The Oscars, arguably the biggest award show of the year, made its annual appearance on March 2, and presented some controversial awards. I am a huge movie buff so this was a big day for me, although there were some big snubs in my opinion. I am no movie critic but I’d like to give my opinions on the awards presented this year.
Photo from Vogue
Zoe Saldana won best supporting actress for her role in Emilia Pérez, which was an interesting pick after the drama it stirred up. Emilia Pérez was criticized for its lazy depiction of the transgender experience as well as falling short of representing the Mexican community. Zoe Saldana is an amazing actress and I am happy that she is getting her flowers, but maybe not for this movie. I personally think that Ariana Grande should have won this award for her performance in Wicked. That movie was overall more successful and she put an immense amount of effort into her depiction of Galinda. On the other hand, the winner of best leading actress was, in my opinion, well deserved. Mikey Madison, first time Oscar winner, won for her role in Anora. Mikey learned Russian and pole dancing for her role and is only 25 years old. Not only did she win at such a young age but in her acceptance speech paid homage to sex workers, saying, “I will continue to support and be an ally.”
A list of the Oscar winners here! Photo from BBC
The winner for best actor in a supporting role was Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain. I personally was very happy that he won this award, especially for this role. I watched A Real Pain and it was such a beautiful script, both sad and honest and Kieran played his role perfectly. He has always been an actor but in his adult years he has begun playing more serious roles that have showcased his talents. Unfortunately, Adrien Brody’s win for best actor in a leading role for The Brutalist, was less deserved. I don’t deny that Adrien is a great actor, but I dont think this role was an Oscar winning role. The movie has also been facing controversy for its use of AI to enhance the actors Hungarian accents to make it seem more authentic. AI is becoming more and more mainstream everyday, but I don’t think it should be used to enhance an accent when someone with an actual Hungarian accent could have played this role. Timothee Chalamet on the other hand dedicated five years of his life for his role as Bob Dylan. Chalamet poured his whole soul into that character and didn’t get the recognition he deserved. Similarly, Sebastian Stan who played Donald Trump in The Apprentice was overlooked over the award for best actor. I would think that taking on the task of playing someone as complex as Donald Trump would be daunting, but Sebastian Stan performed fantastically. Both Timothee Chalamet and Sebastian Stan were given the task of playing real life people and did so without the help of AI, just raw talent.
Once again, I am no movie critic but I will say if I were calling the shots, things would have gone differently at this year’s Oscars. Timothee would have gotten his first of many Oscars to come and Ariana would be celebrating her first Oscar win for an amazing performance. Hopefully next year we’ll see less AI and more amazing performances from Hollywood’s A-listers.
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