A Reel Opinion: Oscar Wrap-up - The Good, The Bad, & The Glorious

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held their 91^stOscars last night; awarding the best in cinema from the year that was 2018. Here’s how it all unspooled in The Good, The Bad, and The Glorious…

THE GOOD

-No host? No problem. The Academy had a messy pre-season when they couldn’t secure a host for these awards, and the decision to run without one for the first time in 30 years had many expecting a disaster. The results however could not have been better. The show moved quickly with no wasted time on endless monologues or pointless skits. The opening remarks by Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler didn’t shy away from the PR disaster the Academy had in the months leading up to last night, and it showed that the Oscars do know how to have fun. 

-GREEN BOOK winning Best Picture and the rest of the winners. Despite winning several awards through the season, GREEN BOOK was considered an underdog behind ROMA, THE FAVOURITE, and BLACKKKLANSMAN. It’s a deserved win that makes sense. GREEN BOOK is a character-based film driven by its actors, and the Academy does love its actors. Its message of unity and race relations works without getting preachy, and it was by far one of the best feel-good films of the year. It’s also good to see a film survive any off-screen noise. The other 23 winners are all well-earned, and perhaps for the first time in a long time, no real controversy over any wins. 

-Lady Gaga’s win for Shallow in the Best Original Song category made her the first person in history to win a Golden Globe, Grammy, a BAFTA, and an Oscar in a single year. 

-Spike Lee winning Best Adapted Screenplay for his powerful BLACKKKLANSMAN. His arrival on stage was greeted by his friend Samuel L. Jackson with a massive bear-hug, which showed the comradery that the actors and filmmakers have. It was a feel-good moment for a very deserving film. 

THE BAD

-Any goodwill Spike Lee earned with his win was obliterated when he threw a hissy-fit when GREEN BOOK was announced as Best Picture. Lee threw his arms up in the air and tried to walk out of the theatre…and later threw barbs at the Academy in the press room. It was a sore-loser moment where he disrespected his peers, and it seems he only cares about a civil rights movie if his name is attached to it. Makes one wonder what exactly he is in the game for. 

-The In Memoriam. The annual tribute to artists who have passed on lacked any clips or dialogue from our dearly departed, which took away the usual emotional punch it carries. Every year there are glaring omissions, and this year they missed R. Lee Emery, Carol Channing, and STAR WARS producer Gary Kurtz. 

-The team who accepted the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling (VICE) looked like idiots on the stage as they wasted their precious time fumbling and bumbling; a true example of what not to do on stage. This was one of the categories that was supposed to be announced in the commercial breaks before the Academy changed their minds; maybe they had good reason to think about it. 

THE GLORIOUS

-Once again; no host, no problem. The opening number by the surviving members of Queen with Adam Lambert on lead vocals was a spectacular performance that brought the entire theatre to its feet. 

-This Blogger called A STAR IS BORN the best film of 2018, and although it didn’t win much…it delivered an Oscar moment for the ages. The performance of the winning Shallow by Lady Gaga and director/actor (and now singer) Bradley Cooper was not only delivered perfectly but shot brilliantly with the camera behind the stage. The image of the two of them touching faces at the piano recalls their characters from the film, and absolutely struck the emotional chords. A wonderful moment for Oscar. 

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The 93rd Academy Awards will be held February 9^th, 2020.