Glenn Close and Lil Rel Howery at the 2021 Oscars Gif: ABC
The 93rd Academy Awards was unique for many reasons—some of the pandemic pivots worked well, others not so much. Here’s a recap of the best, worst, and weirdest moments from the 2021 Oscars, including video of all the acceptance speeches and performances.
You can also get our thoughts on the evening at our liveblog and winners list.
65 Comments
Awww, did your little itty bitty SJW felling get hurt because Anthony Hopkins beat out the Black Panther Cancer guy? Always looking for special treatment and handouts, rather than achieving on merit.
Reese Witherspoon presenting the animated awards and calling Hayao Miyazaki, “Miyazaki Hi-YOW” was not great. It would be weird to me if the teleprompter put his last name first like that.
That’s Japanese convention, last name first. I assumed that’s what they were going for.
That crossed my mind too. But it felt unnecessary and weird since he’s not been presented that way at the Oscars before. I was thrown off first by her saying Miyazaki, then second her awkward pronunciation of Hayao.
The name order debate has been going on for years (maybe decades) in Western media, but just last year the Japanese Minister of Defense asked that all Japanese names be written FAMILY NAME personal name in the West. Some outlets have begun to adopt this. Others had already been doing it. So if there were any year to make the change, it would have been this one.
Thanks for that info; that’s something interesting I hadn’t known about. Makes sense then now as you said. It’s been a minute since Miyazaki’s last nomination for The Wind Rises, so when he is able to finish and release How Do You Live? I’m sure it’ll be nominated and the Academy will continue with presenting him as Miyazaki Hayao.
It should be noted the minister of defense doesn’t speak for all of Japan.. and it wasn’t said as an official government policy.
The Eurovision song at the beginning of this slideshow is worth a listen. The movie is great because of how strong the music is.
The In Memoriam section was horrifying. Soo fucking fast and, sure, maybe you were trying to do something new than the usual melacholic ballads, but the zippy, up-tempo music (can’t remember the song, sorry) was also an appallingly awful choice.
The pacing was bizarre. Some people were on just long enough that you could take in the picture and the name, some people went by so fast that you couldn’t do both (I didn’t catch Kelly Preston, for example, until I re-watched it at half-speed). What a strange, disrespectful choice.
Blink-and-you’ll miss it for sure. Did they get George Segal?
George was there for about one and half seconds.
I don’t think so. They definitely forgot Jessica Walters too.
I don’t think there was any message in burying screen super legends like Olivia De Haviland under 1.1 seconds of screentime beyond someone doesn’t understand how this is supposed to work.
It’s crazy. Some publicist got about 5X the screen time as some really legendary actors, apparently just to match the tempo of the backing track.
Then again, that might just be proof of what an incredible publicist she was.
I’m always a little shocked when I see a beloved actor that I didn’t know died this year, but I’m almost always more shocked at the actors that I didn’t know were still alive until this year.
Yeah, I noticed that. Booking agent and publicist, someone had big friends. I mean most people are forgiven if they thought Olivia died long ago, 105 is crazy old.
I mean, she was involved in a big lawsuit against Ryan Murphy just a little while ago that got her (and the fact that she was still alive) into the headlines again, so actually we were more aware than we might ordinarily have been that she was still alive. And cranky.
I thought the In Memoriam speeding past was great because I thought it meant they were giving time to the actual parts of the show they want to spend time on…and then they spent like half an hour on those stupid pat-on-the-back awards.I mean, be fair, more and more still-presently-culturally-significant film stars are going to be dying every year now, they are going to have to figure out a way to do that segment faster or it could take half an hour each show. Perhaps instead they should do them in the lead-ins or outs to commercials and knock them out as they go along.
They set it to Yakety Sax?
Yeah, Carl Fuckin’ Reiner deserved more than a second of screen time!
I didn’t even see Carl Reiner! Oh fuuuuuucking come on!
Yes, in hindsight, the selection of “Yakety Sax” for that segment was poorly considered.
Yeah, In Memoriams don’t usually include how they die. Strange choice.
Me after watching that memorial…
Just cringe-worthy the whole way through. And that shit with Glenn Close, how pandering, shark-jumping was that shit? Another self-stroking award show where the elite get to meet, eat and beat off.
The uploader has not made this video available in your country.
Erik Messerschmidt. Though, we do admit the Mank cinematopgrapher’s name has a lot of consonants.
It’s origin is German. So, as a German: No it doesn’t… ;)And she somehow turned it into “Messengerschmidt”, anyway, so that only made it worse….PS: I want to thank ABC (I assume) for geoblocking every single one of those clips.
she was obviously referring to the underwhelming segment of that triptych with Toby Dammit, Metzengerstein
Trust me, all the kids can pronounce his name because its the same as the German aircraft company from ww2. Messer schmit. Its not hard, I know tough German names to pronounce, that isn’t one.
Could’ve been worse.
I noticed on the red carpet they really avoided praising Hillbilly Elegy when talking to Close since the author is unsurprisingly a white supremacist.Perry’s speech was not very inspirational for someone winning that award, but wow did those ladies winning for hair and makeup make me cry.
… and that author is thinking of making a well-financed bid (not his own money) for Ohio’s open Senate seat. So, so gross.
He was on Fox making excuses for the insurrection and Ted Cruz fairly recently. Absolutely loathsome human, yet he’s not that unique. I live in Ohio, people like him are everywhere.
I know; I’m here too. My neighbor is like him. Loathsome is probably the best word. Or is disgusting better?
Yeah. Disgusting. Ghastly. Cruel. Inhuman. Antherpoid. Pricks. God Ohio….
Are there any actual example of him giving white supremacist opinions. Or is this the usual “everyone I disagree with is a racist” hyperbole that is the norm in 2021?
I found a few tweets about voting laws, but that’s it
I agree. One talked about trans issues, the other compared being a cop to LGBTQ and black. What the flying fuck.
lol yes the mention of cops, and his story of the lady without shoes was so very rich person anecdote. I know he was homeless, but that doesn’t mean he ended up being a very typical rich person.
The worst Oscar’s telecast in the years I’ve been watching, by a huge margin. This show was the culmination of several bad trends of the last few years, with a few brand new horrible decisions thrown in.If the academy just wants to do a straight-faced and earnest awards ceremony, that’s fine, but they shouldn’t be so arrogant as to televise it. It seems in the last few years that they increasingly consider any attempt to entertain the audience at home, any little song and dance or comedy monologue as being somehow dismissive of the work being honored. At times last night it almost felt hostile how unconcerned they were with entertaining the TV audience. They’ve forgotten that the purpose of televising the awards is to serve as PR for the movie industry, and their product is supposed to be entertaining!And yet, at the same time, the ceremony was weirdly dismissive of the actual work being honored. No performances of the songs, no clips from the films, and yet we have time for Reese Witherspoon to describe the plot of the Secret of Nimh? Okay…It’s time for the academy to admit that the past few years’ experiment with going host-less has not been a success. Last night desperately needed the guiding hand of a pro like Steve Martin or Neil Patrick Harris. I would have even settled for the WTF energy of James Franco and poor Anne Hathaway.
Yes! I felt exactly the same way. I can’t imagine someone who hasn’t seen many movies this year coming away from this Oscar’s ceremony thinking, “All right, I’m in the mood for some movies!” I guess I understand wanting to give the winners more time to talk (although personally, I mute most of the speeches because I have a pretty low tolerance for cringey, unscripted moments), but I really missed seeing clips of the performances and even the costumes, production design, visual effects, etc. It’s even hard to feel anything about the whole Chadwick Boseman/Anthony Hopkins “anticlimax” because we didn’t get a taste of either performance.
Honestly, Joaquin Phoenix looking bored and saying “Anthony Hopkins couldn’t be here tonight, congrats, bye” was pretty much the perfect ending for this particular show. It was perfectly in keeping with the dull, lifeless tone of the show as a whole, yet in its absurdist, anticlimactic way, it was the funniest, most entertaining moment of the night for me.
I agree 100% there should be a host. However, while I only watched part of it and probably am not the best judge, but I actually liked it better than recent years’ shows. They had started to feel so over-produced and desperate, with ever-crazier sets and programmatic bloat. This felt like watching a not-very-carefully televised broadcast of an actual awards show, so, not wildly entertaining, but I liked its modesty. It was like the show was Frances McDormand, rather than some ultra-decked-out actor with Botox and fillers trying to be the hot young thing they were 30 years ago.
Hmm, interesting. To each his own, obviously, and I’ll grant you that I did think the setting was much better than previous shows.But to me this felt like the most tightly choreographed and heavily produced Oscars in my memory. They had people presenting from multiple locations within the room, as well as the people at satellite locations, there were tracking shots, beautifully balanced sunset lighting, and more heavily scripted presenters than ever before. And to their credit, it all went incredibly well, from a technical standpoint. It’s not that there wasn’t a ton of very careful production involved here, it just wasn’t put to use in a way that I found exciting or interesting.
You can blame COVID restrictions for many of the decisions, including solo vs. team presenters. It’s also clear to me they really wanted to underscore how people were actually together again, in person, in the same room, so we got all those long takes of people instead of the usual cutaways to clip packages.
I was shocked that the only time I really heard Chadwick’s name being mentioned – was the video Anthony Hopkins posted from Wales basically saying he didn’t think he’d win and he dedicated it to Boseman.
40 slides? Fuck that.
If it makes you feel any better, most of them aren’t viewable outside of the US.
shrink your window so that it’s just starting to clip the text. Then refresh the page. It removes the slideshow, thinking you’re on mobile.
I thought the best part by a MILE was hearing what Tyler Perry did for people- which is oddly not included
those “I’m so so sooo good” speeches are usually the check messages on the phone / refill food and beverages / assorted etcs break of any awards TV show…
Certainly odd to give some people three seconds, which seemed appropriate and then speed through others. Feels dismissive and even though I can’t imagine that’s what they were going for it’s tone deaf that they wouldn’t have thought of that. Meanwhile speeches just went on and on and on an on. We turned it off after a few acceptance speeches. #oscarssoboring
In Memoriam should either:1) Show every single person for the same amount of time (to express the idea that all lives are equally valuable and this isn’t about fame), or2) Show the famous people for slightly longer than the less famous people (because they want the viewing audience to be happy that the famous actors they like got more screen time)
Anything else is just weird.
“Backstage, someone reportedly asked Youn what Brad Pitt sounds like. “I don’t know. I’m not a dog,” she replied.”No. She was asked what he ‘smells’ like, which in that context, makes a lot more sense.
The Oscars, like the Emmys, like the Grammys, like the Tonys, like the SAG awards, are industry awards, and oftentimes, are just popularity contents, and do NOT always select the best or most deserving films, performances or technical achievements. Sometimes, like last year with ‘Parasite’, they get it right, but that seems more and more rare.
Overall not a bad ceremony, although I’ll echo the chorus of disbelief in why didn’t they show clips or performances of the songs?I don’t need to hear Laura Dern thank all the nominees for being actors, show me the damn clips of them acting!
-It says a lot that 1/4 of the most “memorable” moments were during the pre-show, including pre-recorded performances where H.E.R. is standing in darkness even though it was still daylight in Los Angeles.-Emerald Fennell: “I didn’t write a speech because I didn’t think this was possible.” Yeah, you only won the WGA, BAFTA, Independent Spirit Award, and Critics’ Choice. In fact you only DIDN’T win the Golden Globe. This result was totally impossible.-Who was left out of the In Memoriam? We don’t know. Every name was only on screen for five frames, except for Connery and Boseman.-We have documentaries honoring the struggle for racial justice, for equal rights, exposing corruption, and showing the world that the elderly still matter. And the Oscar goes to… a guy who was one step away from fucking an octopus. An octopus, by the way, that dies graphically and horrifyingly, and yet Google decided to advertise right after the win about how great a movie it is for kids. If your kids cried when Bambi’s mom died, DO NOT SHOW THEM THE OCTOPUS MOVIE!-Marlee Matlin honors the girl who filmed George Floyd’s death… right before the movie about Latasha Harlins loses.-The guys who made a cartoon about a school shooting grew up loving a movie about teen suicide. But he mixed Milk Duds with popcorn, so… whimsical!-Let’s break decades of tradition by giving out Best Actor last, because Chadwick is so totally going to win. Oh, it was Anthony Hopkins? Fuck it, we’re out. Strike the set.-There are moments that make us laugh, and that make us cry. There are moments of insight, pain, and personal growth. There are moments that make us question and examine the very nature of existence. Then there’s Glenn Close twerking.-According to Andra Day, Prince got some pussy for “Purple Rain.” In other late breaking news, the stove is hot.-Union Station was the most appropriate place for this ceremony, because it was an absolute fucking train wreck. When Frances McDormand has to open her BEST PICTURE speech by saying, “Please see our movie,” you know this is one we’re all going to forget.-Matt Gaetz has called bullshit that no one informed him there was a movie called “Promising Young Woman.”
There was a rumor going around that Olivia Coleman was prepared to accept on Anthony Hopkins behalf on the off chance he won and was expecting to do so only for the producers/Joaquin Phoenix not to allow it. It may not have changed how much of an unforced error putting Best Actor last was, but at least there would have been more of an ending.
Meanwhile, On Cinema at the Cinema fans were going insane watching two Oscar specials at once.
someone reportedly asked Youn what Brad Pitt sounds like.
Obviously zero proofreading was done on this article.
if Nomadland bested Promising Young Woman and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.Nomadland was not competing against Ma Rainey.Because ABC and the Oscars producers have no mercy, they added an aftershow this year.
The aftershow has been around for years.
Less than 10 million viewers! America says, ‘Fuck You!’
Lol I had no idea this was on last night.
The In Memoriam was an embarrassment. The stuff these people focus on besides those who have passed is absolutely mind boggling. Cut out half the stupid shit you do and give these people who won’t be seen on screen, behind the camera, or in studio ever again. A fucking monkey could do a better job with this.
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Would’ve been better to ditch this year’s Oscars and do a Marvel prescreening preview special. At least entertain the poor people at home who’ve lived through a pandemic for the last year. It’s always about the shiny celebrities’ glory moment. Anthony’s acceptance speech from Wales was about the tone we would expect: bored of the thing. I get that in recent times we’ve had commercial properties get best pic noms but wow even a bit of that flavor would’ve gone a long way this year. Would’ve been best not to air this ceremony at this time. Just give the people what they want and they might’ve been grateful. Even a segment with previews would’ve gone a long way, right? Was there anything like that? We haven’t been to the movies all year, why an Oscars?
It was cool that Glenn Close did a funky dance….But I don’t know that I need to see that dance on a loop at the top of your page for so long. Still. Close got the moves.