Just the same, the Academy voters had some chances to score political points with the winners of the documentary awards and chose not to.  It would have been easy for the members of the Motion Picture Academy to make a statement by voting for "RBG"; instead, they gave the award to "Free Solo."  In this case, they bowed to popular taste as "Free Solo" earned $2 million more at the box office than "RBG," making it the most lucrative nominated documentary ("Won't You Be My Neighbor?" was the highest earning documentary released during 2018, but wasn't nominated).

Box Office Mojo shows that "Free Solo" has earned $16,495,602 so far during its theatrical run while "RBG" ended up with $14,017,361 at the box office and "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" topped last year's documentaries with $22,835,787.

While I was rooting for "RBG" to win, I had an inkling that "Free Solo" could pull off an upset.

I think "Free Solo" is the better movie, but "Minding the Gap" has more social commentary.  If one wanted a non-political choice, "Free Solo" is the one I'd pick and the movie I expect has the best, if not good, chance against "RBG."

Therefore, I was not surprised to see FREE SOLO Accept the Oscar for Documentary (Feature).  Neither, it seems, was Jason Momoa.

Watch Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill accept the Oscar for Documentary (Feature) for FREE SOLO at Oscars 2019.

In FREE SOLO Thank You Cam Speech: Documentary (Feature), Jimmy Chin made an environmental point, mentioning that the film shows the importance of protecting and preserving wild places.

Watch Oscars 2019 winner Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill's Thank You Cam Oscar acceptance speech for Documentary (Feature) for FREE SOLO.

As someone who spent his youth vactioning in Yosemite National Park and praised the cinematography of the Emmy-nominated "Nature" episode "Yosemite," I agree with Chin.

 

Crazy Eddie (aka Vince Lamb) is a long time Coffee Party USA volunteer. Other Coffee Party volunteers vote for their favorites.