91st Academy Awards take place

On Sunday, Feb. 24, the 91st Academy Awards ceremony took place from the famed Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony, also popularly called “the Oscars,” celebrates the best achievement from the previous year in all aspects of film and movies.

For the first time in decades, the Oscars occurred without a host, a void usually filled by popular actors or comedians. This year, Kevin Hart was originally slated to host before an outcry on social media over decade-old tweets from the comedian forced his hand in dropping out of the hosting job.

At this year’s ceremony, “Green Book” took home the Best Picture award, beating out other films such as Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman.” Lee did however win an award in another category for Best Adapted Screenplay, prompting him to make a politically impassioned speech.

Rami Malek earned the Best Actor nod for his vibrant performance of rock icon Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a film chronicling the origins and adventures of the band Queen. The film won multiple accolades throughout the evening.

Olivia Colman won Best Actress for her performance in “The Favourite,” while Mahershala Ali and Regina King won Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. This marks the second time in three years that Ali has won that award.

One of the more memorable moments of the evening came when Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga performed a stirring rendition of “Shallow,” the main song from their recent movie “A Star Is Born.”

Funny moments were abundant throughout the evening, such as Melissa McCarthy’s over-the-top dress when she presented the costume design award or when Keegan Michael-Key did his best Mary Poppins impersonation by descending from the top of the theatre, umbrella in hand.

All in all, the ceremony earned increased ratings from last year and seemed to have no problems despite the lack of a host, prompting a discussion about whether a host will even be sought at all in future years. We will now wait to see what the rest of 2019 has to offer in the film industry.