars and not a rock concert (lol), the Academy showcased a montage of the films from the past year. There were a bunch of shots of films from the past year. A lot of them were the films I actually saw and enjoyed like "Aquaman" (2018), "Tomb Raider" (2018), "Solo" (2018). This one tweet from the Twitter user, @HarleyMovieNews, pointed out what I and many other fans of "Aquaman" (2018) felt when we saw the King of Atlantis on our screen.

All grudges aside, the montage was pretty good. And then the 91^stOscars had officially begun. The Opening segment poked fun at the fact there was no host or how all the awards would be presented on screen. A reference to the controversy weeks leading up to the Oscars. There was even a Fyre Festival Reference for some reason. I assume it was because everyone is now discovering the Fyre Festival controversy due to that Netflix documentary, "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" (2019). When my boy, Philip DeFranco debunked almost two years ago (Philip DeFranco's Fyre Discussion Video). Back to the actual awards, it was not as jarring not having a host at the Oscars this year. It just made it show seem like any other award show that doesn't use an actual host.

The first award presented that night was Outstanding Supporting Actress, won by Regina King. I personally wanted Amy Adams to win because Amy is a queen that deserves an Oscar! I feel like she is becoming another Leonardo DiCaprio, a really talented actor that has worked in Hollywood for years and does not have an Oscar. Regina King seemed pretty appreciative for her award and good for her. But what seemingly overshadowed Regina was Chris Evans, Captain America himself, helping her up the steps like a gentleman. Twitter was loving it! Everyone went crazy when they saw him help her up the steps.

After Regina, the awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Makeup and Hair Styling were presented and won by "Free Solo" (2018) and "Vice" (2018). And there was the inedible cringe moment with the people accepting the award for vice not rehearsing at all, *Shudders*. And then, Holy mother of Bunny-Rabbits! Melissa McCarthy came up in this elaborate bunny dress and she even had a little bunny hand. Look, I'm a sucker for puppet work when done in an actual comedic way. Melissa and Brian Tyree Henry nailed their bit.

Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry Present the Oscar for Costume Designwww.youtube.com

They presented the award for best costume design and it obviously went to the film that deserved it, "Black Panther" (2018). While I don't believe Black Panther should've been nominated for best picture, I did think it was appropriate to nominate it for best costume design. It just came off weird how the film was nominated for best picture and didn't have like the best screenplay nomination or a best director nomination.

Anyway, Black Panther won and was accepted by Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter. According to Deadline, Carter made history as being the first African-American to win an academy award for best costume design. At the start of the night, Black Panther would be the first superhero movie since "Suicide Squad" in 2016 to win an Oscar. The superhero community was really pleased with the award and even Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios and the Godfather of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, had a shocked expression on his face. Senior Editor of IGN, Joshua Yehl, had the perfect tweet to describe what it felt like as a nerd as Carter gave her speech.

The night continues with Best Production Design, with Black Panther winning again. It was presented by MCU icon Chris Evans and he did a little hand gig once the envelope was opened, which I thought was pretty funny. The award was accepted by Hannah Beachler, the first African-American to win an Oscar for production design (Deadline). Beachler was very emotional and I don't blame her. Even though a lot of Wakanda in the film was CGI, someone had to come up with the idea. I mean M'Baku's throne room comes to mind as an iconic set piece from the film. Bleacher was a production designer for "L.A. Confidential" (1997), one of my favorite Neo-Noir films.

Next up was Sound Editing and Sound Mixing and that was won by Bohemian Rhapsody. That movie is apparently controversial from what I've heard so there's a slight uproar online about it. But I just found it funny how basically the same people had to do a complete 180 after accepting the first award to get their second. Also, it brought up the question for me on what exactly is the difference between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Because, when you are editing a lot of the time, you're mixing sounds already and editing them together. At least that's what I've done while working in Final Cut Pro. The ceremony now continues with Laura Dern as she announces the: "Academy Museum of Motion Pictures"! A brand-new museum in LA too, I guess, recognize the last ninety years of academy award winners.

Now here comes one of my personally most anticipated categories, Animated Films. Pharrell Williams presented the category and I got a little peeved when he summarized Animation to be children's films. ANIMATED FILMS ARE NOT JUST CHILDREN'S FILMS! One of the stigmas I hate with Hollywood. Just because something is in a cartoon or animated form, does not mean only kids can watch it, or that it's made just for kids. "Sausage Party" (2016) immediately comes to mind. Anyway, there were a lot of contenders and Disney has won so many years in the arrow that it's nearly impossible to top them. Well... A kid from Brooklyn with Spider-powers beat the Mouse! "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a ground-breaking film in its art style and overall narrative. It gained universal praise and is regarded as being the best Spider-Man movie ever made. When Spider-Verse won, my twitter feed exploded! Everyone was so glad to see Miles Morales bring home an Oscar and has garnered so many fans creating art in celebration. As well as actors and actresses like Hailee Steinfeld (Voice Actress for Gwen Stacy in the movie) taking to social media to celebrate her success.

Even though I sat alone in my Mod, I didn't want all the tears to release. The writers and directors set out to make a character people of a minority could relate to. They explained their joy when a young kid in the theater would turn to their parent and say: "He looks like me" or "They speak Spanish like us". Everyone was celebrating, and the crew was about to thank Stan Lee. The creator of Spider-Man that recently passed away last November. But according to the Independent, their mics were cut off before finishing. I am still ticked about this days later. Because there are other people accepting awards that took longer and I felt for a man who gave so much to the arts he should have been at least mentioned. Oh, and comic book twitter was not happy btw.

One final highlight I wanted to mention was with BlacKkKLansman and director Spike Lee being overjoyed by the fact he won. Before I became an English major, I was interested in the film. And I wouldn't say Spike Lee was someone I strived to be, but that's the person my mom told me I should strive to be like. I did not know he had such a budding relationship with Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson gave Spike Lee the score to the Knicks game since Lee was missing it that night. I highly recommend watching Lee's acceptance speech, really moving and really an overall good moment for Spike Lee.

Watch Spike Lee's Oscars 2019 Speech for BLACKkKLANSMANwww.youtube.com

Finally wrapping up, "Green Book" (2018) won Best Picture. Apparently, there's a lot of controversies online about it. And I personally am indecisive because, well, I didn't see it. But in conclusion, the 91^st Academy Awards was jammed packed with stuff. A lot of stuff that I didn't even mention because I didn't watch all these movies and I don't have a reaction to it. I did keep track of all the award winners and listed them down below. While I may criticize the Oscars, I was entertained by last Sunday's show. Maybe it's time for me to stop analyzing films so much and get excited for "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

Outstanding Supporting Actress: Regina King

Best Documentary Feature: Free Solo

Make-Up & Hair Styling: Vice

Costume Design: Black Panther (Black Panther)

Production Design: Black Panther

Best Cinematography: Roma

Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Foreign Language Film: Roma

Best Film Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali

Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best Animated Short Film: Bao (Incredibles)

Documentary Short Subject: Period. End of Sentence.

Best Visual Effects: First Man

Best Live Action Short-Film: Skin

Best Original Screenplay: Green Book

Best Adapted Screenplay: BlackkkKlansman

Best Original Score: Black Panther

Best Original Song: A Star is Born

Best Leading Actor: Rami Malek

Best Leading Actress: Olivia Coleman

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Best Picture: Green Book