DiCaprio and ‘Mad Max’ nail Oscars

For all movie addicts, the most important day of the year is The Academy Awards, otherwise known as The Oscars. The 88th Academy Awards took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on Feb. 28.

Way before the big day, the Academy received a lot of attention for having a nominee list that was too “white.” As the host, Chris Rock started the evening with his opening monologue on the issue, and many presenters brought up the racial subject throughout the ceremony as well.

This year, unconventionally, the awards were presented in the order of the pipeline in the film industry. Therefore, the very first Oscar statuette went to The Best Original Screenplay: “Spotlight,” which also won Best Picture. This monumental change indicates that a script is “the spine of Hollywood.” The plot of “Spotlight” draws awareness on the true story of child molestation, one of the focused topics during the ceremony.

Besides the meticulously designed presenting sequence, the display of the nominees was also well-planned. Each award was demonstrated with its initial appearance. For example, the dialogues and everything written on the script were recited and shown on the big screen for both Adapted and Original Screenplay, and the production sets containing the green screen were revealed for Best Visual Effects.

Following “The Revenant” as the second -most-nominated feature film, “Mad Max: Fury Road” got six technological awards including Best Costume Design, Production Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, which made it no doubt the biggest winner of this year.

Although “The Revenant” only received three awards out of its 12 nominations, the optimum partners Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki were honored as Best Director and Best Cinematography, respectively, two years in a row after their cooperation on “Birdman” in 2014.

As many film enthusiasts predicted, the other award of “The Revenant” went to Leonardo DiCaprio. He finally got his first Academy Award, which ended his 12 years of waiting, after his first nomination for Best Actor in “The Aviator” (2004). The audience gave DiCaprio a standing ovation after the presenter announced him as the winner.

Known as an environmental activist and vegetarian, DiCaprio not only thanked his parents and whoever helped him with his career in the past, but also called on everyone to be aware that “The Revenant” is a motion picture about the relationship between human beings and Mother Nature.

Full of gratitude, he ended his acceptance speech with “I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted. Thank you so very much.”

Every nominee is admirable, but without a doubt, “Mad Max: Fury Road” was the shiniest under the 88th Oscar spotlight, and for all of Leonardo DiCaprio’s fans, the long wait is over. It finally happened!


Online edition version for The Aquinas of  The University of Scranton:
DiCaprio and ‘Mad Max’ nail Oscars