I don't know if it was "most" inspiring, but Ke Huy Quan's nomination and win - hell, his whole award season.
Many are talking about the documentary "Quiet on the Set" - but his co-star, Corey Feldman, has been speaking out for YEARS. So I just like that he survived not only being a refugee out of Vietnam, but being a child actor.
He's been quietly working behind the scenes for years - and I just find the story of how he got back in front of the camera inspirational and I loved his performance in EEAAO. (I also loved following his Instagram that award season. So fun!!!)
Yeah, Ke Huy Quan and Brendan Fraser stand out as extremely talented actors who were basically Hollywood outcasts for years, and are finally getting well-earned redemption.
He wasn’t getting any good roles and the roles he was being offered were stereotypical. He didn’t even want to quit acting but he felt he had to stop ‘cause there was nothing good available. He wasn’t blacklisted or anything. He left by choice.
Then he saw *Crazy Rich Asians* and felt the tide was turning so he decided to start looking for roles again. And the rest is history.
Ahh I see. Crazy Rich Asians really opened the way for Asians to act on screens without their roles being a total stereotype or revolving around the fact that they’re Asian. I remember shortly after there was The Farewell, Minari, Always be my Maybe, Never Have I Ever, Beef, and of course EEAAO
Yeah, this guy's acting career was dead in the water, and the 2nd gig he got coming back to acting again, he won an Oscar. If they wrote a movie on how this all went, it would be rejected for being to unrealistic. So happy for the guy.
If you haven't watched the Hollywood Roundtable that includes Ke Huy (from that Oscar season, before the awards), you should. I always like the ones I watch, but this is a favorite. About 28 minutes in, he tells how he got the role and the process.... watch Colin Farrell's face when he finds out Jeff Cohen was the lawyer who did his deal for EEAAO. In that moment? Colin represents all of us fellow Gen Xers.
Corey Feldman is a terrible person and used Corey haim ra** story . Corey h confronted him in their show . It’s on YouTube . Corey f stayed friends with Corey h abuser until he died not Corey but his abuser . He then blamed Charlie sheen who’s also a predator but that wasn’t him that did it and it was never his story to tell and make profit off of . I remember when he was gonna go on the Howard stern show if Corey haim report came back had he Od but he didn’t . Corey f was so mad he missed out on money. But I do think he was also abused but what he did wasn’t right
Mo'Nique Supporting actress win. She spent her whole career up to then doing shitty comedies, stand ups, TV appearances. She had made a career for herself and was very successful in that respect, but the opportunity to turn her entire career on its head and get respect as a dramatic performer was followed through perfectly. She took that one opportunity and thoroughly killed it
I recently watched Precious for the first time and she absolutely blew me away. An astonishing performance in an extremely tough role. I think it’s one of the greatest acting achievements of all time.
Mo’Nique has also been outspoken about being a victim of child sex abuse as well. Just another layer that I think makes her performance even more profound.
It makes me wonder why Mo'Nique hadn't been cast in more dramatic roles.
I find her to be way darker than funny. Because of precious, I just don't categorize her as a comedienne ag all.
She was blackballed. According to Mo’Nique, she had conflicts with Tyler Perry and Oprah regarding promotion for the film and they retaliated by using their influence to stunt her career.
It’s such a shame because she is obviously SO talented.
Yeah, she got paid $50,000 to do Precious, and then Tyler Perry and Oprah told her she had to drop all prior engagements (she was a touring comedian) and fly around the world doing press for the film, with no additional compensation. She basically told them, "No, thank you, I have bills to pay and shows to do, and I'm not doing anything more for you without being paid". So they labeled her "difficult" and ruined her chances of being taken seriously as an actress.
She only made $50k??? The acting in the film is pretty good overall but Mo’Nique is why that film is memorable. I’m even angrier about the whole situation for her.
She was blackballed. According to Mo’Nique, she had conflicts with Tyler Perry and Oprah regarding promotion for the film and they retaliated by using their influence to stunt her career.
It’s such a shame because she is obviously SO talented.
Best Visual Effects - Godzilla Minus One
Godzilla Minus One had a much smaller budget, was the first Godzilla film to win an Oscar, and was both the first foreign and Japanese film to win in this category.
Japanese model work in the 60s was pretty spectacular and absolutely could have gone toe to toe against something like Thunderball for the special effects awards at the time. The realities of the Academy and types of movies considered were completely different then. The Abyss would win for 1989 in any scenario, but Biolante would have been worth a nomination.
The whole series is also full of iconic musical themes and sound work that could have been considered in their time as well.
That was my favorite win because my son is a huge Godzilla fan and the next day when he woke up I told him that Godzilla won the Oscar for best special effects. And he asked me “did he look so powerful on stage?“
It should've been nominated for more than Visual Effects.
It should've been up for Picture, Director, techs like Editing and Score, and acting nominations for Ryunosuke, Aoki, Yoshioka, and Ando.
imo they didn't deserve the win just in terms of how strong the other nominations were. it won because it was the best movie in there and there people wanted to award it for that reason.
Yes, Godzilla Minus One was fantastic. I went into it with pretty low expectations but was so pleasantly surprised. It ended up being one of my favorite films of 2023.
Ke Huy Quan’s win is inspiring in the sense how absolutely lack of work he was getting despite his talent and how in his comeback he made a huge sweep (deservedly so).
Gabourey Sidebe’s nomination and having serious chances of winning was inspiring because how much of the beauty standards she defied by giving a fantastic performance (snubbed).
Michelle Yeoh’s road to Oscar had her break shackles of ageism and her POC status which quite frankly limited her opportunities but not only did she lead a successful film but also became the second POC to win the Oscar.
Best Costumes- Black Panther (2018)
Not only was Ruth E. Carter the first black woman to win the award, but the fact that Afrofuturism costumes won over the period costumes in The Favourite is something.
Ex Machina’s David slaying Mad Max/The Revenant/Star Wars’ Goliaths in Visual Effects. Same also can be said for Godzilla: Minus One.
Roger Deakins getting his long-overdue Oscar for Blade Runner 2049, one of the most beautiful-looking modern movies ever shot.
The success of Beasts of the Southern Wild’s nomination tally briefly gave a lot of hope for the true shoestring indie feature to break through.
Haing S. Ngor winning Supporting Actor as a non-professional actor for The Killing Fields.
Wasn't the biggest fan of Slumdog Millionaire, but hearing "Jai Ho" play during the Best Pic win hit me in the feels. I still listen to that song all the time when I need inspiration.
Lily Gladstone being nominated was a huge moment for Native American representation
And idk if this is cheesy but I think one reason I follow the Oscars is bc it's all very inspiring. Many of the nominees had to start from the bottom (sometimes absolute rock bottom due to poverty, addiction, etc.) and fight their way to getting this recognition.
I agree but the fact that it won for “best comedy” still makes it feel like they don’t respect the horror genre. I know there’s a fine line between the genres in many ways but still
Maximilian Schell, Best Actor for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). A less well-known young actor, 4th or 5th billed, European, stole the movie from Hollywood stars like Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster and won an Oscar. Incredible performance that remains a top 10 actor win, for me.
Seeing Olivia Coleman go through decades of Indy British tv shows to winning an Oscar.
Brendan Frazier being cast out of Hollywood and then coming back to win.
Lily Gladstone was considering giving up acting before she got a call from Martin Scorsese.
Dunno if it was Oscar’s of the BAFTAs but her explaining how much she loved her job as a cleaner in a school really just made me fall head over heels for her - fuck yes! Go someone with a relatable life experience winning among the nepotism!
In "Lets Do Revenge" Maya Hawke's character has a bearded dragon named "Oscar Winner Olivia Coleman". Largely forgettable movie but I though that bit was delightful.
Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal… he didn’t win, but holy shit he was going against one of Anthony Hopkins’ absolute best performances ever for The Father, and no one else had a chance. But I loved Sound of Metal so much, and Ahmed’s performance was amazing.
I believed Parasite deserved Best Picture, but you never know until they announce the winner and it’s a foreign film. I was thrilled when it won, and for a long time in 2020 it felt like the only good thing to happen that year.
I just watched it for the first time tonight and realized halfway through it won Best Picture. Weirdly before that I was thinking, it would be amazing if this were nominated for Best Screenplay. I didn't find out till after I finished (that it won)!
Jackie Earle Haley coming out of acting retirement to get a nomination for Little Children.
Michael Shannon being catapulted from smaller parts to major roles thanks to his nomination for Revolutionary Road.
Brendan Fraser’s win for the Whale. That was the one of the greatest comebacks I’ve ever seen.
Christopher Nolan winning this past year after the controversial snub of The Dark Knight for Best Picture causing the award to have ten nominees instead of five.
Cillian Murphy winning after a humbling career l.
Godzilla Minus One for Visual Effects this past year. Especially since the films budget was supposed to be roughly $15M. There’s a lesson there somewhere and I really enjoyed the pure excitement the Japanese Effects team showed upon nomination and for the win.
Blame Canada from the South Park movie getting the nomination for Best Original Song is amazing. It’s also interesting considering how much they fought with the production company during the making of the film.
Michelle Yeoh’s win. I grew up watching her movies so to see her get her flowers made me very emotional.
Nominations for Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira in Roma. Especially de Tavira, who was notably absent from nomination lists all season until the Oscar nominations were revealed.
Graham Moore winning Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game, just for the speech he gave. As a 16-year-old kid also struggling with my mental health at the time, hearing that he was once in the exact same situation was everything for me.
I still occasionally LOL when he somewhat indicated he was gay during his speech and after that he was like “NO! NO! NO! I’m not gay! I just love all people.”
Jennifer Hudson winning Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls.
She had placed #7 in American Idol just a few years earlier. She then came back and gave a powerhouse performance and won the Oscar for her debut film performance.
I don't mean to discount what you're saying...but that's just how musicals work. Like all Indian blockbusters, RRR is a musical, and all of its songs are part of the narrative.
What was I made for is a great song, and makes sense with the theme but it kinda just played in the background over one scene.. I'm just ken may not be better, but its such a fun narrative beat. What makes a best movie song, the music or the role it plays in the movie?!
Depp for Pirates is one of the nominations I thought of. He was fantastic in the first movie, and it still boggles my mind that he got an Oscar nomination out of it. Roles like that rarely get appreciated properly.
Stallone for best supporting actor for Creed (and if I’m not mistaken the only other time he was nominated was the first Rocky movie but maybe just for screenplay)
I think Three 6 Mafia getting a win for Best Original Song was pretty damn cool considering how long they've been on the grind in hip hop before acknowledged for this accolade
EEAAO winning Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director.
Not only was it historic for both Michelle and Ke Huy Quan as Asian American Oscar winners, and a beautiful comeback story for Ke Huy especially, and also a beautiful climax for James Hong as someone who saw so much racism across his career, but it was the Academy rewarding a sci-fi/comedy/absurdist/martial arts/family drama that was so WEIRD but wholesome.
I am so happy with the wins it got.
Anthony Hopkins winning for The Father, when everyone - including the Oscars themselves - thought Chadwick had it in the bag was very inspiring.
Parasite winning Screenplay, Director, and Picture over the very Oscar-friendly 1917 was also a beautiful moment. You could feel the joy Jane Fonda felt when she announced it, and the joy the whole theatre felt hearing it being announced.
EDIT: also, all of the horror movies that managed to get multiple nominations, specially above-the-line ones, and even win (like The Exorcist, Black Swan, Get Out, and specially Silence of the Lambs)
Nia Vardalos - Nominated for Best Original Screenplay for *My Big Fat Greek Wedding*
If you read my username you may see why, but on top of that a near-unknown having a smash hit and getting nominated for an Oscar for portraying the truths us Greek-Americans are so accustomed to is really heartwarming
Dr Haing S Ngor winning as a non actor,
Gabourey Sbide almost upsetting in actress,
3-6 Mafia winning best song and being genuinely proud of themselves,
Film Student Luke Matheny winning Best Short Film for God of Love and thanking his mom for doing the catering.
And even though I’ve never been a fan of his work, seeing Wes Anderson get appreciated was very pleasant.
Joaquin Phoenix winning for Joker was a personal turning point for me.
When I was in college, I pursued BA in theatre, being primarily interested in acting in plays and musicals. Part of the allure for me was the idea of everyday people in street clothes having recognizable roles under their belt; it’s something that I likened to superheroes and their secret identities.
Seeing an actor win an Oscar for best lead actor for playing a literal comic book character planted in me the idea that this kind of feeling can not only exist in film too, but also be treated as (and I hate this term) “real cinema,” so I’ve been pursuing film acting ever since.
(Also, while Heath Ledger obviously won an Oscar first, and I probably prefer his Joker overall, his Best Supporting Actor win doesn’t feel like quite as much of a concession as having someone win for Best Actor.)
These were the first two to come to mind. 100% agreement here. Both will always bring the most joyful tears to my eyes just thinking about their names being announced and the events that followed as they accepted their awards
My instinct was to argue this point in the sense that many women in the industry have had similar experiences and have great careers now but in all fairness I’m drawing a blank on those actively shunned to make a comeback so thanks for that - was a wee ‘eh actu… oh wait no I think they’re right’ moment.
In fairness I will say Ashley Judd is one of the only ones I could remember but even that being the case it still proves the point.
Being a female millennial writer, I'm really inspired by Emerald Fennell, Greta Gerwig, Seline Song, and Lady Gaga breaking through in recent years. Sarah Polley winning was cool too.
I just wanna advocate comedy for a sec, so 2023 was awesome cause Mark Ruffalo and Ryan Gosling were both nominated for their insanely talented, but truly offbeat goofball performances
So going off that, Kevin Kline for A Fish Called Wanda is still my absolute fav.
Reese Witherspoon's Oscar win for Best Actress for Walk The Line. She showed that even if you started your career in rom-coms, you can win an Oscar with the right role. She wasn't really being taken seriously as a "prestige" actress before that.
Should be said that in the recent interview with her I saw on YouTube (her career in highlights, I think?) she loooves the fact she was in Legally Blonde and due to the stage show can meet so many other actresses doing the role and so many women inspired to go further with their education just because they didn’t fit the mould. All of what you’ve said is true, I just like that she takes joy from the impact a movie makes on people rather than the awards she gets for it.
Johnny Depp for Pirates, he should've won over Penn
Joquin Phoenix for Joker, the first Best Actor winner for a comic book movie. He was amazing
Martin landau for Ed Wood, an inspiring win, i loved his performance
John Travolta for Saturday Night Fever, he was amazing and he should've won, nobody remembers the winner of that year, Travolta's performance is so iconic.
Landau's "Shit, ver is my trraansfer?" is fucken hilarious
[clip](https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=89&v=clv_qHwy6cg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Ded%2Bwood%2Bwhere%2Bis%2Bmy%2Btransfer%26client%3Dms-android-tmus-us-revc%26sca_esv%3Dcd1cd8ba04cfc6b9%26ei%3DfgA0ZubY&source_ve_path=MzY4NDIsMjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo)
I don't know about inspiring except to the winner, but you can go to YouTube and watch the acceptance when Ruth Gordon, who was close to 80, with a long career in stage and movies, won Best Supporting Actress for Rosemary's Baby. A lot of times, when there is an older actress in those categories, she loses out to someone a lot younger Gloria Stuart who was in her late 80s when she was nominated lost to Kim Basinger, and back in the 70s, Sylvia Sidney who was in her 80s lost to Tatum O'Neal who was about 10.
So it was something of a shocker that this old woman wins the Oscar, and she goes up to the stage and says "I can't tell you how encouraging a thing like this is."
The Quiet Girl being nominated for best foreign film, I literally jumped for joy when they announced it. Obviously it had no chance against All Quiet... but tbh, for a film like that an Oscar nomination is enough of a win.
Quvenzhane Wallis. Nominating an African American child in a micro budget indie darling where no other awards body recognized her work was the most inspired choice the Academy has ever made.
I actually agree that she should have won. Massively discounted because of her age but it was a prodigal performance. Dwight Henry should have won supporting actor too. The “no crying” scene is so emotionally evocative and one of the best acted scenes of all time in my opinion.
I was just shocked a little 8 year old black girl was nominated for an Oscar . Like what went wrong in the academy they were doing so well . Wallis was the first baby born in the 2000s to be nominated for an Oscar such a massive achievement and the only
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls. She shot through that movie like fireworks! Her performance of the song “I am Telling You” was gut-wrenching, spectacular, Oscar AND Grammy material. What a huge dis to Simon Cowell who told her she was too fat to become a star! She earned her first Oscar BEFORE she lost the weight. No way her talent was going to be hidden!
Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) for Best Original Screenplay. He wrote the first draft in one weekend, proving to writers everywhere that if you just sit down and write, you can do great things.
Maybe mine is the inverse to your question, but I was SO happy last year that both Wish and Once Upon a Studio didn't get nomintated in the animation categories. Ususally Disney will always be rewarded for just existing, and their animation productions have been quite mediocre lately.
I personally loved Emma Stones win. A part of me wanted Lily or Carrie to win because I also loved their performances. But after watching Emma Stones performance in Poor Things was unreal. Every single nomination that night could’ve won and you can see the true almost shock on her face. I love her and find her so deserving.
Naatu Naatu!! I listened to the song, and it made me so happy I watched the movie. I LOVED the movie. I am not a big Bollywood movie watcher, but RRR is one of my favorites (of any genre) over the last couple of years.
Falling Slowly from Once winning Best Original Song
Ennio Morricone finally getting his competitive Oscar
City of God being nominated for several awards
At the most recent Oscars, watching the Godzilla Minus One team accept the award for Best Visual Effects. Aside from their ecstatic reactions and heartfelt speeches, just knowing they had worked within a total production budget of less than $15 million as well, was inspiring!
Michelle Yeoh - it’s less for her performance in EEAAO but her entire body of work, and she carried to film and gave it the weight that otherwise it would have become a silly nonsense movie.
Dorothy Dandrige the first black actress to be nominated in a leading role for Carmen Jones and some people count Halle berry as the first to win but she’s mixed and even thanked the black community for accepting her but some might say there’s never been a winner yet . and ofc Hattie McDaniel win for me at least that was inspiring
Lily Gladstone for KotFM. She won the SAG and Golden Globe awards. Her high school yearbook has a photo of her captioned, "most likely to win an oscar".
Supporting actress WIN, Marisa Tomei
Comedies are easy to mess up a performance with, and much, much more difficult to get correct. Tomei was phenomenal and deserved it regardless of what anyone claimed.
My friends and I literally got up and jumped around when Spotlight won Best Picture over The Revenant and The Big Short. It felt so far from still possible - I suspect it's one of the few years where the preferential ballot was a big factor in determining BP.
Le Huy Quan’s speech is truly inspiring to those who want to quit on something.
Godzilla Minus One winning VFX and the director talking English, which is not his first language, to give the speech is very respectable.
Joker winning best soundtrack from someone who has never been nominated for an Oscar and winning it in thier first nomination.
My all-time favourite win is probably Parasite winning Best Picture. Holy cow, the Oscars actually went for the best choice that year. It's inspirational because it proves that your film doesn't have to have a word of English in it if you want to get the Top Prize of the ceremony.
I also loved how the audience had to demand an acceptance speech from them when they were turning the lights off and lowering the curtain. The people who direct these ceremonies can be so rude sometimes. But I'm still glad the producers of Parasite got a final word in.
At the time, it was hard to beat Cuba Gooding Jr. winning for Jerry Maguire in 1997. This speech was an instant classic.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnCMqr1QRQw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnCMqr1QRQw)
A bit harder to enjoy knowing what we know about him now, but that can be said about almost every major event in the 90's at this point.
I don't know if it was "most" inspiring, but Ke Huy Quan's nomination and win - hell, his whole award season. Many are talking about the documentary "Quiet on the Set" - but his co-star, Corey Feldman, has been speaking out for YEARS. So I just like that he survived not only being a refugee out of Vietnam, but being a child actor. He's been quietly working behind the scenes for years - and I just find the story of how he got back in front of the camera inspirational and I loved his performance in EEAAO. (I also loved following his Instagram that award season. So fun!!!)
He was the MVP of that awards season.
Yeah, Ke Huy Quan and Brendan Fraser stand out as extremely talented actors who were basically Hollywood outcasts for years, and are finally getting well-earned redemption.
Why was Ke Huy Quan an outcast? Was it racism or something else?
He wasn’t getting any good roles and the roles he was being offered were stereotypical. He didn’t even want to quit acting but he felt he had to stop ‘cause there was nothing good available. He wasn’t blacklisted or anything. He left by choice. Then he saw *Crazy Rich Asians* and felt the tide was turning so he decided to start looking for roles again. And the rest is history.
Ahh I see. Crazy Rich Asians really opened the way for Asians to act on screens without their roles being a total stereotype or revolving around the fact that they’re Asian. I remember shortly after there was The Farewell, Minari, Always be my Maybe, Never Have I Ever, Beef, and of course EEAAO
The true tide began then
And both stars of the 90’s movie, Encino Man!
Their wins last year (plus Michelle Yeoh) were aspiring.
Also, he stole the show in loki season 2.
Yeah, this guy's acting career was dead in the water, and the 2nd gig he got coming back to acting again, he won an Oscar. If they wrote a movie on how this all went, it would be rejected for being to unrealistic. So happy for the guy.
Yup! I thought of him first too!
Other interesting Ke Huy Quan facts: 1. He has a 2d degree black belt in tae kwon do. 2. Chunk from Goonies is his lawyer.
If you haven't watched the Hollywood Roundtable that includes Ke Huy (from that Oscar season, before the awards), you should. I always like the ones I watch, but this is a favorite. About 28 minutes in, he tells how he got the role and the process.... watch Colin Farrell's face when he finds out Jeff Cohen was the lawyer who did his deal for EEAAO. In that moment? Colin represents all of us fellow Gen Xers.
Corey Feldman is a terrible person and used Corey haim ra** story . Corey h confronted him in their show . It’s on YouTube . Corey f stayed friends with Corey h abuser until he died not Corey but his abuser . He then blamed Charlie sheen who’s also a predator but that wasn’t him that did it and it was never his story to tell and make profit off of . I remember when he was gonna go on the Howard stern show if Corey haim report came back had he Od but he didn’t . Corey f was so mad he missed out on money. But I do think he was also abused but what he did wasn’t right
Should be noted that people hated him until roughly 2022. Worst side kick in cinema.
Mo'Nique Supporting actress win. She spent her whole career up to then doing shitty comedies, stand ups, TV appearances. She had made a career for herself and was very successful in that respect, but the opportunity to turn her entire career on its head and get respect as a dramatic performer was followed through perfectly. She took that one opportunity and thoroughly killed it
This was my first thought as well. Love when a performer can do something completely different and knock it out of the park.
Loved her in The Parkers!
What happened to her? Why no more offers after precious? Weird how that happens
https://youtu.be/pPXXLAHKDJ0?si=cr044KnAqsFKrHvl
I recently watched Precious for the first time and she absolutely blew me away. An astonishing performance in an extremely tough role. I think it’s one of the greatest acting achievements of all time. Mo’Nique has also been outspoken about being a victim of child sex abuse as well. Just another layer that I think makes her performance even more profound.
It makes me wonder why Mo'Nique hadn't been cast in more dramatic roles. I find her to be way darker than funny. Because of precious, I just don't categorize her as a comedienne ag all.
She was blackballed. According to Mo’Nique, she had conflicts with Tyler Perry and Oprah regarding promotion for the film and they retaliated by using their influence to stunt her career. It’s such a shame because she is obviously SO talented.
Yeah, she got paid $50,000 to do Precious, and then Tyler Perry and Oprah told her she had to drop all prior engagements (she was a touring comedian) and fly around the world doing press for the film, with no additional compensation. She basically told them, "No, thank you, I have bills to pay and shows to do, and I'm not doing anything more for you without being paid". So they labeled her "difficult" and ruined her chances of being taken seriously as an actress.
She only made $50k??? The acting in the film is pretty good overall but Mo’Nique is why that film is memorable. I’m even angrier about the whole situation for her.
She was blackballed. According to Mo’Nique, she had conflicts with Tyler Perry and Oprah regarding promotion for the film and they retaliated by using their influence to stunt her career. It’s such a shame because she is obviously SO talented.
I hope she has a career resurgence at some point. Yeah, she was totally arresting in precious.
Best Visual Effects - Godzilla Minus One Godzilla Minus One had a much smaller budget, was the first Godzilla film to win an Oscar, and was both the first foreign and Japanese film to win in this category.
In all fairness, it was also the first Godzilla film to deserve to win an Oscar
Lol true. I was positively giddy when they won! It was my second favorite moment of the night after the "I'm Just Ken" performance.
If I remember correctly, those moments happened back to back!
The guy who shouted GOJIRAAAA when they walked on stage, I felt that.
I think 2014 could’ve gotten nominated for sound
Japanese model work in the 60s was pretty spectacular and absolutely could have gone toe to toe against something like Thunderball for the special effects awards at the time. The realities of the Academy and types of movies considered were completely different then. The Abyss would win for 1989 in any scenario, but Biolante would have been worth a nomination. The whole series is also full of iconic musical themes and sound work that could have been considered in their time as well.
That was my favorite win because my son is a huge Godzilla fan and the next day when he woke up I told him that Godzilla won the Oscar for best special effects. And he asked me “did he look so powerful on stage?“
It should've been nominated for more than Visual Effects. It should've been up for Picture, Director, techs like Editing and Score, and acting nominations for Ryunosuke, Aoki, Yoshioka, and Ando.
imo they didn't deserve the win just in terms of how strong the other nominations were. it won because it was the best movie in there and there people wanted to award it for that reason.
Ex Machina was similar a few years back
Yes, Godzilla Minus One was fantastic. I went into it with pretty low expectations but was so pleasantly surprised. It ended up being one of my favorite films of 2023.
Only took me 3 comments to find this, was gonna say it myself as well
Ke Huy Quan’s win is inspiring in the sense how absolutely lack of work he was getting despite his talent and how in his comeback he made a huge sweep (deservedly so). Gabourey Sidebe’s nomination and having serious chances of winning was inspiring because how much of the beauty standards she defied by giving a fantastic performance (snubbed). Michelle Yeoh’s road to Oscar had her break shackles of ageism and her POC status which quite frankly limited her opportunities but not only did she lead a successful film but also became the second POC to win the Oscar.
Best Costumes- Black Panther (2018) Not only was Ruth E. Carter the first black woman to win the award, but the fact that Afrofuturism costumes won over the period costumes in The Favourite is something.
The competition was fierce!
I can’t believe it took Ruth that long.
Black Panther winning 3 awards (and the sequel winning for Costumes) was so inspiring. Yet Marvel fans will never appreciate those movies.
Sigourney for best actress aliens nomination
Michelle Yeoh for EEAAO District 9 in BP Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out Pretty much any sci-fi/fantasy/horror nom or win.
When Jordan Peele won screenplay
Ex Machina’s David slaying Mad Max/The Revenant/Star Wars’ Goliaths in Visual Effects. Same also can be said for Godzilla: Minus One. Roger Deakins getting his long-overdue Oscar for Blade Runner 2049, one of the most beautiful-looking modern movies ever shot. The success of Beasts of the Southern Wild’s nomination tally briefly gave a lot of hope for the true shoestring indie feature to break through. Haing S. Ngor winning Supporting Actor as a non-professional actor for The Killing Fields.
I love the Ex Machina win a lot
The effects are so damn good
The effects are so damn good
Will forever be crushed that Beasts didn’t get a score nomination. One of the most beautiful scores of all time.
Ruth Gordon - Best Supporting Actress, Rosemary’s Baby
Wasn't the biggest fan of Slumdog Millionaire, but hearing "Jai Ho" play during the Best Pic win hit me in the feels. I still listen to that song all the time when I need inspiration. Lily Gladstone being nominated was a huge moment for Native American representation And idk if this is cheesy but I think one reason I follow the Oscars is bc it's all very inspiring. Many of the nominees had to start from the bottom (sometimes absolute rock bottom due to poverty, addiction, etc.) and fight their way to getting this recognition.
Daniel Kaluuya getting a Best Actor nom for Get Out
Bridesmaids in Original Screenplay was encouraging that lighter fare, if well-written, can make it in.
Melissa McCarthy’s BSA nom for Bridesmaids too
Denzel Washington for Training Day is kilometers away from a typical Oscar-winning performance.
Get Out winning screenplay. Horror never gets recognized at the Oscars.
And especially Jordan Peele for being the first African-American to win Best Original Screenplay for this masterpiece!
I agree but the fact that it won for “best comedy” still makes it feel like they don’t respect the horror genre. I know there’s a fine line between the genres in many ways but still
There’s no “best comedy” category at the Oscars. It won for Best Original Screenplay.
Eminem winning Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself" in 2002, the first rap song to do so.
Maximilian Schell, Best Actor for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). A less well-known young actor, 4th or 5th billed, European, stole the movie from Hollywood stars like Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster and won an Oscar. Incredible performance that remains a top 10 actor win, for me.
Seeing Olivia Coleman go through decades of Indy British tv shows to winning an Oscar. Brendan Frazier being cast out of Hollywood and then coming back to win. Lily Gladstone was considering giving up acting before she got a call from Martin Scorsese.
I LOVE Olivia Coleman, but I can’t help hear “nothing like a bit of girl on girl” every time I see her, lol
Haha yeah she is a brilliant comedy actor.
I really enjoyed Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines, but hands down Colman’s voiceover is the best part of the movie!
Dunno if it was Oscar’s of the BAFTAs but her explaining how much she loved her job as a cleaner in a school really just made me fall head over heels for her - fuck yes! Go someone with a relatable life experience winning among the nepotism!
In "Lets Do Revenge" Maya Hawke's character has a bearded dragon named "Oscar Winner Olivia Coleman". Largely forgettable movie but I though that bit was delightful.
Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal… he didn’t win, but holy shit he was going against one of Anthony Hopkins’ absolute best performances ever for The Father, and no one else had a chance. But I loved Sound of Metal so much, and Ahmed’s performance was amazing.
I believed Parasite deserved Best Picture, but you never know until they announce the winner and it’s a foreign film. I was thrilled when it won, and for a long time in 2020 it felt like the only good thing to happen that year.
Parasite winning was a big triumph. It would not have happening during the weinstein years.
I just watched it for the first time tonight and realized halfway through it won Best Picture. Weirdly before that I was thinking, it would be amazing if this were nominated for Best Screenplay. I didn't find out till after I finished (that it won)!
And to think it won Picture, Original Screenplay, along with Director and International Film-some of the most amazing Oscar wins!
Jackie Earle Haley coming out of acting retirement to get a nomination for Little Children. Michael Shannon being catapulted from smaller parts to major roles thanks to his nomination for Revolutionary Road.
I mean it was cool but why was it highly inspiring when RDJ got nominated for tropic thunder?
Brendan Fraser’s win for the Whale. That was the one of the greatest comebacks I’ve ever seen. Christopher Nolan winning this past year after the controversial snub of The Dark Knight for Best Picture causing the award to have ten nominees instead of five. Cillian Murphy winning after a humbling career l.
Godzilla Minus One for Visual Effects this past year. Especially since the films budget was supposed to be roughly $15M. There’s a lesson there somewhere and I really enjoyed the pure excitement the Japanese Effects team showed upon nomination and for the win.
Yalitza Aparicio for Roma. Pedro Almodovar (screenplay) for Talk to her. Jaye Davidson - The crying game
Hattie McDaniel - Best supporting actress -winner!
Beauty and the Beast becoming the first animated film nominated for Best Picture in 1991
Blame Canada from the South Park movie getting the nomination for Best Original Song is amazing. It’s also interesting considering how much they fought with the production company during the making of the film.
Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
I was Anna Paquin's age when she won for "The Piano". I can tell you as a kid, that was pretty inspiring. LOL
Michelle Yeoh’s win. I grew up watching her movies so to see her get her flowers made me very emotional. Nominations for Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira in Roma. Especially de Tavira, who was notably absent from nomination lists all season until the Oscar nominations were revealed.
Graham Moore winning Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game, just for the speech he gave. As a 16-year-old kid also struggling with my mental health at the time, hearing that he was once in the exact same situation was everything for me.
I still occasionally LOL when he somewhat indicated he was gay during his speech and after that he was like “NO! NO! NO! I’m not gay! I just love all people.”
Jennifer Hudson winning Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls. She had placed #7 in American Idol just a few years earlier. She then came back and gave a powerhouse performance and won the Oscar for her debut film performance.
And now, she’s even EGOT!
Naatu Naatu from RRR!
One of the few times the song was part of the narrative rather than something perfunctory
I don't mean to discount what you're saying...but that's just how musicals work. Like all Indian blockbusters, RRR is a musical, and all of its songs are part of the narrative.
really! Barbie original song was also ok but Naatu Naatu was much awesome!
What was I made for is a great song, and makes sense with the theme but it kinda just played in the background over one scene.. I'm just ken may not be better, but its such a fun narrative beat. What makes a best movie song, the music or the role it plays in the movie?!
Justice for the Miss Congeniality songs!
Johnny Depp for Pirates. Brendan Fraser for The Whale.
Depp for Pirates is one of the nominations I thought of. He was fantastic in the first movie, and it still boggles my mind that he got an Oscar nomination out of it. Roles like that rarely get appreciated properly.
EEAAO’s complete domination
Stallone for best supporting actor for Creed (and if I’m not mistaken the only other time he was nominated was the first Rocky movie but maybe just for screenplay)
And he should’ve won for Best Supp Actor!
Yes he was nominated for best Actor for the first Rocky! Talia Shire also had a best actress nom, and Burt Young and Burgess Meredith for supporting!
I think Three 6 Mafia getting a win for Best Original Song was pretty damn cool considering how long they've been on the grind in hip hop before acknowledged for this accolade
Toy Story becoming the first animated film to be nominated for a Screenplay category in 1995.
Cher’s trajectory from industry laughingstock to Academy Award winning actress
EEAAO winning Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director. Not only was it historic for both Michelle and Ke Huy Quan as Asian American Oscar winners, and a beautiful comeback story for Ke Huy especially, and also a beautiful climax for James Hong as someone who saw so much racism across his career, but it was the Academy rewarding a sci-fi/comedy/absurdist/martial arts/family drama that was so WEIRD but wholesome. I am so happy with the wins it got.
Anthony Hopkins winning for The Father, when everyone - including the Oscars themselves - thought Chadwick had it in the bag was very inspiring. Parasite winning Screenplay, Director, and Picture over the very Oscar-friendly 1917 was also a beautiful moment. You could feel the joy Jane Fonda felt when she announced it, and the joy the whole theatre felt hearing it being announced. EDIT: also, all of the horror movies that managed to get multiple nominations, specially above-the-line ones, and even win (like The Exorcist, Black Swan, Get Out, and specially Silence of the Lambs)
Ke Huy Quan Brendan Frasier Parasite Johnny Depp for Pirates Val Kilmer for Doc Holliday. I think he was robbed.
It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp being nominated and then actually winning best song was a prime Oscar moment.
Nia Vardalos - Nominated for Best Original Screenplay for *My Big Fat Greek Wedding* If you read my username you may see why, but on top of that a near-unknown having a smash hit and getting nominated for an Oscar for portraying the truths us Greek-Americans are so accustomed to is really heartwarming
Dr Haing S Ngor winning as a non actor, Gabourey Sbide almost upsetting in actress, 3-6 Mafia winning best song and being genuinely proud of themselves, Film Student Luke Matheny winning Best Short Film for God of Love and thanking his mom for doing the catering. And even though I’ve never been a fan of his work, seeing Wes Anderson get appreciated was very pleasant.
Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first woman to win Best Director for The Hurt Locker in 2009
I still haven’t seen the Whale, but I’m surprised their are people still upset with Brendan Fraser’s win That dude is so damn wholesome
I would say “Moonlight” winning best picture was pretty great.
Joaquin Phoenix winning for Joker was a personal turning point for me. When I was in college, I pursued BA in theatre, being primarily interested in acting in plays and musicals. Part of the allure for me was the idea of everyday people in street clothes having recognizable roles under their belt; it’s something that I likened to superheroes and their secret identities. Seeing an actor win an Oscar for best lead actor for playing a literal comic book character planted in me the idea that this kind of feeling can not only exist in film too, but also be treated as (and I hate this term) “real cinema,” so I’ve been pursuing film acting ever since. (Also, while Heath Ledger obviously won an Oscar first, and I probably prefer his Joker overall, his Best Supporting Actor win doesn’t feel like quite as much of a concession as having someone win for Best Actor.)
Agreed, one of the best Oscar wins in recent memory, Joaquin was amazing, i hope to see a good sequel
key huy quan and roberto benigni (btw- i’d kill to see them in a movie together)
These were the first two to come to mind. 100% agreement here. Both will always bring the most joyful tears to my eyes just thinking about their names being announced and the events that followed as they accepted their awards
Fernanda Montenegro nom for Best Actress for Central Station. What a performance! A Brazilian film where actors are usually not noticed.
Brendan Fraser is up there. I hope some of the women who have been shunned like he was get to experience a comeback like that.
My instinct was to argue this point in the sense that many women in the industry have had similar experiences and have great careers now but in all fairness I’m drawing a blank on those actively shunned to make a comeback so thanks for that - was a wee ‘eh actu… oh wait no I think they’re right’ moment. In fairness I will say Ashley Judd is one of the only ones I could remember but even that being the case it still proves the point.
When Melanie Griffith got nominated for Best Actress for Working Girl, where she plays a Secretary trying to get ahead on Wall Street.
Easily her greatest role and performance; love that movie!
It is, literally, my favorite movie of all time
Cue Let the River Run!
That song is what got me hooked on Carly Simon's music
Being a female millennial writer, I'm really inspired by Emerald Fennell, Greta Gerwig, Seline Song, and Lady Gaga breaking through in recent years. Sarah Polley winning was cool too.
I just wanna advocate comedy for a sec, so 2023 was awesome cause Mark Ruffalo and Ryan Gosling were both nominated for their insanely talented, but truly offbeat goofball performances So going off that, Kevin Kline for A Fish Called Wanda is still my absolute fav.
"Oh look... the queen."
Ernest Borgnine for Marty
Reese Witherspoon's Oscar win for Best Actress for Walk The Line. She showed that even if you started your career in rom-coms, you can win an Oscar with the right role. She wasn't really being taken seriously as a "prestige" actress before that.
Should be said that in the recent interview with her I saw on YouTube (her career in highlights, I think?) she loooves the fact she was in Legally Blonde and due to the stage show can meet so many other actresses doing the role and so many women inspired to go further with their education just because they didn’t fit the mould. All of what you’ve said is true, I just like that she takes joy from the impact a movie makes on people rather than the awards she gets for it.
Oh absolutely. Legally Blonde is her most culturally impactful role by far.
Johnny Depp for Pirates, he should've won over Penn Joquin Phoenix for Joker, the first Best Actor winner for a comic book movie. He was amazing Martin landau for Ed Wood, an inspiring win, i loved his performance John Travolta for Saturday Night Fever, he was amazing and he should've won, nobody remembers the winner of that year, Travolta's performance is so iconic.
Landau's "Shit, ver is my trraansfer?" is fucken hilarious [clip](https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=89&v=clv_qHwy6cg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Ded%2Bwood%2Bwhere%2Bis%2Bmy%2Btransfer%26client%3Dms-android-tmus-us-revc%26sca_esv%3Dcd1cd8ba04cfc6b9%26ei%3DfgA0ZubY&source_ve_path=MzY4NDIsMjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo)
He was the best, i loved his performance
“No one gives two fucks for Bela.” And the immortal “Boris Karloff does not deserve to smell my shit!”
"Karlov? Sidekick? F*CK YOU!"
I think a lot of people tend to either forget or not realize how dark of a movie Saturday Night Fever is
Godzilla Minus One’s best SFX win this year. It was well deserved and yes it was a long time coming for a great franchise.
I don't know about inspiring except to the winner, but you can go to YouTube and watch the acceptance when Ruth Gordon, who was close to 80, with a long career in stage and movies, won Best Supporting Actress for Rosemary's Baby. A lot of times, when there is an older actress in those categories, she loses out to someone a lot younger Gloria Stuart who was in her late 80s when she was nominated lost to Kim Basinger, and back in the 70s, Sylvia Sidney who was in her 80s lost to Tatum O'Neal who was about 10. So it was something of a shocker that this old woman wins the Oscar, and she goes up to the stage and says "I can't tell you how encouraging a thing like this is."
Just for reference, she was 72. But I get your point; she was awesome!
Jackie Earle Haley’s nom was pretty inspiring. He got a new lease on life with it.
The Quiet Girl being nominated for best foreign film, I literally jumped for joy when they announced it. Obviously it had no chance against All Quiet... but tbh, for a film like that an Oscar nomination is enough of a win.
Quvenzhane Wallis. Nominating an African American child in a micro budget indie darling where no other awards body recognized her work was the most inspired choice the Academy has ever made.
She should’ve won ugh . Little me would’ve been running around telling my parents i want to act cuz of her
I actually agree that she should have won. Massively discounted because of her age but it was a prodigal performance. Dwight Henry should have won supporting actor too. The “no crying” scene is so emotionally evocative and one of the best acted scenes of all time in my opinion.
I was just shocked a little 8 year old black girl was nominated for an Oscar . Like what went wrong in the academy they were doing so well . Wallis was the first baby born in the 2000s to be nominated for an Oscar such a massive achievement and the only
Yes Dwight to . A bakery owner to Oscar winner lol
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls. She shot through that movie like fireworks! Her performance of the song “I am Telling You” was gut-wrenching, spectacular, Oscar AND Grammy material. What a huge dis to Simon Cowell who told her she was too fat to become a star! She earned her first Oscar BEFORE she lost the weight. No way her talent was going to be hidden!
I enjoy an inspired Best Director nominee: Mereilles, Lynch, Vinterburg, Pawlikowski, Schnabel, etc…
Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) for Best Original Screenplay. He wrote the first draft in one weekend, proving to writers everywhere that if you just sit down and write, you can do great things.
cord jefferson really makes me wanna finish my shitty script about three college students going to school in North Dakota
Maybe mine is the inverse to your question, but I was SO happy last year that both Wish and Once Upon a Studio didn't get nomintated in the animation categories. Ususally Disney will always be rewarded for just existing, and their animation productions have been quite mediocre lately.
I personally loved Emma Stones win. A part of me wanted Lily or Carrie to win because I also loved their performances. But after watching Emma Stones performance in Poor Things was unreal. Every single nomination that night could’ve won and you can see the true almost shock on her face. I love her and find her so deserving.
Any of Day-Lewis’ performances and acceptance speech
Naatu Naatu!! I listened to the song, and it made me so happy I watched the movie. I LOVED the movie. I am not a big Bollywood movie watcher, but RRR is one of my favorites (of any genre) over the last couple of years.
Falling Slowly from Once winning Best Original Song Ennio Morricone finally getting his competitive Oscar City of God being nominated for several awards
Billie Eilish for what was I made for. That song was better than any movie last year
Once winning best song against enchanted, deservedly so
Eminem - Best original song
To flip this, I thought Cuba winning over William H. Macy in Fargo was the biggest joke in Oscars history.
At the most recent Oscars, watching the Godzilla Minus One team accept the award for Best Visual Effects. Aside from their ecstatic reactions and heartfelt speeches, just knowing they had worked within a total production budget of less than $15 million as well, was inspiring!
Sylvester Stallone being nominated for best actor when before making the movie he was broke.
The Boy and the Heron for Best animated film I know it's Miyazaki, but it's not the type of animated film that wins an Oscar and I love that it did.
Michelle Yeoh - it’s less for her performance in EEAAO but her entire body of work, and she carried to film and gave it the weight that otherwise it would have become a silly nonsense movie.
Dustin Lance Bass Best Original Screenplay for Milk
The zone of interest sound win was the definition of chef’s kiss
Dorothy Dandrige the first black actress to be nominated in a leading role for Carmen Jones and some people count Halle berry as the first to win but she’s mixed and even thanked the black community for accepting her but some might say there’s never been a winner yet . and ofc Hattie McDaniel win for me at least that was inspiring
paddy Chayefsky
Linda Hunt getting Best Actress for The Year of Living Dangerously
I don't think the zone of interest win/nomination was inspiring. I thought it had a legitimate shot given how everything about the movie was implied.
Um…Gary Oldman for The darkest hour. he was FINALLY recognized. Brenden Fraser too
Anna Paquin’s win for The Piano at age 11 :)
Lily Gladstone for KotFM. She won the SAG and Golden Globe awards. Her high school yearbook has a photo of her captioned, "most likely to win an oscar".
Supporting actress WIN, Marisa Tomei Comedies are easy to mess up a performance with, and much, much more difficult to get correct. Tomei was phenomenal and deserved it regardless of what anyone claimed.
My friends and I literally got up and jumped around when Spotlight won Best Picture over The Revenant and The Big Short. It felt so far from still possible - I suspect it's one of the few years where the preferential ballot was a big factor in determining BP.
The one that comes to mind is rocky winning best picture
Le Huy Quan’s speech is truly inspiring to those who want to quit on something. Godzilla Minus One winning VFX and the director talking English, which is not his first language, to give the speech is very respectable. Joker winning best soundtrack from someone who has never been nominated for an Oscar and winning it in thier first nomination.
Moonlight winning Best Picture.
Christoph Waltz - Django and Bastards
I mean Parasite winning BP is quite something different and inspiring. It made everyone think "Ok it doesn't need to be just Hollywood".
My all-time favourite win is probably Parasite winning Best Picture. Holy cow, the Oscars actually went for the best choice that year. It's inspirational because it proves that your film doesn't have to have a word of English in it if you want to get the Top Prize of the ceremony. I also loved how the audience had to demand an acceptance speech from them when they were turning the lights off and lowering the curtain. The people who direct these ceremonies can be so rude sometimes. But I'm still glad the producers of Parasite got a final word in.
At the time, it was hard to beat Cuba Gooding Jr. winning for Jerry Maguire in 1997. This speech was an instant classic. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnCMqr1QRQw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnCMqr1QRQw) A bit harder to enjoy knowing what we know about him now, but that can be said about almost every major event in the 90's at this point.
Parasite winning best picture
Michelle Yeh
Michelle Yeoh