Monday, February 10, 2020

Parasite Rules the Oscars

It was an Oscar ceremony that went by the book—until it didn’t. At the very end of an overlong ceremony, Bong Joon Ho—already a two-time winner last night—won an upset victory over Sam Mendes in the best-director category, becoming the first South Korean filmmaker ever to achieve that feat (with a film that was, somehow, the first from his home country ever to receive an Oscar nomination). Then Parasite stunned again, winning best picture over 1917—and becoming the first non-English language film to win the Academy’s top prize in the Oscars’ 92-year history. “We also got to watch the show correct itself and evolve in real time: When the Parasiteproducers had their mics cut during their acceptance speeches, a crowd protest led to producers turning them back on,” Richard Lawson writes in his review of the show. “So, fixing things still is possible. Which is why I’ll be back to pay maybe too close attention all over again next year.”
Elsewhere in an all-Oscars edition of Hollywood Daily, Christopher Rosen explains the most puzzling moment of the night—Eminem’s surprise performance; Kenzie Bryant runs down all the stars who brought their mothers to the ceremony in lieu of dates; Yohana Desta breaks down Joaquin Phoenix’s somber best-actor acceptance speech, including an impassioned plea for veganism and an emotional shout-out to his late brother, River; Justin Bishop photographs the Vanity Fair Oscar Party; and Julie Miller takes us inside the event itself, revealing how the night’s winners celebrated their Oscar victories with Vanity Fair.