The 98th Academy Awards have come to a close, but like so many awards season, there was a moment that surprised creators and audiences alike. Read below for the night’s biggest shockers.
Surprise: “One Battle After Another” won Best Picture.
After a close contest this season that seemed to get even more competitive as time went on, this year’s biggest prize looked like a coin toss between “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another,” with both winners being surprises. However, in terms of overall wins, “Battle” won, surpassing “Sinners”‘s four points by six points, despite “Sinners” having a historic number of nominations.
Surprise: Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor.
Timothée Chalamet was crowned early champion of this category for his performance in Marty Supreme, but it really took off with Michael B. Jordan playing double duty in The Sinners. In the end, “Marty Supreme” ended the night without erecting a statue.
Callous: Francine Meisler didn’t win her first casting Oscar for her work in Sinners.
The industry expected the vampire epic to be in contention for best casting, and “One Battle After Another” casting director Cassandra Kourkundis took home the award.
Surprise: Paul Mescal, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Chase Infinity got their time to shine as they introduced potential casting directors.
Three of the season’s most important acting talents had the opportunity to introduce themselves to casting directors in this segment, and it was a great way to give them a shot at strong performances.
Surprised: It’s a draw!
The live-action short film category was a shocker, with both “The Singers” and “Saliva Swapping” taking home statuettes, tied for seventh in Oscar history.
Surprise: Autumn Durard Alcapeau won Best Cinematography for “Sinners.”
Like many races this season, it looked like a “battle of one after the other” versus a “sinner.” However, Akapaw made history as the first woman and first woman of color to win the best lens award.
Negative: “Perfect Neighbor” lost out on Oscar for documentary film.
Netflix’s doc on police body camera footage was considered a lock by most prophets, but Mr. Nobody Against Putin took home the statue.
Surprise: Kieran Culkin harshly criticized Sean Penn’s absence.
It was predicted that Penn might not come to accept his third Oscar, but Culkin accepted his statue — saying, “He couldn’t or didn’t want to be here tonight,” was just the right amount of sarcasm.
Snub: “Butterfly” did not win any awards for animated short film, despite being chosen by influential critics.
When “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” won the Oscar, something happened that again confused the voting results.
Surprise: What happened to that camera work?
From some stumbling and botched shots to erroneous blocking at key moments, including not showing all the celebrities who took to the stage for Rob Reiner’s memorial, the visuals didn’t reflect the beauty of Hollywood’s biggest night.
Surprise: What happened to the audio?
The sound mixing during the ceremony was also downright bizarre — most importantly, the classy piano completely overpowered Barbra Streisand’s emotional speech about Robert Redford.
Surprise: Did Burger King buy all the commercials available?
It felt like Whoppers was being talked about just as much as the movie. It’s also funny how their entire campaign focuses on how they’re… not so bad now.
See all Oscar winners here.
