One of the beautiful things about movies these days is that movie fans don’t have to go to the movies to see them. Video On Demand allows us to see the best of the best, without leaving home. This means not only the classics and obscure personal favorites, but also award-winners. Even those which earned Oscars at the Academy Awards ceremony.
Here are a few interesting but little-known facts about the Oscars:
- Two films share the record for most Oscar nominations with 14. All About Eve (1950), a behind-the-scenes look hopeful actress Eve Harrington was the first. In 1997, The Titanic, with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, matched the feat.
- Tatum O’Neal is the youngest Oscar winner. She was 10 in 1973 when she won Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon.
- FTC Digital customers can check out award winners at home with Video On Demand.
Oscar winners you can check out on Video on Demand include:
“Parasite”
This dramatic thriller garnered four awards, including Best Picture. It also won for Best Director (Bong Joon-ho), Best Original Screenplay (Han Jin-won and Bong Joon-ho) and Best Foreign Language Film. This Korean production with English subtitles chronicles the impoverished Kim family’s infiltration into the life of the rich. Namely, the Park family.
Complex characters carry this indelible social satire to the heights of Joon-ho’s illustrious career. Parasite contains enough comedic elements for a compelling early storyline that turns suspenseful. Talk about shock and awe, in a clash of poverty and avarice.
Rotten Tomatoes called Parasite an imaginative comedy-thriller with darkness at its core.
“Joker”
Joaquin Phoenix won his second Academy Award for his portrayal of the Joker in the movie of the same title in a spirited performance. The film also won Best Original Music Score. Joker delivers a dour storyline of what can happen when one man rises against the ridicule society throws his way. Phoenix earns this award with a fierce performance of self-destruction.
It’s no easy task to rise to the occasion of a character already fixed in cinematic lore for the troublesome yet addictive persona of a DC villain. This rendition left audiences numb and sullen in its wake. We dare you to resist the dark entrapment of this award-winner.
Phoenix told Insider in an interview he felt his stunning weight loss made him ‘go mad.’
“Judy”
Renee Zellweger took home her second Oscar for Judy, her first as Best Actress. Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon and Finn Wittrock also star in this drama about American actress Judy Garland’s final London concerts – and realization of a childhood that Hollywood fame stole. Zellweger’s virtuosity shines through in the starring role.
Zellweger is masterful, especially in the opening number, By Myself, portraying Garland in all her infamous skittishness and nervous tics. It’s compelling enough to become the signature performance in Zellweger’s successful career.
Yes, that’s Zellweger’s singing voice in this film. Classic FM asked a professional soprano to break down her performance.
“1917”
Roger Deakins won Best Cinematography for his work in this action/drama starring George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Mark Strong. It’s the tale of two British soldiers’ mission to deliver a life-or-death message through the most plexing circumstances. The film also took awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Mixing.
Director Sam Mendes takes his first swipe at World War drama, to incredible effect. The film drops its audiences into the horrific trenches of war and holds us there for 2 hours. It’s for certain one of 2019’s finest films.
1917 is based on a true story Mendes’ father told him.
“Little Women”
Jacqueline Durran won for Best Costume Design in this romantic drama about the Marsh sisters, as introduced to us in literature by author Louisa May Alcott. Due out in April 2020, Women stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlan. It’s a modern take on a classic story, and a splendid rendition at that, of women’s courage to live life on their own terms.
Greta Girwig directs this empowering production for any gender and any age. She has found a way to make familiar and beloved characters even more so. True to the classic nature of the story, Women blends its historic roots with a modern vitality.
Fandango published a detailed rundown of Little Women reviews.
“Bombshell”
This drama, not surprisingly, won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Kazuhiro Szuji, Anne Morgan, and Vivian Baker.) Jay Roach directs this legend of the women who bring down a notorious TV mogel. It boasts an all-elite cast that includes Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie.
It’s a big-time burn of a true story many viewers will remember in real headlines. The trio of Theron, Kidman and Robbie execute this cinematic execution to utter perfection, an untidy path to women’s advocacy, a theatrical personification of the #MeToo movement.
The Atlantic found Bombshell beautifully complex.
Sources: The Atlantic, Classic FM, Fandango, The Guardian, History vs. Hollywood, MSN, New York Times, Oscar.go.com, Rotten Tomatoes, Vox.com, Vubiquity.com,
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