3 Thoughts on The Oscars

1. The Show - It seems like I might be in the minority in this, but I hated it. I appreciate that it felt like it was back to "normal" after the weird Covid production in 2021 and then last year's show that managed to celebrate film while also insulting actual filmmaking. But I can't stand Jimmy Kimmel - I don't think I've ever laughed at a single joke of his ever. He's (and I know this is a trendy word to throw around but I think it applies here) basic. I get that they want to play it safe with a more broad comedian, someone they can trust (as opposed to someone like Ricky Gervais), but then go with someone more beloved. Billy Crystal is always great. Same for Steve Martin. But they're really sticking behind Kimmel, huh? I think the only thing he did well was address "the slap" by focusing on the Academy's reaction to it, as opposed to either Will or Chris. His advice if it happens again "do what you did last year...nothing". And if you participate in any violence we will "give you an Oscar and allow you a 19 minute acceptance speech". Other than that, though, his jokes just didn't land. And he became particularly unfunny when he went into the audience and made SO many mistakes. Trying to rope Malala into a bit about Chris Pine & Harry Styles? Telling Colin Farrell you can't understand him when you're surrounded by Irish nominees? Bringing up your stupid as fuck feud with Matt Damon? It was all so embarrassing. The rest of the show was just very boring. Only two presenters were actually funny - Hugh Grant (always the best. And his pre-interview with Ashley Graham was fucking hilarious if you ask me. I've never heard her speak before and she definitely should stay away from interviewing people. This was a disaster. She also "corrected" Pedro Pascal when he said Rihanna was performing. She said she wasn't, which wasn't true? It was announced that she was performing and their own person interviewing celebs wasn't informed enough about the show. It was polite of Pascal to not point out that she was, in fact, wrong. For the love of God, can we get some actual journalists to do red carpet interviews?) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (maybe let her host?). Also, the performances were all so dry. I was really looking forward to "Naatu Naatu", but even that seemed off with the weird lighting. I laughed HARD at Lady Gaga's stripped down performance (does she think she's Nirvana or something? Absolutely hilarious). I don't know who Sofia Carson is, but she's in Taron's next movie (Carry On), so I am forced to love her (good thing she can sing!). But, the worst part of the whole show was making the the release of a trailer part of the show! WHAT THE FUCK? Isn't that like a conflict of interest or something? How is that ok? It was for The Little Mermaid, which still looks terrible btw. Halle Bailey can sing, and I'm rooting for her, but that trailer did them no favors. 

2. The Winners - I think I'm most disappointed that there were no surprises. It's always fun when there's a big surprise in at least one category. But I think this year it came down to two nominees in every category, with one having a pretty clear edge if you've been paying attention to awards season. It all came out exactly how I expected. It's weird to watch it all go down among "film twitter" especially when someone shows sincere shock - like when All Quiet on the Western Front started sweeping the technical awards (I thought that was a given? Have you all not been paying attention?) and Sarah Polley winning the Adapted Screenplay award (she's won most pre-cursors; this was not shocking). I can't really say that I'm upset by any of the awards - most are people who deserve accolades, but most are not who I would have chosen. The only ones I'm happy about are del Toro winning for Pinocchio and "Naatu Naatu" winning for Original Song. I also think Ruth Carter deserved the Costume award for those funeral outfits alone (it was one of two categories I was rooting for EEAAO to win, but it was a tough category). I really liked Everything Everywhere All at Once (I think it could have had some tighter editing, so the editing award is kind of funny, but...uhhh...that guy is really hot so give him all the awards), but the only performance I saw in that film that grabbed my attention is Stephanie Hsu. It's insane that she went home empty handed, while her three co-stars won. She's had a great year, and I think she'll have a huge career after this, but it still sucks. I think the biggest lesson for anyone wanting to get into Oscar predictions is the old saying that Hollywood loves a comeback story. They love patting themselves on the back for giving attention to someone after ignoring them or shunning them for decades. Literally, look at all four acting wins. It was fun seeing Ke Huy Quan through this awards season - he is just pure joy to watch, and I loved his speech and that he mentioned being a part of the seemingly elusive nowadays "American dream". We have A LOT of work to do here in America, but this "dream" still exists and anything is possible here. We tend to forget that sometimes. BUT how can you watch that clip of Barry Keoghan's performance and tell me he's not the winner?! And Farrell deserves an Oscar. If you're going to give one to Jamie Lee Curtis for a NOTHING performance - clearly a legacy win, then why not Farrell? He gave an incredible performance and has been doing so for the last 20 or so years. I've not seen The Whale yet (and I'm a big fan of Aronofsky, so I think I'll probably love it), but *don't hate me internet* I hate Brendan Frasier - as an actor, at least. I'm sure he's a lovely person. He seems nice and genuine, but he is a terrible actor (facts are facts). I would have also liked if some of the awards were spread around a little - the fact that Banshees of Inisherin and Tar are going home with zero awards? Even Elvis could have won for makeup? Babylon could have easily gotten Production Design. Anyway, my point is SPREAD THE LOVE. It's so boring watching the same movies winning every award. 

3. The Fashion - I've never seen a worse fashion line-up than this year (ok, obvi Covid Oscars wasn't the most glamorous). It was my worst nightmare - the year of the wedding dress. THANKS I HATE IT. Michelle Yeoh, Andrea Riseborough, Emily Blunt, Ana de Armas, and so many more wore white (or white-ish) dresses. And Ariana DeBose and Eva Longoria were practically wearing the same dress...aren't stylists supposed to prevent that from happening? Since I started with the bad, I'll continue with the dresses I didn't like - I usually love Florence Pugh's unexpected fashion choices, but this feels like something she's already done before AND it looked like a big wrinkled mess. Mindy Kaling in that weird strappy dress with detachable sleeves - it's an ok dress but not for the occasion (also in white - but she changed into the SAME DRESS but in black for the show?? WHY?). But onto the good! My favorite dress is probably the actress from Top Gun: Maverick (do I have to look up her name?? Ugh...okay give me a second....). I also think Stephanie Hsu's dress is such a stunning color that I'll forgive the crinkled material. Sandra Oh also wore a beautiful color and I loved the relaxed Grecian style. Halle Bailey in that tiffany blue dress was perfect for the night and on theme for her Little Mermaid intro. I think my most surprising best dress (and overall look) is Jessie Buckley. Her style is usually wild and she was no different here - but the Victorian goth dress with the modernity of her bright red bob hair style was just *stunning*. It was so perfectly her. Same for Sarah Polley I love that she did menswear and didn't try to make it sexy (like with no shirt under it or something), she opted for classic but made it a little more feminine with the flower pin. Love it. As for the men - Barry Keoghan in that lavender - LOVE. And I really liked Samuel L Jackson's champagne colored blazer with matching bowtie. Okay, her name is Monica Barbaro (from Top Gun) - the color combo on that dress is so unexpected and beautiful.