Photo: Getty Images
We made it, everyone. The pinnacle of awards season takes place in Los Angeles tonight, as the film industry’s elite caps off months of campaigning by walking the red carpet at the 92nd Academy Awards. You can follow along with commentary from our film critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife below, and check out the night’s most notable moments by following us on Twitter.
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Why isn’t Aubrey Plaza hosting?
I ask that question about every event I attend/watch.
I remember some people on Twitter thinking The Muppets should host The Oscars a while back.
Let’s give the AVC bump to Cinecraft, longtime member of the commentariat:https://vimeo.com/ondemand/whenilastsawjesse
Thank you AVClub for live blogging. We all know that jez would fuck.it.up. What was I even thinking? Bitches don’t even blog on Sundays :/
I’m told this is the
earliest in the year the Oscars ceremony has ever aired. There was a time when
it happened in late March! We’ve certainly seen a very accelerated season—normally in early February, I’m still catching up with some of the nominees
I didn’t see throughout the previous year. I have to assume the same is true
for plenty of Academy members. We’ll never know the effect for sure of moving the awards back this far, but I can’t help but think that
it will benefit the frontrunners; as tired as we all get of this annual circus,
those extra few weeks might really benefit the smaller, less buzzed-about
titles in the AMPAS screener pile. But I guess we’ll see! Maybe I Lost My Body
will pull a surprise win in Best Animated Feature!
Setting the tone for this evening is Natalie “and here are the all male nominees” Portman, whose Oscars cape is embroidered with the names of notable women who weren’t nominated for Best Director this year.
…with an assist from Janelle Monae, who recovered gracefully from my personal nightmare of having her blouse come unbuttoned on stage by donning a Midsommar-inspired capelet and makinga point to shout out women directors and declare how proud she is as a “Black, queer” artist to be opening tonight’s show.
I guess I’ll take a big, weird musical number over a self-congratulatory opening monologue lobbing softballs at celebs.
Not a bad opening number, Joelle and Billy! It is certainly miles better than some of those hammy Billy Crystal numbers.
I love Janelle Monae, just let the woman sing. Did you see the dancing Joker?… and SS woman from JoJo rabbit?… the production design on this harkens back to the bad old days then Debbie Reynolds struggled to make interpretive dance versions of original scores.
I mercifully missed that because I was only half-watching. I did catch the unfortunate moment where she tried to do a call-and-response with the audience.
We get dancing Jokers, but no dancing Hitlers? I demand Mel Brooks rewrite this immediately.
I spoke too soon. Steve Martin and Chris Rock very much did a traditional opening monologue, albeit one with some fairly pointed barbs.
Pitt’s clip should have been “…and you were on a HORSIE!”
Don’t hate how they’re handling performance clips, cutting moments from each Supporting Actor nominee into one montage. Plus, they’re getting all the best Pacino moments!
As expected, Brad Pitt wins Best Supporting Actor (his first acting win!) for his (leading!) performance in Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. I was pushing for Al Pacino, who likely split votes with his Irishman costar, Joe Pesci. But Pitt is very good in Hollywood—a wonderfully relaxed movie-star turn, funny and occasionally a little menacing. I liked Pitt’s speech, graciously acknowledging his director and costar, lobbying for more attention for actual stunt performers in the industry, and taking some swipes at Congress. This was the surest thing of the night, so I’m cool with them getting it out of the way first.
I would have loved to see Tarantino do a savage takedown of Trump, rather than his (mostly) toothless love letter to the Hollywood of his childhood. I didn’t hate it, but it just seems fairly low-stakes and plotless. I watched it for the second time yesterday and…well, a balloon isn’t as much fun to play with once the air is let out. I do agree with his central thesis–that Hollywood needs to honor its past better–but its just much too long for a “hangout” movie.
I respectfully disagree. I found it his most mature work, and beyond a ‘hangout’ movie it’s more than anything a love letter to Hollywood and what Tarantino wishes could have continued. If you look at that brief period, you had this revolution going on while the big studios were trying to figure out what the hell was going on. And more importantly, that was the beginning of the director era. We’re not getting those days again I don’t think, but you never know: maybe there’s another revolution coming for us folks sick of Spandex movies and endless sequels.
I might have overstated my case a bit. I do think Tarantino’s heart is more firmly with the pulpy, dumb, disreputable films like the ones we see Rick Dalton in or the one-episode morality plays of Western TV shows of that era than any auteur sensibility, but I suppose the ending imagines a world where the two were merged, much like he has attempted in the past. And, yeah, I really wouldn’t mind living in that world:There were aspects of this movie I did unabashed like:—Pitt’s endlessly quotable, effortless charming performance—The Spahn’s Ranch does have quite a tense build-up, (up until the moment any possible menace evaporates).—Stellar production design. I found it more than a little fetishistic, but I can’t deny the massive amount of work it must have been.—Robbie was another bright spot. Even if she didn’t get a lot of screentime, she shines in every scene she’s in.
He (Tarantino) is such a film nerd that I can’t disagree with that. He loves those films you’ve just described (I can’t lie: I do too. Those are the films I grew up with as a kid in the late 70’s and 80’s on those old Antenna TV channels). But that being said, I definitely think his heart was in this film. A lot of it is he’s getting older. When you listen to Rick Dalton talk about the book he’s reading and gets emotional (because he knows he’s talking about himself) you’re also listening to Tarantino talk about himself. That’s why I feel this is his most personal film. There’s a lot of him in this, probably more than any other film. And more than any other film, this one shows how much he loves the art of film making. Also I believe in the Lester Bangs theory that sometimes those sort of creative endeavors (Trash and Pulp) can be better than the high brow stuff. The Nuggets album and so forth as opposed to the Beatles and Stones, or the idea of Punk over Prog rock.
Also I believe in the Lester Bangs theory that sometimes those sort of creative endeavors (Trash and Pulp) can be better than the high brow stuff. The Nuggets album and so forth as opposed to the Beatles and Stones, or the idea of Punk over Prog rock. I heartily agree. I guess I’m probably guilty of comparing OUATIH to the far more ambitious film I had in my head when I heard the project announced: I was thinking like an analogue to Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam where a sinister darkness looms over the idyllic Hollywood Hills.
Final note and I’ll shut up about this probably: Do you think future releases of OUATIH will need to be annotated, Pop-Up Video style? I caught pretty much all the references, but I think I might be one of the last generations to.
I’m re-reading “Let It Blurt” about Bangs by Jim DeRogatis and I find myself wanting to listen to the Velvets, Stooges and the Count Five lately.
FYI: I edited my reply. I wasn’t trying to sneak anything past you. I just thought of more stuff between then and now.
Congratulations to Mindy Kaling, who probably ran into Brad Pitt backstage.
Pixar wins the Pixar award for best Pixar movie! (PS I’m taking the piss, guys! I teared up a bit during Kitbull)
Mindy Kaling, who voiced Disgust in Pixar’s Inside Out, hands Best Animated Feature to Toy Story 4. Not a stellar year for this category, in my opinion; if there was a more beloved film in contention (or even if Frozen II had been up, stealing some votes), I suspect Disney-Pixar might not be looking at a win. Then again: everyone loves Forky!
When did Al Pacino morph into Eddie Money??!!
Uncontroversial opinion: all the animated short nominees were outstanding, though I may be an easy lay for animation.I have no problem with Hair Love taking the win.
I admittedly have not seen all of the Oscar-nominated animated shorts, but I did see Hair Love, and this is a heartwarming win for a really charming and touching film. Making the win especially poignant is the fact that Hair Love was funded on Kickstarter, as well as the fact that Matthew Cherry—the second Black person to win this award—dedicated the award to Kobe Bryant—the first—who won for Dear Basketball in 2017.
Not a big Josh Gad guy, but that Travolta dig made me laugh.
In general, I think Frozen II’s songbook is a lot weaker than the original’s. But “Into The Unknown” is a lung-ballooning banger. Hope it wins.
An interesting emphasis on behind-the-scenes players tonight, between Pitt’s shoutout to stuntmen in his acceptance speech and now cameos from what I assume are the singers who dubbed Idina Menzel’s voice for Frozen 2’s various international versions.
Am I the only one on this damn thread? Is everyone on Twitter? Am I so out of touch? No, it’s the young people who are out of touch!Sound off if you’re here!
Twitter is where it’s happening, but I don’t tweet. Too many angry Grandpas and Karens wondering why that Barry “Hussein” Obama film had to win best Documentary when the Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager one wasn’t even nominated.
I’m in here and responded to you earlier! But I’m also old and don’t tweet so…
I’m here. This comment section is fucking broken as shit.
For the longest time, I used AVC without adblocking because I have a fast internet connection and I wanted to throw some support to one of my fave sites, but it just started becoming impossible to comment–my typing was buffering!–so I finally decided to whitelist. Now, I can actually type out a quick post in less than a half-hour!
I tried that, and the ads choked it up even worse.
Is there some kind of Chrome extension/script to get rid of those damn clickbait-to-the-10th-power Taboola ads that eats up some much real estate?
I use Adblock. Seems to work on just about everything EXCEPT those little pockets of lies.No, Taboola, I certainly do not like those. (This is a screencap, btw.)
Samesies. I’m too lazy to screencap it, but here’s what I drew:“If You Like to Play, this City-Building Game is a Must-Have. No Install.”“Pocket $150 Sign-up Bonus When You Spend $500″“Minnesota: Low Mileage Senior Drivers Are in for a Big Surprise”
Mix ‘em up like Mad Libs – “If You Like to Play, Low Mileage Senior Drivers Are In For A Big Surprise In Minnesota.”
But what is Billie going to sing??
How much would you pay to watch Kelly Marie Tran and Questlove’s cabaret act?
Kelly Marie Tran is going to get more screen-time at the Oscars than she did in Rise Of Skywalker.
Happy A.A.?
Who are the guys on the right side of the front row that’s clapping for absolutely nobody, or at least ar less than anybody? Not Kaling, not Keanu, not Bong Joon Ho.
Oh, wow. I really was not expecting Parasite to win. Maybe Bong’s public shaming at the Golden Globes did have an effect.
This is probably the happiest I’ll be with a win all evening, unless Little Women makes some surprise sweep. Parasite deserves the Original Screenplay win. I’m still unpacking that movie in my head.
Keanu Reeves and Diane Keaton hand Best Original Screenplay (usually awarded much later in the night) to Bong Joon Ho and Jin Won Han for their nimble, brilliant Parasite screenplay. It’s the first foreign-language winner in either screenplay category since Talk To Her in 2003. A good omen for Parasite’s chances at the big one. Keep hope alive, Bong Hive!
Jesus, that Joker excerpt they picked was mortifying.
Cool of the Oscars to acknowledge that there’s not much good dialogue in Joker to highlight.
The Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar goes to Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit, which, if you view this award in terms of adapting source material, is a respectable win. (Waititi’s version of the story is reportedly quite different from the book.) It wasn’t my choice—I stumped for Little Women, which excelled in terms of using cinematic language to reinterpreting familiar source material—but it wasn’t the worst option.
“The Neighbors’ Window” wins Best Live-Action Short. I didn’t catch this year’s nominees, but I hear the group as a whole was less relentlessly, needlessly grim than last year’s crop.
I’ll be less diplomatic than you, Katie: Gerwig’s script for Little Women runs laps around Waititi’s; it’s a structural marvel, and it makes its celebrated source material new again while still staying true to its spirit.
Katie nailed Pitt for the best supporting actor, and well deserved to boot.“You were on a horsie!”
The extended bit about acting was a bit distracting—sorry Maya and Kristen, love you—but I’m thrilled and not a bit surprised to see Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh win Best Production Design for Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood. Their vision of 1969 was affectionate and assured, not to mention what a massive fucking undertaking it was.
The Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar goes to Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit, which, if you view this award in terms of adapting source material, is a respectable win. (Waititi’s version of the story is reportedly quite different from the book.)So how can you determine its worthiness of adaption if you haven’t read what it’s adapted from?Seems a common gap in knowledge on all the AV Club hot takes so far of this film…
Dresses! Little Women wins Best Costume Design.
Nothing against the work, which is lovely, but when it comes to this award, the
frills tend to come out on top—and without any other traditional chamber
dramas/period pieces in the running, Little
Women got that entire vote. I would have preferred Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood, personally, but am also glad to see Gerwig’s
film pick something up.
Yeah, as much as I’d like to see Little Women pick up more awards tonight, I’m not very optimistic about that prospect, either.
Typical of godless Hollywood, no one introduces the performance of the song from the very Christian Breakthrough.
There’s something very Catholic in the way the Oscars presenters keep mentioning the lack of diversity in this year’s nominees. Like if they admit guilt enough times, they’ll be absolved of responsibility.
After a montage of the films up, Mark Ruffalo introduces the Best Documentary Feature
category, noting that four out of the five nominees were co-directed by women.
One of them, American Factory, wins
the top prize. It had the Obama brand going for it (this was the first film in
the former president’s deal with Netflix), but it’s also a pretty terrific
doc—a tale of culture clash and colliding workforces that benefits from some
strong cringe comedy, too.
And now comes the portion of the evening where Dowd and I look at each other and go, “did you watch these?” In all seriousness, though, congrats to the crew and the subjects of Learning To Skateboard In A Warzone (If You’re A Girl), which you can stream here.
I could have used another week or two. They did NOT give us enough time to watch these movies…
♫LAURA DERN! LAURA DERN! LAURA DERN!
♪
Okay, I’m really enjoying
these performance montages! Mahershala Ali, who won Supporting Actor for Green Book last year, hands a very
expected award for Supporting Actress (and her first Oscar) to Laura Dern. This
is sort of the platonic ideal of a supporting performance—memorable, lively,
crucial to the film’s dramatic architecture, but never overshadowing the work
of the leads. My heart was with Florence Pugh, who had an amazing year even outside
of her incredible age-spanning turn as Amy March in Little Women But it’s great see Dern up there finally. Classy speech, too.
Additional congratulations to birthday girl Laura Dern, who was having quite a weekend even before she won an Oscar.
Laura’s right, her parents are awesome.
They really, really are. I can’t tell you how much I love Bruce Dern and his work. He was my favorite part of “Big Love” and he’s always been awesome.
From Black Sunday to Family Plot to Nebraska – Dern
He’s SO under-rated to me. A lot of it is that he came up with Nicholson, and unlike Jack even when he was in an A list film (They Shoot Horses, Don’t They) he would pop up in the Incredible Two Headed Transplant with Casey Kasem. I’m looking at his filmography now, and man I forgot how great he was in the 70’s. Coming Home, The Driver, Silent Running, The King of Marvin Gardens…that’s some great work.
Marriage Story, by the
way, was my movie of the year. I suspect this is the only award it’s winning
tonight.
Congratulations to Laura Dern for her Oscar for playing that incredibly annoying character.
So we’re introducing the people introducing the montages?
My corniest opinion: “My Heart Will Go On” is an amazing song.
It’s a GREAT song, Dowd. Talk about a lung stretcher!
Oh, come on, Dowd. You’re drastically underrating your corniness.
Speaking of corny, Eminem is performing “Lose Yourself” for some reason? Guess the Oscars also wish it was still 2002.
No love for any song before 1968? Well, Que Sera Sera.
This comment section is seriously fucking broken. Surprise surprise.
Oscars producer: “We need something current! For the youth!”Assistant: “Okay, how about Megan Thee Stallion? DaBaby? Cardi B? Lil Nas X?”Producer: “I was actually thinking the white guy we gave an Oscar to in 2002.”
Annual reminder that Best Sound
Editing awards the creation of individual sonic components, the purview of foley
artists. Ford V Ferrari wins for those roaring engines and squealing tires,
beating the film I assumed would take this home, 1917.
Meanwhile, Best Sound
Mixing—which concerns the entire mix, which it to say how all those individual
components interact—does go to 1917. Does the film’s inability to take home
both foretell a Best Picture lose, or am I overthinking this? Anyway, Ad
Astra was robbed.
The song is whatever, but I am never, ever sad to see Randy Newman.
The Newman family reunion is going to be tense this year if Randy beats Thomas (or vice versa) for Best Original Score.
The Scorceses are all of us watching Eminem at the Oscars.
Shouts to Marshall for being the first person to sag his pants at the Oscars.
I think I’m cool with the Oscars being old, white and stodgy if this is the entertainment we’re going to get as an alternative.
Why was the Beetlejuice score playing Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus onto stage? Speaking of Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, watch Force Majeure if you haven’t seen it.
Roger Deakins picks up his
second Oscar (on 14 nominations!) for the Lubezki-esque long takes of 1917. No surprise there—Best
Cinematography often goes to the most elaborate, showboating, noticeable feats of camerawork. Bravura work, no question, though I was hoping against hope for The Lighthouse.
Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland win Best Editing for Ford V. Ferrari. This very workmanlike film was very slick and professional in its driving scenes in particular, which had a great sense of forward momentum; that being said, this is another diplomatic response on my end, as I would have preferred to see Parasite or The Irishman win.
Likewise, Katie. Often, this award doesn’t go to the best editing so much as the most editing. And because of the racing scenes, I’m guessing Ford V Ferrari wins on the cut count.
Zazie Beetz wins this year’s Oscar for Best Actress In Movies That Largely Waste Her Talents.
The Run The Jewels song featured in this Cadillac commercial has a line in it about how Trump fucks his children. They should re-cut it with that line intact.
I’m predicting Elton John wins (because he’s Elton), but this big, swelling Original Song nominee from Harriet feels like a possibility, too.
Ceremony is moving pretty quick again this year (even with a tribute to, uh, music in movies and an Eminem performance). More ammo for the argument that you really don’t need a host, and that these things are maybe much better paced without them.
Best Song may need live voting…
CATS?!
Let’s celebrate the restraint the Academy exercised in waiting a whole two hours before making a Cats joke.
Rebel Wilson and James Corden in cat suits patiently waiting for the 1917 guys to finish their speech was pretty funny, though.
1917 wins Best Visual Effects, probably because it’s the most prestigious, respectable, “serious” of the nominees. Seriously, for all summer blockbusters monopolize the slate, the Academy almost always votes for a movie that isn’t a big, dumb explosion fest or CGI free-for-all. (See also: Interstellar, First Man, Life Of Pi, etc.) In this case, they did pick the right film, in my opinion—1917 mixes practical and digital spectacle very gracefully. I’m mostly just relieved they didn’t go with The Lion King, which is a prime example of using state-of-the-art technology for misguided means.
I wonder how many times they’ve made that same “I’m 87 years old” joke or variation there of for the hair and make up category.
Bombshell wins for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, an expected choice given that the Academy frequently awards makeup artists who can make one famous person look like another famous person. Very sweet to hear Kazu Hiro give a shoutout to his mentors Rick Baker and Dick Smith, though.
Well, at least they’re owning it.
I can’t convince myself that Joaquin isn’t going to win tonight, but hell yeah, let the Joker shutout continue!Oh look, it just lost Best Makeup. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Nice to see a shout-out to the best film of the decade, A Separation, in this tribute to global cinema.
Why even pretend that the Best International Feature award was ever going to go to anything besides Parasite? Pain And Glory and Honeyland were both great, but this award was Parasite’s to lose, given that the film received six nominations overall. And Bong seems to be in high spirits—he even said something nice about the Academy on stage! We’ll see if Parasite can pull off becoming the first film in a language other than English to win Best Picture; I’m not especially optimistic, but I’d be happy to be wrong.
There are those convinced Parasite is winning Best Picture tonight. I too have my doubts, especially after convincing myself last year that Roma was going to win. But I’d love to be proven wrong.
I’m a huge Elton fanboy, but that really isn’t even among his middle tier songs. And Rocketman is a very good biographic film that could have been great if it had the courage to lean into its more surreal elements.
I would fight Gal Gadot for deodorant.
Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman and Ripley. Cool.
Another regular Oscar
night choice I’ve always loved is the orchestra playing a medley of the
Original Score nominees. Gives you a real sense of the spectrum of music they
gravitated towards (and, of course, the almost invariably big-name composers
they recognized).
Sigourney Weaver not being able to pronounce Hildur Guðnadóttir’s name is very relatable. I have to copy and paste it every time.
But not all big names! Hildur
Guðnadóttir, the Icelandic composer who did the depressive, ominous
cello-driven music for Joker (and also Chernobyl), wins
Best Original Score, beating out veterans like the Newman cousins and John
freakin’ Williams. It’s a win for that movie I can get behind; in so much as
Joker ever approaches the tragic power it’s aspiring towards, Guðnadóttir’s
moody, operatic music is a big reason. She’s also the first woman to win this award since 1998, when Anne Dudley pulled the upset for The Full Monty.
Elton John won. Who saw that coming.
Bong Hive, assemble!
BONG HITS!
Massive wealth and worldwide fame are also pretty good rewards, Bernie Taupin, but his and Elton John’s gobsmacked reaction to winning the Best Original Song Oscar for Rocketman is precious. Cynthia Erivo’s EGOT will arrive soon enough, and Randy Newman, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and her husband Robert Lopez have two Oscars apiece to keep them warm. Diane Warren is becoming the Susan Lucci of this category, however—11 nominations, and zero wins.
Everyone in the A.V. Club office goes crazy as Bong Joon
Ho wins Best Director for Parasite,
beating out presumptive favorite Sam Mendes. “After winning Best International
Feature, I thought I was done for the
night and could relax,” deadpans Bong, who also gives a shout-out to Martin
Scorsese, “who I studied in school,” and to Quentin Tarantino, who was a
cheerleader for his movies. (“Quentin, I love you.”) It’s a class-act speech and
a marvelous win; for my money, he deserved this one. Now can Parasite really win Best Picture?
And he gave a very gracious and classy acceptance speech.
I’m starting to hope against hope, Dowd…
My queen returns! This time she knew she was going to be on stage…
Mystery solved: Billie
Eilish is here to sing “Yesterday” over the In Memoriam tribute, presumably
because her whispered delivery won’t overshadow (or distract from) the famous people being
eulogized.
As the second person in 10 years to win for playing Joker… is it the role or the actor? I’m not trying to diminish the artist here. I’m seriously wondering.
Joaquin wins, of course. I expected that one. But his speech was WAY more interesting than the movie was.
Joaquin Phoenix wins for Joker, his first Oscar out of four nominations. There’s been some pushback against method acting—of which Phoenix is a devotee—in recent months, and I tend to agree that it’s interesting that no one ever seems to go Method playing a nice person. But Joker was lucky to have Phoenix, without whom I think this film wouldn’t have been as prominent in the awards conversation as it has been. It really was difficult to take your eyes off of him and the way he moves his body in the film. (Also, time to fill in “veganism” on your Joaquin Phoenix political speech bingo card.)
As widely predicted, Renée
Zellweger wins Best Actress for her vocally precise, poignant turn as Judy
Garland. The Academy loves stars playing stars, and Zellweger picked up almost
all of the precursors, so this felt sewn up a while ago. She’s much better, I’ll say, than the movie on a whole—something both lead acting winners now share. Also, this is
a much more, uh, traditional acceptance speech than Joaquin’s, with the
requisite shout-out to Garland and a roll call of other heroes.
Okay, last-minute prediction: 1917 takes the big one, the Academy splitting Picture and Director, as they often do. But I’m feeling more hopeful than I was three hours ago that Parasite could actually win. Famous last words?
Nice to see Jane Fonda made bail in time for the Oscars.
it’s interesting that no one ever seems to go Method playing a nice person
HOLY SHIT
More screaming at AV Club HQ. This is a historic first!
That’s got to be considered a mild upset.
“BONG HITS ALL AROUND!” – the headlines tomorrow
Hell yeah.
Wow, Parasite takes home Best Picture, the first film not in English to win this award. We touched on this in our Film Club episode on the movie, but it’s really been remarkable how well Parasite has been received by American audiences as well as critics. There have been a lot of jokes on stage tonight poking fun at the Academy being a stodgy, old-fashioned institution; that’s all well and good, but Parasite winning Best Picture is an actual solid signpost on the road to change in the industry. The Oscars—a local awards ceremony no more!
Can’t
think of the last time I was this happy to be wrong. Maybe when Moonlight won? Anyway, a wonderful surprise at the end of a very solid Oscar night. Let’s all go make like Bong and get drunk!
Good night, and good luck to the Parasite team dealing with their hangovers tomorrow.
This is my last post of the night; I’ve got to turn in so I can get up for work tomorrow .Thanks to the handful of commenters that replied to my post, as well as those that lurked and saved my posts from the grey. I’m just going to post some stray thoughts I really didn’t have time to post in the comments. These are in-the-moment and not thoroughly edited (there are some places where I would throw a bold or italics style in and probably a few genuine errors), so let me know if anything needs clarification:—As a lifelong heathen, I wanted to throw shade at the song nominated from Breakthrough, the Christian melodrama about faith as a supplement to edical science (to be fair, I haven’t seen it), but that ensemble and performance were on point.—WTF? The Connors Live? Why? Who keeps demanding these live versions of sitcoms, past and present? —Was there a subtle jab at the lack of opportunities in film for women in Carol Dysinger’s acceptance speech? —Those Mrs. America ad spots sure know how to push the right buttons. Consider my interest piqued.—What convoluted sequence of events had to happen for Eminem to take up a performance slot? Did someone cancel at the last minute? It is certainly one of his stronger tracks and given the reaction shots, the audience was really into it. Except for Marty, for whom this falls far outside of the Boomer musical catalogue.—I love Taika (even if this might’ve been his slightest film) but Little Women was a FAR SUPERIOR adaptation, for all the reasons Rife and Dowd mention. And she’s a phenomenal director, a master at getting a lot out of short scenes and top-tier performances out of performers. The biggest snub, IMO.—Stop trying to make Quibi a thing!—Biting, satirical Randy Newman > Maudlin Pixar Shill Randy Newman—That Corden/Wilson “Cats batting at the microphone” was a pretty inspired bit of physical comedy—They may have rebranded Best Foreign Film, but I’m sorry, Bong, but they’re still giving you a consolation prize. Still, you do have a way with memorable acceptance speeches: “I am very ready to drink tonight”—OK, forget that last bit: I really underestimated the power of the Bong Hive. I would have preferred Gerwig (big snub, IMO). And as long as he continues to give these outstanding acceptance speeches, I hope he wins many more awards in the future. Please, please, please give him Best Picture.—OK, Pheonix maybe wasn’t my top pick—Best Acting not Most Acting—but this far-out-there, but nonetheless heartfelt acceptance speech was worth the price of admission. I was genuinely worried he might break down when he hit the part about River. And he deserves the belated win for all his previous excellent work (Personally, I was a big fan of his strange, almost feral performance in The Master). Thankfully, the showrunners let this one run long. —I kind of despise these sappy “Google remembers so you don’t have to” commercials. I understand we are edging closer to a post-human future—tech and computers doing more and more things for us, extending our life—but unless I have a neurodegenerative disease (in which case, I’m probably fucked in the long term anyway), I don’t need Google remembering the “small details” of my life.—OK, last time: Parasite wins Best Picture! The Academy finally manages to break the one-inch barrier! This really makes up for any possible misgivings I might have had. I’m sorry Little Women didn’t get more love—one lousy Costume Design award is not nearly enough!—but Parasite really is amazing. See it now, if you can.Night, all! Stay safe, stay sane!
Looking forward to see this in 2020. Custom Boxes
Looking forward to see this in 2020. Custom Boxes