Okay, here’s the thing. I saw the writing on the wall earlier this awards season. And I know all the BS that’s happened in Oscars past. I’d prepared myself to expect Sinners to get far less than it deserved. But then Wunmi Mosaku and Ryan Coogler won at the BAFTAs, and Michael B. Jordan and the cast won at the Actor Awards. And I started to let myself hope.
And listen, I’m thrilled for every award Sinners got. Ryan Coogler’s win for Best Original Screenplay was so well deserved—I was hand flapping just like I did every time I watched the trailer for Black Panther! Best Original Score was an obvious choice, and I thought Ludwig Göransson gave a really lovely speech. Really stoked for Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s win for Best Cinematography, because the film was gorgeously shot—I’d guessed from her speech, and just from my recollections of Oscar history, that she was the first woman to win that award, and the historic nature of it was just gravy. And I was so happy Michael B. Jordan took home Best Leading Actor for his tremendous performance(s), and his heartfelt speech made me emotional.
But it’s fitting that, as the night went on and things kept going One Battle After Another’s way, that Get Out came to mind. I thought about Ryan Coogler following Jordan Peele, and I thought about how Peele had also been recognized for his brilliant writing but not his stellar direction. It wasn’t until after the ceremony that I looked it up and discovered they’re the only two Black writers who’ve won Best Original Screenplay (there have been a handful for Best Adapted Screenplay, though.) And there’s still never been a Black person who’s won Best Director.
I enjoyed One Battle After Another more than I thought I might. In my rankings of the Best Picture nominees, it’s probably solidly in the middle. But it certainly wasn’t the Best Picture to me, and so it felt like another year of Hollywood doing what it does. As such, maybe it’s silly to feel disappointed by that. The whole Sinners crew knows what they accomplished, and they don’t need Hollywood to tell them. But it’d be nice to see some respect put on their name.
I know this is different than my usual post-Oscars write-up. I’ll just add that I didn’t spend the whole night going “Sinners or bust!” I was happy to see Jessie Buckley win Best Leading Actress, and Frankenstein cleaned up in the design categories. I really liked Sentimental Value, so it was nice to see it take home Best International Feature. There were some amusing bits, especially a sketch between host Conan O’Brien and Sterling K. Brown, delivering a rewritten Casablanca for the “half-watching the movie while distracted by their phones” crowd. The opener, where O’Brien was chased through this year’s nominees by the kids from Weapons, was also a lot of fun, and I loved the jokes about how it was the CEO of Netflix’s first time inside a theatre. The Moulin Rouge! references between Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman were delightful when they presented Best Picture.
