Ranking this year's Oscar speeches
Thursday, February 13, 2020 at 11:42AM As we finish our Oscar celebrations and mourn the end of another Awards Season, let's explore this year's Academy Award speeches. Unlike past ceremonies, this one was poor in truly disastrous acceptance speeches. Perhaps people saw the mess of last year's Best Makeup winners and decided they would be prepared to step on stage and receive their little golden men with dignity and generosity towards the teams that got them to that dazzling podium. Whatever the reason, this was a good year for Oscar speeches and we honor them, from the most unmemorable to the god-tier achievements in public speaking.
We begin with the least impressive efforts of the night…
24. BEST SOUND EDITING
Donald Sylvester, Ford v Ferrari
While we appreciate the eulogy for 20th Century Fox, that bit about thanking his wife for sacrificing her career so he could succeed was a tad unnecessary. It was a memorable speech for all the wrong reasons.
23. BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Elton John & Bernie Taupin, Rocketman
It was nice and smart of Elton to let Bernie Taupin speak first. That said, apart from the mutual love each man expressed for the other, this speech was a bit of a rambling mess. Heartfelt, but could have been shorter and more polished.
21/22. BEST ACTOR / BEST ACTRESS
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker / Renée Zellweger, Judy
Speaking of rambling messes, both of these actors' speeches were meandering nightmares. Nonetheless, they were endearing in their own idiosyncratic manner, in part because they're so representative of the winners themselves and their star personas. These aren't good speeches per se, but they're heartfelt memorable ones.
20. BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Barbara Ling & Nancy Haigh, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
It seems cruel to put Tarantino's masterful designers so low, but their speech, while solid, was unmemorable. It doesn't help that they were completely overshadowed by their hilarious presenters.
19. BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Jacqueline Durran, Little Women
Like Ling and Haigh before her, Durran had the misfortune of being presented her award by the funniest presenters of the night. Recalling what she said is difficult, her victory clouded by the laugh-fest of Rudolph and Wiig. Still, it was nice to see how much the costume designer seemed to love Greta Gerwig.
18. BEST SOUND MIXING
Mark Taylor & Stuart Wilson, 1917
Speaking of people who seem to love their director, this was a heartfelt speech made better by the winners' generosity towards their teams and fellow filmmakers.
17. BEST EDITING
Andrew Buckland & Michael McCusker, Ford v Ferrari
We continue the theme of winners showering their directors with love.
16. BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Marshall Curry, The Neighbor's Window
A good speech. Modest and simple, enlivened by a tribute to the director's mother.
15. BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler & Dominic Tuohy, 1917
They get extra points for remaining poised and charming through the indignity of having to receive their Oscars from two human-cat monstrosities.
14. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Josh Cooley, Mark Nielson & Jonas Rivera, Toy Story 4
A classy speech honoring the filmmakers' families, their crew and, most importantly, the audiences who grew up with Woody, Buzz and their merry bunch.
13. BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
Funny, short and emotional with a dewy-eyed message of love from a filmmaker to his dear mother.
12. BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan & Vivian Baker, Bombshell
Their utter devotion to Charlize Theron was incredibly endearing. It's also a good strategy to keep people's minds on their transformation of the actress into Megyn Kelly. Nobody wants to dwell on Kidman's subpar makeup job, for instance.
11. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins, 1917
What a wonderful speech, honoring the brilliant crew members who often go unrewarded and unacknowledged. Moreover, Deakins names them instead of letting be anonymous beneath the usual denomination of "my team".
10. BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Carol Dysinger & Elena Andreicheva, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)
Speeches like this are the reason I hope this category is never taken off the televised ceremony.
09. BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Matthew A. Cherry & Karen Rupert Toliver, Hair Love
A healthy mix of heartfelt gratitude and political activism coalescing into a beautiful tribute to why representation matters, on and offscreen.
08. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
A good speech made better by some truly astounding reaction shots, from the heart-eyed love emanating from Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach to the teary pride of Diane Ladd.
07. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker
This is the platonic ideal for an inspiring Oscar speech that gets people misty.eyed.
06. BEST PICTURE
Bong Joon-ho & Kwak Sin Ae, Parasite
We start the Parasite love-fest with their final and most glorious award. This was a joyous moment, all the more memorable for the sweet reverence of Miky Lee for director Bong Joon-ho and her appreciation of South Korean audiences. On a night when we got our first non-English speaking Best Picture winner, it was nice to acknowledge the movie wasn't made for American audiences despite its universal success.
05. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bong Joon-ho & Jin Won-Han, Parasite
Within the collection of Parasite victories, we find the Bong trilogy of awesome speeches which starts with the win for Best Original Screenplay. The highlight wasn't so much the speech, thought, but the sheer joy emanating from Bong Joon-ho, including when he was in the background and Jon Won-Han was talking. It resulted in one of the best images of Oscar night.
04. BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Bong Jon-Ho, Parasite
"I'm ready to drink tonight, until next morning." Not until you win two more Oscars, director Bong.
03. BEST DIRECTOR
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
The trilogy of Bong's speeches ends with a marvel of generosity towards his fellow filmmakers. The Irishman might not have won a single statuette, but Martin Scorsese still got a standing ovation thanks to Bong Joon-ho. No wonder Hollywood fell in love with the Korean master filmmaker.
02. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Whether or not he's been writing his own jokes, Brad Pitt's speeches were one of the consistent highlights of this past awards season. At the Oscars, it was no different, negotiating a perfect balance between the charm of a matinée idol, lackadaisical humor, and genuine emotion. It was a speech befitting a movie star.
01. BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert & Jeff Reichert, American Factory
"Workers of the world unite."
What was your favorite speech from Oscar night?
Reader Comments (33)
I always appreciate candor in these forty-five or so second snippets. Mr. Bong's "I'm ready to drink tonight..." is one of the better examples of the genre.
'Workers of the world unite'
Are you fucking kidding me?!
This site is too blinded by its hard on for Pitt to be objective. His speech was alright, but certainly not memorable. I’m also glad we won’t have to hear anymore speeches from Phoenix and Zellweger, lol.
AmandaBuffamonteezi -- No, I'm not kidding. Thank you for the feedback and I hope I didn't offend you. If so, I'm sorry.
Hmm -- I never claimed this was an objective ranking. Its criteria were my personal preferences, and I understand that what I might find memorable isn't what others will. In any case, I appreciate the feedback. Thank you.
@Hmm...agreed on one point. It has been noted often in the past, but it bears repeating - if you are nominated, have a speech prepared. "I didn't write anything down..." is not acceptable, especially when you are heavily favored and have had multiple opportunities to polish your delivery. Spontaneity is acceptable only if you are gifted with the ability to speak 'off the cuff' coherently.
@Claudio (and the rest of Film Experience Nation) - I thank you for your always enlightening perspective. Folks, 24 people will come up with 24 different lists, and possibly 24 different first place entries. Enjoy Claudio's for its entertainment value. Epithet-bearing criticisms are unnecessary.
I didn’t mean to be harsh, sorry if it came across that way. FWIW I enjoyed Pitt’s Golden Globes and SAG speeches, but his Oscar speech just paled in comparison to those ones. Agree to disagree.
My favourite was Bong's director speech. The speech I saw shared the most was Joaquin's. Instagram was loving it.
As a Dern-Ladd fan and a The Irishman fan obviously Laura's and Bong's speeches were my favourites.
Zellweger was a nightmare.
The funniest was the make-up and hair stylists of Bombshell who were interrupted. You can see disappointment in Margot Robbie's face after that light on the stage is off.
No way Pitt over Joon-ho. His best director speech should be ranked higher.
The speech of Julia Reichert for American Factory was my own personal favorite as well even if I was not impressed with the film itself.
Also, love what you said about Parasite: "it was nice to acknowledge the movie wasn't made for American audiences despite its universal success".
I thought Laura Dern and last bit of Taika Waititi's respective speeches were very touching.
Laura Dern. Her best speech of the season.
Joaquin and Brad were better at SAG.
Am I the only one who liked Phoenix’s speech? Ok, the whole animal rights part was unnecessary, but I found the rest very heartfelt. And God, was he struggling at the end. You can tell how emotional he was getting just speaking about his brother. I’m not saying he was the best, but certainly better then some of the more recent Best Actor speeches.
Solidarity forever!
Fully agree with your #1
Joaquin all the way. Sure, it could have been tighter, but I think the emotion of having a platform that huge to advocate for what he devotes his life to was obvious. I’m a vegan animal rights activist. I’ve endured threats of violence screamed in my face while peacefully protesting exploitation of animals. I’ve been followed and harassed by private investigators, hired by a university whose new animal testing facilities I had been protesting. I’ve gone to court to fight bogus charges for exercising free speech on public sidewalks. I’ve received hate mail and even had my car stolen as retaliation for speaking up brutalized animals who cannot speak up for themselves. I don’t say that as a pity party (my life is quite joyful), but to have someone on one of the largest stages in the world speaking the truth about animal cruelty and advocating against any kind of oppression and in favor of compassionate choices validates so much for me (and all the vegans you know, trust me). This was a watershed moment in the loooooooong fight for animal rights from my favorite working actor.
I'm also going to bat for Joaquin's speech, mostly because he took a humanist approach to the topic of social justice, which I find lacking in most conversations surrounding the issue. In a world where we love to Brand individuals and groups as heroes and villains, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that these struggles are so we can all live together and in harmony in a better world. Yes, he rambled, but I feel this list has an unfair bias against people with social discomfort (like Joaquin and Renée), which I find unfair when what they're trying to say is worth hearing, and also because it highlights a general prejudice against people who may be more introverted or anxious when speaking at an awards show.
Joaquin equating cow insemination to indigenous rights, “queer rights” etc. was a choiceeeee
Renee kept going on and on I just wanted her to stfu. Bong Joon-Ho and his speech translator FTW!
Kazu Hiro would be the bottom of my list. Not because his speech was in any way bad, but because he took so long to say it (and after already winning this award a couple of years ago) that NEITHER Anne Morgan nor Vivian Baker got a word in! The heartbreak on Charlize and Morgot's faces when the mic cut out and the lights went down on them was the saddest thing I saw on this year's show.
Renee's speech was horrific and self-indulgent. It is exactly the reason why I hate her as an actress. She is unlikable and unwatchable. I had really hoped - unrealistically as it was - that her twatty persona would remind voters that she's a rancid human being. I'd rather watch Giuliana Ranic read an Oscar acceptance speech than see Zellweger act in another scene.
Renee Zellweger's speech was not endearing to me. She is truly bad at giving acceptance speeches. No focus, tries for grace but always fails.
“Scorsese and Tarantino, I love you sooooo much!! Sam and Todd, you’re.. ok, I guess.”
Bong Joon-ho is fucking awesome. I love him.
Great list, Claudio. As always, your excellent writing provides context and insight to so many individual moments that sometimes get lost in a blur of excitement on Oscar night. Thank you for all your terrific work all awards season.
Renée was much better than Joaquin, on par at worst. It really shows biases in commenters and people. Joaquin can get through the I’m Still Here working atmosphere, and any eccentric speech or interview and just be a “passionate artist”, but Renée is awkwardly heartfelt and quite wholesome of a character and she is “unlikeable and unwatchable”, has a “twatty persona” and is “a rancid human being”. This is what I will now be dubbing “Zee” culture and a pox on the house of those who proliferated for years it without an apology for what amounts to youthful callousness.
Margot never looked more like Harley Quinn than her sadness at the makeup ladies not being able to talk.
Of the acting winners, Laura Dern and Brad Pitt gave the most heartful speeches. Whereas Joaquin Phoenix (aside from his tribute to his late brother) and Renee Zellweger rambled on and on.
Only one speech name dropped Sally Ride, Selena, Serena Williams AND firefighters. So that’s my pick.
In all seriousness, the best director speech that become an epic tribute to Scorcese is one of those Oscar speeches that will live in lore and be played in montages for decades to come. It was the moment of the night.
Ah, Cláudio. Your low score for Mr. Sylvester's tribute to Mrs. Sylvester demands reconsideration.
"that bit about thanking his wife for sacrificing her career so he could succeed was a tad unnecessary"
Back to Netflix for you. Didn't Noah Baumbach teach you that taking your partner's sacrifices for granted is a path to the end of a relationship? You need to watch Marriage Story until you too can sing Being Alive in front of your coworkers and mean it!
The Make-up/Hairstyling Bombshell speech-there were 3 winners. The speech was great when they singled out Charlize Theron and she was so grateful that she put her face in her hands. Next thing you know, lights out, speech over, don’t let the other two say anything. Compare to cut-off to Phoenix and Zellweger who went on and on and on and on and you wanted an orchestra cue to cut them off.
Seeing Diane Ladd’s reaction shots were great. To me, what really ruins a great speech and unnecessary audience shots of Anyone not connected to the winner or the winning film. It’s like (for example) Laura Dern speaking, then the camera showing. say, Salma Hayek, Questlove, Sandra Oh, Todd Phillips, Screech from Save By The Belll or what Janelle Moore thinks. Who cares?!? Show ScarJo, Adam Driver or Noah!
My two favourites were Brad Pitt and Hildur Guðnadóttir.
For me, there is just no way Zellweger's speech was worse than Phoenix's.The comments on this article are disheartening to say the least.
Zellweger will go down in history as one of the world Oscar speeches ever. And one of the worst Oscar wins in history. Some people have extraordinary talent without ever being rewarded (see Annette Bening), some have exemplary talent and are rewarded too rarely (see Tilda Swinton), some have talent that runs from their pores (see Cate Blanchett). Renee Zellweger will never earn any status that requires talent.
I love hyperbole by the way if I wasn’t clear.