The best and worst moments from the 2020 Oscars

Oscars 2020 highlights

Hollywood's biggest night is always full of highs and lows. Whether it's a surprise win, a truly revelatory musical performance, or an off-color joke, there's no shortage of opportunities for audiences to applaud and cringe in equal measure. The 2020 Oscars seemed likely to be extremely predictable (and still too male and too white), but for movie lovers the world over, it's hard not to get caught up in the magic of the Academy Awards. Here are this year's best and worst Oscar moments.

WORST: Janelle Monáe's head-scratching opening

Janelle Monáe is an electrifying performer, and we loved her shout-out to women directors and her own identity as a black, queer artist. But overall, this was a bizarre amalgamation of nods to movies that weren't nominated and tone-deaf backup dancers sporting Joker getups and World War I uniforms referencing 1917. Saoirse Ronan's instantly meme-able reaction of mixed horror and confusion pretty much sums it up. It's honestly the weirdest opening since Rob Lowe danced with Snow White — and we don't know what to make of it, except to scratch our heads. —Maureen Lee Lenker

BEST: Steve Martin and Chris Rock give a not monologue

No host means no opening monologue, but that didn't stop the night's first presenters, Steve Martin and Chris Rock, from trying. The two came out joking about being demoted (having both formerly hosted), before launching into a litany of lines mocking everything from Jeff Bezos to the Academy's ongoing diversity issues. Rock had a great zinger about Cynthia Erivo hiding black nominees from the Academy that gave us one of the first genuine laughs of the night. The bit as a whole was a much-needed reset after the bizarre opening number. —MLL

WORST: Famous people introducing other famous people

We appreciate that the Academy wants to pack the presenter list with both up-and-comers and beloved stars alike. But for a show that often gets knocked for its running time, it made precisely zero sense to bring out actors like Beanie Feldstein and Kelly Marie Tran to then present the next round of presenters. It was a talent redundancy that was both a waste of viewers' time and a slap in the face to actors who deserved to be presenters in their own right. —MLL

BEST: Brad Pitt wins big

The first award of the night, Best Supporting Actor, marked the final victory of this awards season for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's Brad Pitt, who has brightened every ceremony that's recognized him with charming, irreverent speeches. "They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week," he began. "I'm thinking maybe Quentin does a movie about it. In the end, the adults do the right thing." He went on to give a shout-out to stunt coordinators and to his costar Leonardo DiCaprio: "I'll ride on your coattails any day," he said. "The view's fantastic." He concluded by dedicating the award to his children, and reflecting upon his own incredible journey as an actor: "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — ain't that the truth?" —Mary Sollosi

BEST: Celebrating female filmmakers

The Academy didn't recognize any female filmmakers with a Best Director nomination this year — again — but the stars in attendance wanted to celebrate the snubbed artists instead. It started on the carpet, where Natalie Portman wore a cape embroidered with the names of eight female directors who didn't receive nominations; over the course of the show, Janelle Monáe and Mark Ruffalo both gave a shout-out to female directors, and Little Women costume designer Jacqueline Durran's heartfelt thanks to the snubbed Greta Gerwig earned an enormous cheer from the audience. —MS

BEST: Mom's spaghetti

After a montage about songs that have defined the films they appear in, Eminem came out for an explosive surprise performance of his Oscar-winning classic "Lose Yourself," from 2002's 8 Mile. The response from the audience ranged from mild confusion to great enthusiasm; the response in the EW Oscars war room was pure ecstasy. —MS

WORST: A recap halfway through the show?

Utkarsh Ambudkar came out somewhere around the halfway mark to deliver a rap recap of the ceremony so far. Last year, the lack of a host brought a freshness to the proceedings, but this year it mostly led to unfunny, unremarkable moments like this. It was cute, innovative even, when Lin-Manuel Miranda penned a "rap-up" for the 2011 Tony Awards, but this just felt redundant and dull. The jokes fell flat, and it was a completely unnecessary sum-up of a ceremony when there was still so much left to go. —MLL

BEST: All the montages

Any dyed-in-the-wool Oscar lover is HERE for the montages. We don't care if the ceremony is six hours long if it means we get about 20 more montages that make us cheer, laugh, and get goosebumps. This year the producers indulged that love. They gave us great montages on subjects ranging from documentaries to the power of song to create unforgettable screen moments. Even better though? Instead of a traditional clip package of an isolated scene while announcing nominees, we got fantastic montages weaving together themes and numerous standout moments from the best films and performances of the year. It felt like a blast to the best of Oscars past, and we could not love it more. —MLL

BEST: Tom is Spartacus

After announcing that the Academy Museum will open in December — and joking that he was there this morning, installing drywall — Tom Hanks exited the stage with a cry of "I am Spartacus!" The classic reference had a double meaning coming from the star, as both a tribute to the late Kirk Douglas and a nod to Hanks' own directorial debut, 1996's That Thing You Do!, in which the protagonist often quotes the 1960 film. —MS

WORST: Cats cameo

James Corden and Rebel Wilson made a noble effort at poking fun at themselves and the disaster that was Cats. We'll admit their presenting the award for Best Visual Effects was deliciously ironic, but they managed to kill the moment by licking and pawing at the microphone. Not the cat's meow by any stretch of the imagination. —MLL

BEST: Cynthia Erivo makes us all 'Stand Up'

In a night of frankly dull Best Song performances (yes, even Sir Elton John), Cynthia Erivo was the outlier. She delivered a knockout rendition of her Best Song nominee "Stand Up" from Harriet. Her vocals, especially on the high notes, were incredible, and they capped it off with stellar backup singers harmonizing around her. The performance closed on the perfect note, a black-and-white photo of Harriet Tubman as the stage lights went out leaving the stage bathed in the flickers of standing lanterns. It was a powerful, emotional moment made all the more so by Erivo's powerhouse vocals and songwriting. The audience listened to the name of the song and gave Erivo a much-deserved standing ovation — and we were joining her at home. —MLL

BEST: Bong Joon Ho is ready to drink

Parasite won Best International Feature (to a delighted response from the audience), making history as the first Oscar in the category awarded to South Korea. Accepting the trophy, awards season icon Bong Joon Ho acknowledged that the category had just been renamed (from Best Foreign Language Film), expressing how honored he was to be the first recipient since the name change, and celebrated his cast, who were not recognized with acting nominations (but won the SAG ensemble award last month, in a thrilling upset). "I'm ready to drink tonight," he said as he left the stage.

But wait, maybe don't hit the booze just yet! Right afterward, he was honored with the statuette for Best Director, for which he delivered another sincere speech, then concluded with his promise "to drink tonight until next morning." —MS

BEST: Martin Scorsese gets a standing ovation

Imagine being so beloved you get a standing ovation during someone else's acceptance speech? Martin Scorsese suddenly found the Oscar audience on its feet applauding him at Best Director winner Bong Joon Ho's behest. Bong paid homage to all the fellow auteurs in his category, but gave a special nod to Scorsese: "When I was young and studying cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart, which is, the most personal is the most creative. That quote is from our great Martin Scorsese." Was there a more pure moment of the night than Bong deservedly taking home gold while also using his time to honor other filmmakers? We're hard-pressed to name one. —MLL

BEST: Remembering River Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix used his moment accepting the statuette for Best Actor as a platform to call for change. "This form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life," he said. "But I think the greatest gift that it's given me is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless." He spoke at length about some of the issues facing us today, and our responsibility to take care of each other and our planet. The most affecting moment, however, came at the end of his time onstage. "When he was 17," Phoenix said, struggling to remain composed, "my brother wrote the lyric: 'Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow.'" —MS

BEST: Parasite takes home the top prize

The final award of the night was one for the books — literally. Parasite's Best Picture win marked a new milestone in the Oscars' 92-year history, as the first non-English language film to take the top prize (not to mention that it also won Best International Feature, so the double nomination didn't even split its votes). Far from sucking the life out of the room, the stunning upset injected a vibrant new energy into the tired telecast. —MS

WORST: Judy Garland never won a competitive Oscar

No disrespect to Renée Zellweger and her deserved victory, but it is heartbreaking to see her win gold for playing a legendary entertainer who never won in her own right. Judy Garland was a sterling, one-of-a-kind performer, as evidenced by Zellweger's interpretation of her — and her lack of Oscar gold is still one of the biggest oversights in Oscar history. In 1940, she was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award for her work in The Wizard of Oz, but she lost both times she was nominated (for A Star Is Born and Judgment at Nuremberg). Zellweger rightfully paid tribute to Garland in her speech, declaring her victory "an extension of the celebration of her legacy that began on our film set." But it still roils that Garland never got the validation from her peers she so desperately craved — and deserved a hundred times over. —MLL