Film FreeQ: Oscars 2021: Break It Down, Questlove!

(L-r) Frances McDormand and Chloe Zhao, co-producers of the Best Picture-winning Nomadland

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences held their most radical Oscar ceremony in ages. Not only did the show go on (despite telecasting more than a month later than its usual annual timeslot, and without a host for the second year in a row), but it did so from different parts of the globe and not just the Kodak Theater and Union Station in Los Angeles.

You see, most of the guests and presenters were present at the latter locations, while a few of the other actors and crew members nominated for their respective films were filmed simultaneously in their native countries. Produced by Stacey Sher, Steven Soderbergh, and Jessie Collins, the 93rd annual ceremony was filmed in a letterbox format, which made the event play more like a film than a traditional televised event we've grown accustomed to.

Previous award-winning actress Regina King kicked things off with one of the evening's trademarks by sharing brief backstories of what made the respective nominees fall in love with film, starting with the original and adapted screenplays. The former went to Promising Young Woman scribe Emerald Fennell (who was reportedly seven months pregnant during the making of her film, which she also directed), while the latter surprisingly went to The Father writers Florian Zeller (who adapted his original stage play) and Christopher Hampton.

Speaking of The Father, in one of the biggest upsets of the evening, Best Actor frontrunner Chadwick Boseman (in a posthumous recognition for his role in George C. Wolfe's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which did win for its costume design and makeup & hairstyling earlier in the evening) was beat out by past winner Anthony Hopkins, who, at age 83, is now officially the oldest recipient of the award. (The legendary actor released this humble video on his Instagram page this morning, paying tribute to Boseman as well.)

Evening composer Questlove

The same can be said for Frances McDormand beating out Best Actress hopeful Viola Davis (recognized also for her work in Ma Rainey). In all fairness, the former Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri veteran didn't seem as thrilled with this win as she did when her film Nomadland (which she co-produced) won Best Picture, an honor that wasn't that surprising, but well-earned nonetheless.

Those apparently-rushed moments notwithstanding (and considering the Best Picture category was announced before the lead acting categories, in an unexpected turn of events), the ceremony was altogether a very universal, inclusive, and humbling experience. Keeping COVID guidelines and social distancing as in tact as possible, the evening atmosphere and presentation had more in common with the Golden Globes or the Screen Actors Guild awards than the traditional Oscars, which have previously taken place at the famed Kodak Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. And there were many great moments and speeches that the Academy can now hold in its legacy.

Here is a breakdown of some of them:

Daniel Kaluuya winning best supporting actor for his role as the late Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton, in Shaka King's Judas and the Black Messiah, a film that also won Best Original Song (by artists H.E.R., D'Mile, and Tiara Thomas). "It's so hard to make a film like this," said Kaluuya, "and they [Warner Brothers] made it possible." Added H.E.R., "I am so honored to be part of such an important story."

Yuh-Jung Youn winning best supporting actress for her role in Lee Isaac Chung's Minari.

Denmark's Another Round winning best international feature film, which director Thomas Vinterberg dedicated to his late daughter.

(L-r) Winners Yuh-Jung Youn (Best Supporting Actress, for Minari), Daniel Kaluuya (Best Supporting Actor, for Judas and the Black Messiah), and Frances McDormand (Best Actress, for Nomadland) backstage at the Oscars

My Octopus Teacher winning best documentary feature.

Tyler Perry receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Last year's Best Director-winner Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite) presenting the award to Nomadland helmer Chloe Zhao, who is now officially the second woman to win the award (after Katheryn Bigalow in 2010), and the first Asian filmmaker to do so. She was arguably the best dressed for the evening, complete with sneakers!

74-year-old Best Supporting Actress nominee Glenn Close doing "Da Butt" (the E.U. R&B track made famous in Spike Lee's 1988 film School Daze) in front of the unsuspecting audience--as well as presenter Lil Rel Howery, who circulated a special segment called "Questlove's Oscars Trivia". (The Roots' band member was the evening's composer.)

Presenter Harrison Ford reciting "harsh" notes from the initial screenings of 1982's Blade Runner (one of the legendary actor's most famous roles) while presenting best film editing, which went to Sound of Metal. The film (which yours truly ranks as his favorite film of 2020) also deservedly won for its immersive and groundbreaking sound design, as well as for film editing.

Nominee Glenn Close (here with presenter Lil Rel Howery) may have stolen the show.

Sneak previews of Steven Spielberg's anticipated adaptation of West Side Story (due this Christmas), as well as Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights (out this June).

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Finally, I leave you with the following two quotes from the evening: