Timothée Chalamet gets nothing and more
The 98th Academy Awards have come and gone, and as is often the case during awards season, there were moments that surprised creatives and audiences alike. Read more about the biggest shocks of the night below.
Surprise: “One Battle After Another” won best picture.
After a close race this season, which seemed to become even more competitive as time went on, the biggest award of the year seemed like a coin game between ‘Sinners’ and ‘One Battle After Another’ – leaving both winners a surprise. But “Battle” triumphed in overall wins, with six over the four for “Sinners” – despite the latter’s historic tally of nominations.
Surprise: Michael B. Jordan was named best actor.
Timothée Chalamet was anointed king of the category early on for his performance in “Marty Supreme,” until Michael B. Jordan’s dual role in “Sinners” gained serious momentum. Ultimately, “Marty Supreme” ended the evening without images.
Snub: Francine Maisler didn’t win her first Oscar for casting for her work on ‘Sinners.’
The industry predicted the vampire epic would be a shoo-in for best casting, but “One Battle After Another” casting director Cassandra Kulukundis won the statue.
Surprise: Paul Mescal, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chase Infiniti got their time to shine as they introduced the casting director nominations.
The top three actors of the season got to introduce their casting directors during this segment, which was a nice way to give them flowers for strong performances.
Surprise: it’s a tie!
The live-action shorts category suffered a shock when “The Singers” and “Two People Exchanging Saliva” both took home statues, marking only the seventh tie in Oscar history.
Surprise: Autumn Durald Arkapaw won best cinematography for her work on “Sinners.”
Like so many races this season, it seemed to be ‘one battle after another’ versus ‘sinners’. But Arkapaw made history as the first woman and the first woman of color to win the award for best lenses.
Snub: “The Perfect Neighbor” loses Oscar for documentary.
The Netflix doc about police bodycam footage was considered a lock by most forecasters, but ‘Mr Nobody Against Putin’ took the statue home.
Surprise: Kieran Culkin was annoyed by Sean Penn’s absence.
It was predicted that Penn might not show up to accept his third Oscar, and Culkin’s acceptance of his statue – “He couldn’t be here tonight, or didn’t want to” – was just the right amount of cake.
Snub: ‘Butterfly’ didn’t win an animated short, despite top experts’ picks.
Another vote upset came when “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” took home the Oscar.
Surprise: What was up with that camera work?
From several stumbling and clumsy shots to improper blocking in big moments, such as not showing all the celebrities who took the stage for the Rob Reiner tribute, the footage did not reflect the beauty of Hollywood’s biggest night.
Surprise: What was with the audio?
The sound mix was also very strange during the ceremony – especially as the tasteful piano completely overtook Barbra Streisand’s moving speech about Robert Redford.
Surprise: Did Burger King Buy All Available Commercials?
It felt like Whoppers were talked about as much as film. It’s also funny that their entire campaign is about them being… less terrible now?
View all Oscar winners here.
