the 2020 oscars were actually pretty great! a ton of great movies came out this year, and they were successful enough for the academy to actually recognize them!
like last year, im gonna go over all the categories and share my own personal picks but before, let's just talk about the actual ceremony that happened this year.
usually, the academy puts on a ceremony and they show how they are so detached from both the mainstream audiences they are trying to appeal to and film/cinema enthusiasts that the show is made for. however this year, the ceremony went pretty smoothly and without much cringe. here are some of the things that really stood out and i really liked:
1. having no host
a decision they seemed to make last year out of circumstance with the situation with kevin hart ultimately made
the pacing of the ceremony much better. by having no hosts, they avoid the potential of having an unfunny or uncharismatic host bringing the show to constant halts in between every reward. it ended up being a great change for the 2019 ceremony, and it looks
like they decided to do it again this year. thank you kevin hart for being homophobic 10 years ago.
2. billie eilish's performance of yesterday during the in memoriam part
wow i've never heard billie eyelash actually sing properly
and it was really really really good. yesterday is one of the most beautiful songs ever, and she did so good singing for the in memoriam part of the ceremony. i would not be opposed to her putting out something more acoustic in place of her soft spoken pop music (though i don't have any problem with that either)
3. peanut butter falcon duo
shia laboeuf and zack gottsagen, the duo from the peanut butter falcon
announced an award together and it was extremely wholesome. it looked like
zack struggled reading the teleprompter at times but shia did not try to take over or push zack, he just let him take his time and get his lines down. shia seemed very proud for zack and ultimately it was very heartwarming.
apparently some people got upset about this, claiming shia was mocking zack but i feel like they are unaware of the friendship that exists between the two, and i really don't see what they are talking about at all. there should not be any drama about this, the two are very good friends who hung out together the entire ceremony.
4. bong joon ho winning award after award
im so glad parasite blew up as much as it did. the academy seemed to cheer super hard
everytime it was read out loud and it once again showed when bong joon ho went on stage 4 times to take home an award. he was also very wholesome and humble every speech he gave.
bong is my favourite working director right now, and to see him be the one who made history in having the first ever international/foreign language film win best picture
is a glorious moment that i hope will live in film and cinema history forever.
5. random eminem
eminem had a performance of lose yourself
because apparently lose yourself in 8mile was a very significant oscar winner?? not sure where this came from, but im not complaining, that song will always be a banger. honestly eminem did not do a fantastic performance, he seemed
gassed at many times, but he had a backing track keeping the song going. the best part about this performance was seeing all the old celebrities try to act all hip and cool by awkwardly jamming out to the song, or just not having it at all.
that was hilarious, fun, and really awesome. overall, a very good and unexpected moment of ceremony
ok now lets snap back to reality and look at my personal 2020 nominations. nominations per category will be alphabetical order and im gonna do 10 for best picture because more love and recognition to my favourite movies is more fun.
BEST PICTURE
 climax |
a challenging chaotic nightmare movie that the academy would never acknowledge directed by the film extremist gaspar noe. despite its technical mastery, the acting and storytelling made me feel emotions of horror and despair like no other movie has |
 the farewell |
personal and heartfelt film directed by lulu wang. this engaging yet simple film turned down many interested producers to retain its genuinity and was ultimately able to connect with me on a very personal level |
 the irishman |
martin scorsese’s 4 hour long netflix film with absolute star studded dream cast. truly feels like a return to his best works and it was a very engaging and entertaining watch all the way through. |
 the lighthouse |
one of the most crazy and unique films I have ever seen directed by up and coming director robert eggers. a psychological thriller period piece led by two amazing performances kept me thinking about it days after watching it for the first time. |
 marriage story |
an absolutely beautiful and emotional story directed by noah baumbach exploring elements that have never been seen in any other film in cinema. with another two amazing lead performances, this movie will not be forgotten. |
 once upon a time... in hollywood |
another great tarantino movie and this time it has more heart than it does testosterone... for the most part. its visually beautiful and a really fun character driven retelling of history. |
 parasite |
yet another bong hit. the foreign film that broke grounds worldwide and blew up in theatres all around north america. directed by the masterful bong joon-ho, parasite is truly one of the most gripping films of the decade. |
 portrait of a lady on fire |
a film that masterfully plays to all of your senses, this oscar snubbed french film directed by céline sciamma will artfully paint itself into your mind with an emotional and heartfelt story |
 uncut gems |
an absolute blast of suspense, discomfort, hilarity, and thrills that somehow manages to keep getting deeper and deeper. adam sandler brilliantly performs in this movie under the direction of the safdie brothers who are consistently and unjustly overlooked by the academy. |
 waves |
an intense and mature coming of age story with excellent, genuine performances and a brilliant overall presentation, trey Edward Schultz proves that he is one of the best working directors in the industry right now. |
BEST LEAD ACTOR
 adam driver ~ marriage story |
a very emotional performance, and the multifaceted and complex character of charlie barber was wonderfully fleshed out by adam driver |
 joaquin phoenix ~ joker |
joker is not a todd philips movie, it is a joaquin phoenix movie. he went all out with this insane transformative performance as a clown |
 leonardo dicaprio ~ once upon a time... in hollywood |
leonardo dicaprio did a great performance as rick dalton, a very convincing and interesting character with a lot of depth. he had some very emotional scenes that truly showed his acting range |
 adam sandler ~ uncut gems |
adam sandler is a very talented actor but he chooses to do stupid movies because he likes it. however, when he takes on a more serious role, he is absolutely brilliant, and that holds true in uncut gems where he expertly scrambles around as one of the most fun characters of the year |
 kelvin harrison jr ~ waves |
i have no idea who this mans is but he absolutely killed it, giving this very emotional and nuanced performance. kelvin harrison jr is a young up and comer and this was his best performance to date. i hope to see him in many more films down the line. |
BEST LEAD ACTRESS
 elisabeth moss ~ her smell |
her smell was a very interesting movie with a real crazy performance from offred. i've never seen elisabeth moss play a character like this but her acting abilities really shined here. |
 scarlett johansson ~ marriage story |
marriage story had 2 incredible lead performances. what could be said about adam driver can also be said for scarlett johansson, but with even more confidence |
 florence pugh ~ midsommar |
florence pugh got a nomination from the academy for little women, but she was absolutely incredible in midsommar which the academy ignored (for some reason they hate horror). her character in the movie was emotionally broken, constantly hiding her insecurities and florence pugh was able to express this masterfully. if you want to have an amazing performance be overlooked and snubbed by the oscars, go make a movie with ari aster, and tell them toni collette and florence pugh sent you |
 noemie merlant ~ portrait of a lady on fire |
very strong performance of a soft spoken, observant, and nuanced character by this french actress i had never seen before. noemie merlant made this role feel completely natural, and she and her performance fit the character perfectly |
 lupita nyongo ~ us |
lupita nyongo has been consistently fantastic in everything she is in. but the one scene in us where she encounters her clone and it begins to speak is one of the most haunting and fantastic dialogues of the year |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
 al pacino - the irishman |
al pacino played my favourite character in all of the irishman. he was consistently great throughout all the movie with lots of great scenes and dialogue |
 willem dafoe ~ the lighthouse |
HARK! willem dafoe is one of those actors who is always amazing, but in the lighthouse, he was even better than the extremely high standard that i hold him to. this is the craziest character you'll ever see him play and it was an absolute treat |
 brad pitt ~ once upon a time... in hollywood |
leonardo dicaprio's anxiety and insecurity is complimented wonderfully by the cool calm collected brad pitt. he was a very fun character and every scene and line of dialogue with brad pitt was excellent |
 park myung-hoon ~ parasite |
i will not say anything about this supporting role in parasite other than that it is explosive and amazing. if you haven't seen parasite yet, go watch it, but if you have seen it, you know who i'm talking about. |
 sterling k. brown ~ waves |
part of what made waves such a great movie is the wonderfully presented characters and angry papa was one of the bests. you can very easily see through this performance the pressure that sterling k. brown is able to assert on the characters he interacts with. |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
 zhao shuzhen ~ the farewell |
i have no idea who this granny is but she was amazing. grandma zhao shuzhen got so much charisma, a very pleasant and fun to watch character. |
 laura dern~ marriage story |
the academy's pick, laura dern is super talented and her character in marriage story is badass, kind, and vicious all at the same time. this character was also responsible for delivering very important lines of dialogue and she did so flawlessly |
 margot robbie~ once upon a time... in hollywood |
yet another absolutely pleasant character. the scene where margot robbie as sharon tate watches her own movie at the theatre captured her character's spirit so well, and just the shots where she's reacting with her smiles and laughs tells audiences so much about her character |
 park myung-hoon~ parasite |
the rich mom of parasite was a very great character and performed very well by park myung-hoon. her character could have easily come off as cartoonish or out of place, but park myun-hoon played her perfectly. |
 adele haenel~ portrait of a lady on fire |
a fantastic multifaceted character performed with subtlety and amazing line delivery by adele haenel. she performed this character with an aura of mystery and as the film plays on, her character is expertly unraveled scene by scene |
BEST DIRECTOR
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for 'climax' |
for 'the lighthouse' |
for 'parasite' |
for 'uncut gems' |
for 'waves' |
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i picked my nominees based not only on the quality of the movie but also on bold artistic decisions that make the films stand out as their own unique craft
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
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of all the animated movies that i watched this year, these were the only 2 that were stand out to me
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
i did not watch any. oops
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
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in san francisco |
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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
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lady on fire |
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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
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in san francisco |
lady on fire |
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BEST DOCUMENTARY
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grow old |
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i watched a good amount of documentaries this year but these are the only 4 i consider nominating
BEST DOCUMETARY SHORT SUBJECT
did not watch any of these, so i sleep
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
did not watch any of these, so i sleep again
BEST FILM EDITTING
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in san francisco |
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film editting is always hard to judge. it's hard to notice objectively "good" film editting as that usually means every cut and edit feels natural and seamless. but good editting can also be flashy, as long as its not unnecessary or overly forced. anyways, these were my nominees
BEST SOUND EDITTING
actually i have no idea how to judge sound editting so i sleep once more.
BEST SOUND MIXING
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lady on fire |
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BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
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in hollywood |
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BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
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in san francisco |
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BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
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lady on fire |
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ok its pretty obvious what is winning this one, but serious shout outs to all the other movies nominated. one cut of the dead is super unique and its premise is unlike any other film i've ever seen and invisible life just a great, fun, sensory experience with some fantastic characters.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
i didn't really listen to many songs from movies this year so it's hard for me to judge. however, after seeing the live performances at the oscars, i can certainly say there were some bangers this year. i really liked cynthia erivo's song from the movie harriet, and the elton john song from rocketman also slapped pretty hard. those 2 were the best for me, and i can easily see both of them getting jeffrey noms if i were to have done more research
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR
i am someone who advocates for bald supremecy so this is another category that i do not feel qualified to judge this year. im sure whatever was actually nominated by the academy was very well deserving.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
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lady on fire |
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i just pick the movies with the most memorable unique costumes or the fanciest dresses
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
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hard category to judge when you realize almost all movies are full of visual effects but you don't notice it unless they are flashy. but these 5 movies all have very great visual effects utilized in their own unique ways.
FINAL TALLIES
that's a wrap, good year thank you for looking at my page.
if you have opinions on anything, or want to discuss a movie, contact me here, i very much encourage it
have a nice day, i hope you enjoyed. click here to return to jeff's castle homepage