Oscars: Foreign Language Film

For almost thirty years, there was no competitive category for foreign language films at the Oscars. Modern critics feel that the ceremony is overly biased towards English-language films and that creating a category for foreign films might offer some recognition, it also prevents them from having a chance to compete with the mostly American films […]

Oscars: Live Action Short Film

Short films are an instrumental, but underrated part of the Academy Awards. One of the best features about short films is that they convey their intention in a small amount of time. Some films add extensive fluff to get the film to feature length, but short films aren’t burdened by that struggle. All of the […]

Oscars: Original Song

The Original Song award wasn’t introduced until several years into the Academy Awards, but it has been a staple ever since. This category is one of the few chances for the ceremony to get a little showy and features some great performances by the artists behind the songs. The songs nominated this year are featured […]

Oscars: Supporting Actor

The definition of supporting performances has changed a lot over the past eighty years. At the beginning of the supporting performance awards, performers could receive a nomination for less than 10 minutes, but recent performances require a lot more weight to make waves in the supporting categories. This year’s nominees are all substantial roles within […]

Oscars: Makeup and Hairstyling

It is mostly due to Rick Baker that makeup and hairstyling are a part of the Academy Awards, though the true origin of makeup artists goes back to William Tuttle and John Chambers in the sixties. It wasn’t until the eighties that the achievements by these gifted artists were fully appreciated. There are normally only […]

Oscars: Supporting Actress

Time to get to some of the bigger categories. Supporting performances are a key piece of a successful film. The supporting actress category wasn’t around for the first few years of the Academy Awards, but since its inclusion it has identified some of the best up-and-coming talent and some of the most underrated actresses working […]