92nd Academy Awards Winners and Recap!: ‘Parasite’ Wins Big!

Posted on by DC Bolling

Every film fanatic’s favorite night of the year has come and gone with the 92nd Academy Awards that took place on Sunday, February 9 on ABC. The ceremony that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences puts together has always been my favorite time of the time where we get to witness some of our favorite films of the past year, hopefully, win the golden statue. Just like last year, this is where I share my thoughts on who the winners were on Hollywood’s biggest night. This was one of the better Oscars I’ve watched in a long time. Maybe that’s because there weren’t any mistakes.

The second year in a row without a host, the ceremony ran smoothly. Actress/singer Janelle Monáe opened the show with an exciting musical performance that got its audience into the mood of the show. Then, Steve Martin and Chris Rock give a monologue providing some laughs as they joked about the lack of female directors. Out of the presenters who could’ve hosted, my money would go to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph. The SNL alums and Bridesmaids co-stars were hilarious with their short time on stage presenting Best Production Design and Costume Design. Probably might be in the minority with them.

Now let’s talk to the biggest winner of the night: Parasite. Parasite reigned supreme, as it exceeded expectations and made history by becoming the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. Besides that historic win, director Bong Joon Ho took home, Best Original Screenplay, the recently renamed Best International Feature Film, and Best Director. I mean, everybody knew it would win International Feature Film. Neon’s black comedy has been on every person’s best list for its timely story about class. Most would’ve thought 1917 would win, but everybody else predicted this favorite to win. The fact that a dark thriller like this only made $35 million domestically and requires a lot of reading ended up taking the top prize of the night, I say that’s an accomplishment.

Parasite was one of my favorite films of last year and made it on my best list. Although I’m not a part of the so-called “Bong Hive,” this was still a fantastic win, regardless. Everybody who was involved with the film should be proud of what they’ve achieved. I just hated myself, knowing I should’ve picked it for Orignal Screenplay.

 

The film that I wanted to Best Picture, 1917, earned three Oscar wins, even though it wasn’t the biggest awards of the night. The World War I drama from Universal Pictures took home Best Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, and Cinematography. Despite it not taking Best Picture or Director, at least it didn’t go home empty-handed. On the other side of the technical awards, Ford V Ferrari messed up my predictions when it won Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing. Side note: I need to re-watch that.

Going into the who won in the acting categories, these were predictable, but I’m thrilled for those who won as they’ve been sweeping this award season. Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor for Joker, making him the second actor to win an Oscar for portraying the famous Batman villain; Renée Zellweger won her second Oscar for Best Actress with her role as Judy Garland in Judy; Brad Pitt finally took home an Oscar for acting in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Laura Dern took home Best Supporting Actress in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story. There are no complaints with whom won since all four of them deserved it tonight and they gave fantastic speeches.

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The show featured performances of all five Best Original Song nominees, including Idina Menzel, Chrissy Metz, Randy Newman, Cynthia Erivo, and Elton John, who would win for his song “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. They announced Grammy winner Billie Eilish was making a surprise performance during the ceremony, and some might’ve thought she would perform her new theme for No Time to Die. Instead, she and her brother, Finneas O’ Connell, performed the Beatles’ classic “Yesterday” during the In Memoriam.

The biggest shocker of the night went to Bong Joon-Ho winning Best Director over heavy favorite Sam Mendes. Mendes was dominating the awards after winning the Golden Globes, Producers Guild, the BAFTA, etc. Yet, Joon Ho took everyone by surprise as the South Korean director won for Parasite. He gave a great speech and giving praise to his fellow directing nominees. To me, that’s enough for me to say he earned this.

But what was my favorite moment of the night? Eminem made a surprise appearance to perform “Lose Yourself,” the Academy Award-winning song from 8 Mile after a montage of how music impacts on movies. One word: Epic! For those who don’t know, Eminem wasn’t there in attendance to receive his award at the 75th Academy Awards because he didn’t think he would win. Seventeen years later, he came swinging, singing my all-time favorite song that has ever won Best Original Song. His appearance made my night.

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What was the worst moment of the night? When James Corden and Rebel Wilson presented Best Visual Effects while dressed up as cats to remind us that the movie Cats was a thing that should’ve never existed. Both of them have a sense of humor knowing it’s a terrible movie, but this was still unfunny. By the way, I really hate Cats.

A lot of the winners were predictable, aside from the few I didn’t get right, but one of my favorites that won was Taika Waititi winning Best Adapted Screenplay for his film Jojo Rabbit; that was a last-minute decision, and his win continues my streak for that category. If you haven’t seen the film, please don’t skip it. Also, the love for all the female winners in other categories is high.

Overall, in a year full of great movies, I can’t complain about the respective winners. Am I upset about Parasite winning over 1917? Honestly, not really. It was a close race between the two, but cheers to the Parasite team. The only thing I still hope for in the future is adding my diversity in its bigger categories. Who knows what kinds of movies will show up next year around this time, but here’s hoping to be like what we’ve got now.

Final Score: 19/24 (check out my predictions)

The complete list of winners from the 92nd Academy Awards are presented in bold and in gold:

*Best Picture:

*Best Director:

Best Actor:

Best Actress:

Best Supporting Actor:

Best Supporting Actress:

*Best Original Screenplay:

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Best Animated Feature:

Best International Feature Film:

  • Corpus Christi (Poland)
  • Honeyland (North Macedonia)
  • Les Miserables (France)
  • Pain and Glory (Spain)
  • Parasite (South Korea)

*Best Film Editing:

Best Cinematography:

Best Production Design:

Best Costume Design:

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

Best Visual Effects:

Best Sound Mixing:

*Best Sound Editing:

Best Original Score:

Best Original Song:

  • “I’m Standing With You”- Breakthrough
  • “Into the Unknown”- Frozen 2
  • “Stand Up”- Harriet
  • “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”- Rocketman
  • “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away”- Toy Story 4

Best Documentary Feature:

  • American Factory
  • The Cave
  • The Edge of Democracy
  • For Sama
  • Honeyland

Best Documentary Short Subject:

  • In the Absence
  • Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
  • Life Overtakes Me
  • St. Louis Superman
  • Walk Run Cha-Cha

Best Animated Short Film:

  • Dcera (Daughter)
  • Hair Love
  • Kitbull
  • Memorable
  • Sister

Best Live-Action Short Film:

  • Brotherhood
  • Nefta Football Club
  • The Neighbors’ Window
  • Saria
  • A Sister

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Published by DC Bolling

DC Bolling is earned his B.A. in Communication and has been writing movie reviews on DC's Take since the summer of 2017. As of 2022, he also contributes as a writer for Indiana's Film Yap and is a member of the Online Film Critics Society.