Today, the end of the awards season is upon us with the Oscars, and several worthy winners will be taking home the coveted golden statue, even as the ceremony weighs down with accusations of a lack of diversity among the nominees, not enough female representation, and so on.
Also read: Here are our Oscar predictions based on data
However, it is the biggest night of the year for the movie industry and there are several categories that are wide open: such as the Best Picture race with the likes of 1917 and Parasite being front-runners to win the grand prize. If Parasite wins, it would be the first foreign-language film to achieve the honour. A win in the international feature film or director categories (for Bong Joon Ho) would also be a first for a South Korean movie.
Here is the winners' (updating) list from the ongoing ceremony:
Did Joaquin Phoenix's performance in Joker change superhero(villain) movies for you forever, or are you rooting for Adam Driver's understated yet devastating arc in Marriage Story ? Do you think this will be Scarlett Johansson's breakthrough at the Oscars or does Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland take the trophy?
Let the show begin!
And it's a wrap for the 92nd Academy Awards!
As the Parasite team was giving their speeches, the lights started dimming which prompted outrage across the auditorium, after which they came back on again, and were left on until the acceptances were done.
It has been Parasite and Bong Joon ho's night, and one for the ages, as the record books are being rewritten right now. What a phenomenal achievement for the South Korean film and Bong, who delivered, possibly the best film of the decade.
Oscars, you've done them right this time.
The cast and crew of 'Parasite' accept the award for best picture at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
Best Picture: Parasite
Jane Fonda speaks about how films can influence lives and create an impact, and announces.... the winner as PARASITE!
The South Korean film becomes the first non-English/ foreign film in history to win the award, and Hollywood royalty watches on to give Bong Joon-ho's cast and crew a standing ovation.
Bong Joon Ho, left, and Kang-Ho Song celebrate before going on stage to accept the award for best picture for 'Parasite' at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
9.46 am
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Renée Zellweger for Judy
Last year's Best Actor Rami Malek presents the award to Zellweger, who thanks her fellow nominees, and then remembers the long list of people who have been integral to her career.
No joy for Scarlett Johansson despite having the year of her life and being nominated for two awards!
Renee Zellweger accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a leading role for 'Judy' at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Joaquin Phoenix for Joker
This was a shoo-in. Phoenix uses the stage to give an impassioned speech.
"I want to use this opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless. We face distressing issues collectively, and champion different causes, but I see commonality in our fights, be it gender and equality, or racism or queer rights or animal rights. We are all in this fight against injustice. One species does not have the right to dominate others. We have become disconnected from the natural world and plunder it for its resources," he said.
Phoenix also batted for veganism, and advises everyone to use love and compassion as guiding principles, and finishes his speech with a lyric written by his late brother and chokes up.
Joaquin Phoenix reacts as he accepts the Oscar for Best Actor for "Joker" at the 92nd Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 9, 2020
The in memoriam segment
The In Memoriam segment is introduced by Steven Spielberg, and followed by singing sensation Billie Eilish who performs Yesterday.
Best Director: Bong Joon-ho for Parasite
He's done it. Everyone's red carpet darling comes up on stage for the third time! He looks almost sheepish accepting the award, saying he thought he was "done for the day and was ready to relax" after the International Feature award.
"The most personal is the most creative," he says and points out the "great Martin Scorsese" in the audience who he learnt from constantly as a kid, as the crowd rises up in unison to applaud the veteran. Bong adds that he never thought he'd win, much less be nominated alongside someone like Scorsese. He also thanks Quentin Tarantino for putting Joon-ho's films on lists when nobody heard of him, and then proceeds to congratulate Sam Mendes and Todd Phillips as well.
"If I had a chainsaw, I'd cut this statue into five pieces to make sure we all get a bit of it! I'm going to drink until morning now."
Over and out. But will be come up on stage again?
Best Original Song: Love Me Again by Elton John and Bernie Taupin for Rocketman
Elton John and Bernie Taupin win best original song. “This doesn’t suck”, says Taupin, followed by Elton who congratulates his fellow nominees, and tells his children he loves them.
Best Original Score: Hildur Guðnadóttir for Joker
Sigourney Weaver, Gal Gadot and Brie Larson come up on stage and after a speech about empowering women and calling all of them 'superheroes', present the award to Hildur Guðnadóttir for Joker. Hildur, who also won the Golden Globe in the same category urges women to 'Speak up' during her beautiful acceptance speech on stage.
9.02am
Elton John arrives on stage for his Rocketman act
Now, it's time for Elton John’s performance. The legend comes on stage to sing Love Me Again from Rocketman, which is his fourth Oscar-nominated song.
8.55 am
Best International Feature Film: Parasite (South Korea)
Could there have been any other winner? Now, it only remains to be seen if Parasite wins Best Picture as well.
Bong Joon-ho is all smiles on stage for the second time, and says he's happy to the the first winner in the category under its 'new name' (It was changed from Best Foreign Language Film). He politely asks the audience to applaud his cast and crew members who are also at the ceremony, and then goes, "I'm ready to drink tonight!"
'Parasite' actor Jeong Hyeonjun, left, and his mother Lee Min Jae celebrate as they watch a TV live broadcasting of 'Parasite' winning awards at the Oscars
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Bombshell
It's a win for Bombshell, and the technicians come on stage to profusely thank actress Charlize Theron for her contribution to the award. Theron, a former Oscar winner herself for Monster in 2003, breaks down into tears overwhelmed watching the speech.
8.45 am
Best Visual Effects: 1917
One more win for 1917 ! Sam Mendes' war epic is proving exactly to be the Oscar heavyweight everyone thought it was going to be, after a slow start. Though Avengers:EndGame was also in the running, it will have to settle for being the highest-grossing film of all time.
Cynthia Erivo performs 'Stand Up' from Harriet
Singer and actress Cynthia Erivo delivers a rounding rendition of Stand Up from her film Harriet , that she's nominated for, in one of the best acts of the evening so far.
Tom Hanks announces date for opening of The Academy Museum
A new museum for The Academy is set to open doors on December 14 in Los Angeles, and Tom Hanks is his usual affable self making the announcement coming up on stage after the Academy president.
Tom Hanks speaks at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
Best Editing: Ford v Ferrari
Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland win the hotly-contested category for Ford v Ferrari , which the likes of 1917 and Parasite would have also expected to win. James Mangold's film is shaping up to be a surprise at this year's ceremony.
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for 1917
It's Roger Deakins' world and we are all just living in it. To nobody's surprise, the ace technician is given the award for his incredible work in 1917 , that left audiences across the world in awe. True to his usual debonair self, the Englishman delivers a classy speech while picking up his third Oscar.
Roger Deakins accepts the award for best cinematography for '1917' at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
Best Sound Mixing: 1917
The heavyweight wins its first award of the night, in a category where it was widely expected to be a favourite. Remember your hearts pounding when they were down in the trenches, anyone?
Best Sound Editing: Ford v Ferrari
After a sly dig at #OscarsSoWhite, Salma Hayek presents the award to Donald Sylvester for Ford v Ferrari, who points out that this will be the last Oscar-winning film by 20th Century Fox, and insists that director James Mangold should have been nominated.
Eminem brings the house down with his performance
Lin Manuel Miranda comes up on stage to present a montage about films that have songs in them, and how integral they are to the storyline and people remembering films for their soundtracks. This is followed by Eminem performing his iconic Lose Yourself number from the 8 Mile soundtrack that has everyone in the crowd singing, and he concludes to one of the loudest cheers of the night.
Eminem performs Till I Collapse during the Oscars show at the 92nd Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 9, 2020
7.50 am
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern for Marriage Story
The first Oscar on her third nomination! Mahershala Ali presents the award to the actress for her powerhouse performance in Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story. Another widely-expected win, and the actress tries to draw a parallel between Marriage Story and environmentalism somehow, finally thanking her parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd for being her heroes.
Laura Dern accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for 'Marriage Story' at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
Best Documentary Short Subject: Learning To Skateboard In A Warzone (If You're A Girl)
Director Carol Dysinger wins for her widely-acclaimed film on the story of young Afghan girls learning to read, write, and skateboard, in Kabul, using skateboarding as an escape and tool to motivate and challenge them.
Best Documentary Feature: American Factory
Mark Ruffalo tells the audience that many of the nominated films were directed or co-directed by woman, to huge cheers. American Factory is the winner, which is about a Chinese billionaire opening a new factory at an abandoned General Motors plant in Ohio, and how optimism give way to setbacks as China clashes with the USA.
7.30 am
Best Costume Design: Little Women
Greta Gerwig's adaptation of the beloved best-seller wins best costume design. Designer Jacqueline Durran accepts the award, thanking her director.
7.25 am
Best Production Design: Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
Tarantino's ode to Hollywood wins the prize for its incredible representation of 1969 Los Angeles, and Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh accept the award, that comes after a short funny sketch by Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig.
Best Live Action Short Film: The Neighbours' Window
Directed by Marshall Curry, The Neighbors’ Window tells the true story of a middle aged woman (Maria Dizzia) with small children whose life is shaken up when two free-spirited twenty-somethings (Juliana Canfield and Bret Lada) move in across the street.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jojo Rabbit
New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi wins the award, and thanks his mother for giving him the book he adapted the story from. He seems genuinely surprised and stumbles his way through the acceptance. A well-deserved win for one of the most charming films of the year!
Taika Waititi accepts the award for best adapted screenplay for 'Jojo Rabbit' at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
7.10 am
Best Original Screenplay: Parasite
You sense director Bong Joon-ho is going to be making that walk up onto that stage many more times tonight. His speech flirts between both Korean and English, and he dedicates the award to South Korea, along with thanking his wife foremost for always being an inspiration to him, as well as his actors.
HOBong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won accept the Writing - Original Screenplay - award for 'Parasite' onstage during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California
Performance of 'Into The Unknown' from Frozen 2
Idina Menzel comes on, along with other singers/ actors who starred in any international version of Frozen for a performance of Into the Unknown from Frozen 2 . The song is performed in Japanese, Polish, Thai, Castilian, German, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish and Danish.
Best Animated Short Film: Hair Love
The animated short award goes to the makers of Hair Love , that follows the story of a man who must do his daughter's hair for the first time. While winning the award, the makers dedicate it to basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who passed away recently in a tragic accident.
6.54 am
Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 4
The fourth film in the much-loved franchise wins a quite unpredictable category, as Klaus was another film that was getting a lot of hype in awards season. Mindy Kaling announces the award as the makers come onto stage for a charming little speech on the film being a 'love letter' to everyone growing up with the franchise.
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt for Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
And the first award of the night goes to Pitt for his role in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. The actor beat out several heavyweights in the category, and thanks Leonardo DiCaprio, his director as well as the stunt coordinators who worked on the film. He winds up the speech dedicating the award to his kids.
Brad Pitt accepts the award for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
The ceremony begins!
After a glitzy showing at the red carpet, all the celebrities are in their seats and Janelle Monae opens the show to a medley of songs, going through the audience and dancing her way through the opening of the awards.
She's followed by former hosts Steve Martin and Chris Rock who are up next on stage, for the opening monologue of sorts (since there's no Oscar host)
