THE 92ND ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

"Parasite", the dark and twisted social commentary on the class struggle between wealthy and poor families from South Korea, made Oscar history during the 92nd annual Academy Awards. Not only did the film win Best International Film, which was highly expected, but Bong Joon Ho surprised many by taking Best Director, shared the Best Original Screenplay with Han Jin-won and the top prize of Best Picture, making "Parasite" the first non-English language film to ever win this honor. The rest of the awards were spread around with most of this year's Best Picture nominees receiving at least one award (with "The Irishman" being the surprising exception).

Actress and musician, Janelle Monae kicked off the show with a performance that began subtly with her rendition of Fred Rogers' "Won't You be My Neighbor?" which honored the nominated biopic, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" before launching in to an energetic melody of tunes, joined by Billy Porter and back-up dancers dressed like characters from a few great films neglected by the Academy including "Midsommar", "Us", "Rocketman" and "Queen & Slim". It was all a little messy and chaotic yet Monae still managed to effectively bring attention to her being a queer artist, the lack of female director nominees, the importance of diversity and celebrating Black History Month.

Without a host for a second year, that meant that the show had to rely on the presenters to provide entertaining moments before the awards were given out. It's no surprise that comedians fared best with the inspired coupling of Steve Martin and Chris Rock, both former hosts of the show, to open up the event. While they were a bit stiff together, each provided several humorous digs at the Academy, the stars in the audience and Amazon's, Jeff Bezos.

Other amusing pairings included Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who were also able to promote "Downhill", their upcoming remake of the 2014 Swedish film, "Force Majeure"), James Cordon and Rebel Wilson dressed as the characters they played in the disastrous movie of the musical, "Cats" (which all I kept thinking was how less disturbing they looked here than in the film) and my favorite, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig. These former "SNL" players and co-stars of "Bridesmaids" first did some hilarious "acting" auditions for the directors in the crowd before announcing the Best Production Design winner then provided a crazy musical mash-up that included "Vogue", "U Got The Look", and "The Thong Song" right before handing out Best Costume Design. Perhaps they were auditioning for the Oscar hosting gig for next year? I say hire them.

All of the Best Original Song nominees were performed and they were respectable yet lacking in excitement. I'm not sure if the problem was the staging of the performances or the songs themselves. Billie Eilish, the current pop sensation of the moment, provided a sleepy version of "Yesterday" during the In Memoriam segment. But the biggest head-scratcher of the evening was the unannounced appearance by Eminem who performed his 2003 Oscar-winning Best Original Song, "Lose Yourself" after declining to do so on the program when nominated. I didn't get the point of this presentation seventeen years after the fact with the crowd appearing to either enjoy or be very confused by the performance.

This seems to highlight that the Oscars still can't get a handle on how to balance between the long history and tradition of the show and finding a way to be relevant and fit in to this modern world. With the ratings for the show down once again, the question that begins to emerge is will there still be anyone around wanting to watch the 100th Academy Awards? I'm certain there's still an audience yet now is the time to stop just talking about diversity and actually have that represented with the nominees and the winners of the awards. "Parasite" winning Best Picture is certainly a step in the right direction but more needs to be done to make the Oscars truly inclusive and represent the best of cinema.

Here the complete list of winners from the 92nd annual Academy Awards:

Best Picture: "Parasite"
Best Director: Bong Joon Ho, "Parasite"
Best Original Screenplay: Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin-won, "Parasite"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Taika Waititi, "Jojo Rabbit"
Best Actress: Renée Zellweger, "Judy"
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker"
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, "Marriage Story"
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, "Once Upon a Time In Hollywood"
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, "1917"
Best Film Editing: Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker, "Ford v Ferrari"
Best International Feature: "Parasite" (South Korea)
Best Documentary Feature: "American Factory"
Best Documentary Short: "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)"
Best Live Action Short: "The Neighbors’ Window"
Best Animated Feature: "Toy Story 4"
Best Animated Short: "Hair Love"
Best Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran, "Little Women"
Best Production Design: Barbara Ling (production design); Nancy Haigh (set decoration), "Once Upon a Time In Hollywood"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker, "Bombshell"
Best Original Score: Hildur Gudnadóttir, "Joker"
Best Original Song: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman"; music by Elton John; lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Best Sound Mixing: Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson, "1917"
Best Sound Editing: Donald Sylvester, "Ford v Ferrari"
Best Visual Effects: Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy, "1917"