![]() ![]() It was a singular few minutes, to be sure. Smith’s tearful speech for best actor made allusion to this peculiar moment, trying to link it thematically to King Richard and to Smith’s journey through the Hollywood crucible, before he issued an apology to the Academy and to his fellow nominees. ( Sean Combs took the stage shortly after to help, in theory, defuse the situation.) It was shocking, and overshadowed what immediately followed Questlove’s gracious speech for Summer of Soul became a sad bit of collateral damage. It was a seriously strange and uncomfortable moment that even the usually unflappable Rock seemed unable to process. Ariana DeBose became the first openly queer acting winner ever, while Jane Campion became only the third woman to ever win best director.īut, of course, the one thing anyone will really remember from this ceremony was the most jarring interlude of the evening: Will Smith taking the stage to take a swipe at presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair. The aforementioned Drive My Car stands as testament to the fact that international films have a path from the art-house, international festival circuit to the galactic center of Hollywood worship. Best supporting actor winner Troy Kotsur’s heartfelt speech was a highlight of the evening, as was Yuh-Jung Youn’s presenter bit. But after tonight, I’m worried there might be a true mass exodus, from which there will be no return.Īt least we can find some reason to celebrate in this year’s class of winners. (The telecast was, mind you, still well over three hours long!) Yes, viewership numbers have been gradually dwindling. Because the quickest way to really invalidate this whole thing-to really hasten a perhaps natural slide into eventual irrelevance-is to keep putting out broadcasts as flimsy as this one, which properly honored neither the films nor the dedicated fans still willing to sit through the whole thing at home. If ABC wants to continue on its mission to make the Oscars feel as noteworthy as the MTV Movie Awards, I suppose it’s up to the Academy to decide if they want to continue to let them. Which is not exactly the sentiment that the Academy was hoping for, I’d have to imagine. What’s wrong with an erratic, less self-serious Oscars ceremony, then? That’s the kind of thinking tonight’s broadcast had me doing-an existential plumbing of not what these Oscars meant, but what any of them ever have. It may be silly, or worse, to pine so intensely, as I did watching these Oscars, for a bigness and importance that was perhaps never actually earned. Everyone in Oscars history, beyond the eventual winners, would probably rather have been at the parties or just at home, half paying attention. Of course, maybe that’s what the Oscar always were, to some extent. The audio was tinny and echo-y (perhaps because there was so much negative space between the stage and the audience members), and the glaring set felt like a far cry from the golden tones of yesteryear. As the night’s hosts- Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes-took the stage, after a brief and unnecessary hyping from DJ Khaled, something felt off. As she performed her nominated song, “Be Alive,” from King Richard, a much needed sense of grandeur was stirred up.Īlas, that was deflated considerably when we were brought inside the Dolby, tricked out like a sci-fi movie spaceship. ![]() ![]() But then, at least, as the actual show began, there was Beyoncé, looking regal in tennis ball green with a fleet of dancers, singers, and musicians on a public court in Compton. Watching the stilted red carpet interviews while Dune won four awards and Riz Ahmed accepted a trophy for his live action short inside the Dolby Theatre was a dispiriting, frustrating way to start the evening. If the argument was that a trimmed down show is a better show, then a better show they would have to present. After all the weeks of hue and cry about ABC pressuring the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences into giving out eight of the Oscars 2022 before the primetime broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards began, this year’s ostensibly streamlined show had a lot to do to prove itself. ![]()
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