‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ quietly races away with the Oscars

While the main theme of last night’s Academy Awards focused on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, there were actually some awards handed out, too – and several surprising wins and losses came along with them. The movie also won best original screenplay. Fury Road collected six of its possible awards: Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Makeup And Hairstyling. So are we. Let’s go over all the reasons why the real best movie of the year, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road, ‘ should win an Academy Award.

Also nominated is Cate Blanchett as best actress for Carol. Elsewhere, among Mad Max: Fury Road’s six(!) wins, costume designer Jenny Beavan said that the film’s post-apocalyptic setting could become a reality “if we don’t stop polluting our atmospheres”.

George Miller has described his wife, Margaret Sixel, as a master at solving film’s version of the world’s largest, most complex Rubik’s Cube. But you might want to be a bit wary of these plot explanations … because they’re adorably offered by children who’ve never actually seen the movies. “I’m proud to represent all of my Aussie colleagues”, a boisterous White said, thrusting his Oscar on stage.

“I thought it was jabbing at Hollywood, yet at the same time even-handed, and kind of dealing with a new era of how we discuss diversity”, said Adam McKay, director and co-writer of best picture nominee “The Big Short”. This is the hateful eight, the last work of Tarantino, who won the award for best soundtrack.

Host Chris Rock walked a delicate line between provocation and gentle ribbing with his opening monologue, declaring the Oscars “the White People’s Choice Awards”.

Brie Larson won the best actress Oscar on Sunday for her role as a young woman held hostage for years with a young son in the emotional thriller “Room”. Both are among the best films of the year (and should have been recognized as such in the main category).

“Revenant’s” Emmanuel Lubezki also kept a streak going, winning his third straight Oscar for cinematography.

Kevin Hart, predicted by Chris Rock to be “next year’s host”, struck a serious note while introducing a performance of the Oscar-nominated song “Earned It” (from “Fifty Shades of Grey”) by The Weeknd.

The routine was followed with a video bit in which black actors took roles in films that had been nominated for Oscars, including Whoopi Goldberg in “Joy” and Rock in “The Martian”, as well as a freaky appearance by actress Stacey Dash, who had called for the elimination of Black History Month.

Best Documentary Short: “Body Team” lead the odds with “Claude Lanzmann” behind, but it’s close, and a good opportunity to differentiate your card. But my hunch is that “The Revenant” will beat out “Spotlight” and “The Big Short”. The film’s nod for best picture is Spielberg’s ninth in that category, the most for any individual producer.