The year that was 2019 was finally but to bed last night, when the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences presented the 92nd Oscars. Here’s how it all landed in The Good, The Bad, & The Glorious.
THE GOOD
-No host, no problem. For the second year in a row, the show went on without a host. The proceedings went into a breezy mode, zipping along with little time for baloney. It worked, although an opening tag-team monologue by former hosts Steve Martin and Chris Rock was good enough to make us yearn for the good ‘ol days.
-Perhaps capitalizing on the impact the music of Queen had on last year’s ceremony, this show had a heavy focus on music. Janelle Monae donned a Mr. Rogers cardigan for a lovely opening that went into high-octane and got everyone on their feet. Idina Menzel belted out her hit Into the Unknown from FROZEN II, and was joined on stage by international performers in a spectacular performance. Elton John was great, as was nominated actress Cynthia Erivo who performed Stand Up from her film, HARRIET.
-Many of us are scratching our heads over the appearance of Eminem who came out of nowhere for a surprise performance of his 2002 Oscar-winning song Lose Yourself. It felt out-of-place, but since This Blogger has always criticized the Academy for not embracing their history enough…then a move like this gets a pass. Music is an important part of the Oscars’ long history, so why not bring back a former winner. And besides that, the performance brought the house to its feet, and gave the show a kick in the butt to avoid that middle-slump.
-A point that’s not necessarily Good, Bad, or Glorious, but worth noting; streaming giant and upstart movie studio Netflix led the ballot with 24 overall nominations, but only won two.
THE BAD
-Not all of the musical numbers made sense. There was a puzzling performance by rapper Utkarsh Ambudkar who re-capped the show at the half-way point. It felt like the Oscars’ version of the Super Bowl half-time show. Awkward and weird.
-The In Memoriam looked and sounded great, with Billie Eilish performing The Beatles’ Yesterday, but overall the segment felt very rushed, with no clips of our dearly departed doing what they did best on the big screen.
-Horror icon Sid Haig was left out of the In Memoriam. In a year where great horror films such as MIDSOMMAR and US were snubbed by the Academy, this omission makes one wonder what voters have against the horror genre.
THE GLORIOUS
-The little montages before each category were awesome.
-Acceptance speeches by winners Laura Dern and Joaquin Phoenix. Dern thanked her parents, and while Phoenix went off the rails a little, he brought it back on track nicely with a tribute to his departed brother, River Phoenix.
-It is all about the movies, and every film that was nominated for Best Picture, with the exception of THE IRISHMAN (more on that in a future blog), went home with at least one win. FORD V. FERRARI and 1917 took home some technical awards, JOJO RABBIT won Adapted Screenplay, JOKER rightfully won Best Actor (Phoenix), LITTLE WOMEN for Costume Design, MARRIAGE STORY for Best Supporting Actress (Dern), ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD for Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt), and Production Design. The awards were spread out evenly and there doesn’t seem to be any controversy in any category.
-And the major categories of Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Best Picture were won by Bong Joon-ho’s South Korean film, PARASITE…becoming the first film not in the English language to take home the last Oscar of the night. Although This Blogger and many others had 1917 winning it all, seeing PARASITE make history is more than welcome. The Oscars should be making history. Cinema is not local. It’s global. No barriers or walls. Aspiring filmmakers should never feel discouraged or limited because of where they are from. Movies have no limits, and thanks to the Academy for seeing that.
-Bong Joon-ho’s acceptance speech paid tribute to Martin Scorsese. Scorsese may have gone home empty-handed, but the influence he has on today’s movies can still be seen…in Oscar’s past, present, and future.
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The 93rd Oscars will be held February 28th, 2021.
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