Oscars Wrap Up

 

Let's start here - I'm not going to talk about it.  I think the issue is complicated, though I am certain that no person should ever put their hands on another person.  Ever.  Like never ever ever.  It's not a damn playground with 5 year olds, it's the Oscars.  The rest I will leave the involved parties to talk it out and make peace and have the rest of the world butt out.

Beyonce opened the show dressed as a tennis ball, and that's how you start a show.  Incredible.

I was thrilled to see how many African American artists were hired to make the show - music director, producer, director, performers, and behind the camera.  I like this way of starting a show with one of the nominated songs - we haven't seen that done since Justin Timberlake and I loved it then too.

My yearly rant - there are 5 nominees in all but one of the categories and if you're one of them, practice your speech.  Write it down.  As anyone who has ever been in an overwhelming moment can tell you, extemporaneous speeches don't go well when your heart is beating out of your chest.  Not only that, but every winner (individual or team) gets 45 seconds.  When there are 5 team members who win and one person takes up 44 seconds and leaves the other 4 one second to split, it really aggravates me.  KUDOS to the Encanto team who prepared, who divided up the time, and who delivered a perfect combination of thank you's to fellow professionals and their families.

Here's my other rant and it's about the In Memoriam segment.  I didn't have any issue with the uplifting nature of the music.  In many cultures, celebration is wholly appropriate when it comes to honoring those who have died (try a funeral in New Orleans or Ireland).  But the GODDAMN FLYING CAMERA SHOTS meant that we missed about half the names and titles of those who died, which is the real disgrace and misses the whole point of the segment. (which incidentally my dad calls, "the necrology report.") Unless they were actors, the majority of the people in the slide show are people to whom movie lovers owe a debt of gratitude for their work, and we'll never know who they are thanks to a Director who loves to mess around with the camera angles while the slides are progressing.  NOT OK.  The point is honoring people who have passed, let's do that by being able to see them.  Do a split screen top to bottom if you really insist on showing what is happening on stage.

I thought the co-hosts were terrific - all three funny and charming.  But, if an Oscars hosts were to feel up a couple of women on stage as a "COVID test," that would never fly.  I appreciated the humor (who doesn't want to grab Jason Momoa's calf?) but not the execution.

A final note about my darling Lady Gaga who is always a queen, but who handled an aging Liza Minnelli with such incredible grace.  I'd love a little more "I got you" energy and a little less "GI Jane/Keep my wife's name..." energy, please.

This show was my best prediction payoff rate ever.  21 out of 23 categories correct, and in the two I got wrong, blog readers will note that I said if I was wrong, the winner would be the winner.  I'm mostly mad at myself for picking Power of the Dog for Cinematography - I KNEW it would be Dune.  Why did I do that???  Well, I guess not getting 23 right always lets me strive for better in coming years.  Thanks for being on this journey with me for another year, and I'll see you next year for the Oscars!