The Oscars is a great event for avid fans of film to watch or simply those interested to see if their favorites made the cut. The 92nd Academy Awards drew a decent amount of controversy due to lack of representation, as well as varying opinions on the winners. 

What surprised me was that the film “Joker” didn’t win as many of the nominations as I anticipated. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards but only received the awards for Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and Best Original Score. Considering all of the audience praise and publicity the film received, I expected it to win in more categories, possibly even Best Picture. It was a surprise to see that the film lost so many nominations. 

One film that I didn’t expect to receive as many nominations as it did was “Bombshell.” While I expected the Best Hair/Makeup nomination and win, the nominations that Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie received for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, took me by surprise. I agree that these performances (particularly Theron’s) were well-done, but I saw significantly less praise for these performances and the film in general compared to  performances from other films (for example, Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” and Laura Dern and Adam Driver in “Marriage Story”). 

One reason I feel particularly surprised at the nominations for “Bombshell” is that the reviews weren’t overwhelmingly positive, according to its 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as it’s slightly lower audience praise than the other two films mentioned. 

My strongest opinion is regarding the Best Supporting Actress nomination. After seeing “Little Women,” I was particularly impressed with Florence Pugh’s performance as Amy March. During the film, I was thinking of her receiving a potential Oscar nomination. Pugh received praise for her performance and took a more relatable and driven approach to the character that was not seen in previous adaptations. While Laura Dern ended up winning the award for her performance in “Marriage Story,”my hope was to see Pugh win. 

This year’s winner in the Best Picture category, “Parasite,” was also significant for numerous reasons. Only 11 of the films that have been nominated for Best Picture since 1929 have been foreign, with “Parasite” being the only foreign film that has won. In addition to this, it is also the first film to win Best Picture where no actors were nominated for their performances since 2008. 

This has raised some concern regarding lack of representation in the Academy Awards, as only nine Asian actors have ever been nominated, and none have been Korean. While this is an effective step forward with a foreign film winning Best Picture, there are still concerns regarding diversity in those being nominated for and winning Academy Awards. 

While many of the nominees and winners were deserving and justified, this year’s Academy Awards was full of surprises and milestones. It is important to appreciate these milestones, but staying true to our own opinions and understanding the reality of the situation is also important.