This year’s Academy Awards were certainly worth a watch. There were many popular moments when it came to award recipients, like Amy Madigan as Gladys in “Weapons” and Sean Penn as Colonel Lockjaw in “One Battle After Another.” Additionally, there were a couple of milestones, with Autumn Dural Arkapaw becoming the first woman in Academy history to win Best Cinematography and “Golden” becoming the first K-pop song to win Best Original Song.
“Sinners” was nominated for a record-breaking sixteen nominations, originally seeming to clean house like “Oppenheimer” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” These expectations were subverted with “One Battle After Another” taking home the most awards with six, including Best Picture.
Several tributes and speeches pulled at the heartstrings, such as Best Actor winner Michael B. Jordan expressing his gratitude for previous Black Oscar winners and ending with “I just wanna say thank you for everybody in this room that has something to do with my success. I love you guys and everybody at home who supported ‘Sinners’ and went to see the movie once, twice, three, four, five times. Thank you, ’cause you guys made this movie what it is. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
However, the ceremony’s sound was particularly a strong point of controversy. Sometimes it was muffled, with those tuning in being able to hear those on stage but not the audience, such as when Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pascal presented Best Production Design. The telecast’s production crew has come under fire for several of their decisions, including scrutiny from participants themselves.
When “Golden” won Best Original Song, the winners’ microphone was cut off, with the winners speaking out about this afterwards. Many of those in the audience booed when the music played them out as well. After the microphone of one of the Best Live Action Short Film winners was retracted, host Conan O’Brien denounced the production crew for doing so to the audience.
One could say that this helps with the Academy’s notorious track record of going on too long, but there were times, like in the “Bridesmaids” reunion, where the presenters acknowledged they were telling a boring joke and went through with it anyway. The event planners need to strike a balance, since currently they have the worst of both worlds: stretching things out with jokes that go on too long and shorting people of their speeches.
Despite technical issues, the participants’ attention to appreciation and relevant issues made the 98th Academy Awards outstanding in the long run.