By Amogha Bangalore

Last weekend, the 94th Academy Awards took place. Many people’s main take away were the controversial acts that took place, rather than the films that won. What exactly were those films? This is a quick run down of some of the Academy Award winning films that took home an Oscar that people might not be entirely familiar with. 

CODA is a 2021 film about Ruby, a 17 year old girl, who is the only hearing member in her deaf family. She feels torn between staying home and looking out for her family rather than going out to pursue music. One reviewer says they have never seen a film “fully capture heart, soul, and depth, while also offering an emphatic view from every perspective of their main characters.” Critics were very impressed by the wonderful performances and efforts that went into making this film. A remarkable moment during the Oscars was when this film won Best Picture and the audience cheered in sign language for Troy Katsur (nominated for Best Supporting Actor and is the first deaf man to win an Academy Award for acting.) Undoubtedly this was a well deserving film taking home Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Picture. 

Power of the Dog had many nominations, but took home Best Director. This film is about a rancher who has cruel reactions when his brother brings home his new wife and son, until something unexpected happens. As many nominations as they had, there were many mixed reactions. On one hand this was described as, “One of the most painfully dull films I have ever seen.” There was an overall theme of this movie being boring and underwhelming. However, others appreciate the consistent tone of suspense despite starting out slow. Critics for the most part also enjoyed this because of the performances, cinematography, and outstanding direction.

Dune was most definitely a fan favorite that more people were familiar with. Starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, this movie follows a brilliant young man who was born into “great destiny” and is required to travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to protect those he loves. There were many high expectations surrounding this movie not only because of the cast, but since it was based off of a novel. However on the other side of things, people thought it was hyped up a little too much and was disappointing. Either way, Dune was undoubtedly excellent when it came to visual effects and soundtrack as those were their awards won.

Belfast is essentially an autobiographical drama about the life of a working class family and their son during the late 1960’s in Northern Ireland. One of the most unique features of this film was the choice to keep it in black and white. The choice to keep the film this way was because “it amplifies the emotion that’s there and it seems to be a more lucid, more direct way of feeling what the actors are feeling.” Winning Best Original Screenplay, the most defining feature of this movie was how real and intimate it felt.