Awards season is officially over with the conclusion of the 93rd Academy Awards.
It started off strong, with "One Night in Miami" director Regina King strutting regally into the theater to kick off the show (her name literally means Queen King so what else might we expect) and speaking out about both the industry's struggle to get back on track because of the pandemic and this country's struggle with the deaths of unarmed people — many of them Black — at the hands of police.
And the show ended with a best actor upset with Sir Anthony Hopkins being awarded the statue over favored actors Chadwick Boseman and Riz Ahmed.
In between there were some moments of delight including one none of us had on our bingo cards — nominee Glenn Close's recitation of facts about the hit "Da Butt" by DC go-go band E.U. from Spike Lee's 1988 film "School Daze" and her demonstration of the dance.
Because if they aren't going to give her an Oscar after all this time AT LEAST they could give Close her moment to shine.
Whew. What a night.
The 93rd Academy Awards was chock full of historic firsts for women and people of color tonight.
"Minari" star Yuh-jung Youn became first Korean actress to win for best supporting role while Chloé Zhao took home best director for her critically-acclaimed "Nomadland," which depicts a woman in her 60s traveling through the American West as a van-dwelling nomad.
It took 93 years for the Academy to name an Asian woman as best director. And until this year, only five women, all White, had ever been nominated and only one had won — Kathryn Bigelow, in 2010, for "The Hurt Locker."
Sir Anthony Hopkins is now the oldest actor to win an acting Academy Award.
The 83-year-old took home the statue for best actor for his role in "The Father."
Hopkins win was considered a bit of an upset as the late Chadwick Boseman had been favored to take the category.
Hopkins was not present to accept his award.
Frances McDormand just won best actress for "Nomadland."
McDormand took the stage and simply said, "My voice is in my word, we know the word is our work and I like work. Thank you for knowing that and thanks for this."
McDormand played Fern in the film, which is about a woman who lives in her van and travels across the midwest. The director of "Nomadland" Chloé Zhao became the first woman of color and the first woman of Asian descent to earn best director at the Oscars tonight.
McDormand has won numerous awards throughout her career, including two Emmys and a Tony. She has previously won two Oscars. One for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" in 2019 and 1997's "Fargo."
"Nomadland" by Chloé Zhao just won the Oscar for best picture.
The Academy Awards honored those in the entertainment industry who died over the past year.
Actor and comedian Lil Rel Howery led attendees of the 93rd Academy Awards in a game of "name that song" Sunday night.
One of the people roped into playing along was actress Glenn Close who correctly named the song "Da Butt" by Experience Unlimited.
"Spike Lee had it written for his brilliant movie 'School Daze' and my friends at the Oscars missed it and it wasn't nominated," Close told Howery as she got up and did "Da Butt" dance to a round of applause.
"She did 'Da Butt' at the Oscars. This is the blackest Oscars of all time," Howery said.
H.E.R. was already a Grammy winner and now she has an Oscar as well.
The singer took home the award for best original song.
"I am so, so, so grateful," she said. "Not only for the win, but to be a part of such an important, important story."
The song, from the film "Judas and the Black Messiah," has been added to a trove of protest anthems from recent years.
"As long as I'm standing I'm always going to fight for us, I'm always going to fight for my people and fight for what's right," the singer said. "I think that's what music does and I think that's what storytelling does."
"Soul" took home another Oscar tonight, this time for best original score.
The film tells the story of a middle school music teacher who is on a quest to reunite with his body and soul. The film, produced by Pixar and released by Disney, stars the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Questlove and Angela Bassett.
Despite the film being released straight to streaming on Disney+ due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the film has received critical acclaim.
The movie won best animated feature earlier tonight at the Academy Awards.