In a word: Boring.
It wasn’t quite as dull as the COVID Oscars. The 2021 ceremony set a standard for dullness that will probably never be matched. This year, the ceremony actually took place in a theater and it actually had a host who, for the most part, knew what he was doing. That’s not to say that Conan O’Brien was a particularly exciting host but at least the opening monologue went by quickly. When Jimmy Kimmel came out to present the Best Documentary Oscar, we were reminded of just what an improvement O’Brien was on previous hosts.
It’s funny when you think about it. We always bemoan stuff like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock or Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announcing that the wrong film had won Best Picture but the Oscar ceremony is pretty dull without any of that. Last night’s show ran relatively smoothly and only went over by a few minutes. It probably would have been livened up by a slap or two.
The acceptance speeches were okay. I prefer arrogant Paul Thomas Anderson to sincere Paul Thomas Anderson but at least he finally won the Oscars that he probably should have first won many years ago. Anderson is one of our best filmmakers so it’s unfortunate that he won for one of his least interesting films. But that’s the way it often goes with the Academy. Martin Scorsese didn’t win for Goodfellas or Raging Bull or even The Aviator. He won for The Departed.
What happened to all that Sinners momentum? Looking back, the majority of that momentum was a mirage of wishful thinking. A lot of people — myself included — wanted something unexpected to happen to liven up what had been a pretty boring Oscar season. In the end, Michael B. Jordan emerged as Best Actor, over the early favorites. The momentum was less for the film and more for the actor.
The In Memoriam segment was well-handled, though I would have liked to have seen Robert Duvall also get an individual segment. That said, I imagine that Duvall died after the segment had already been planned out. In the end, we all know what a great actor Robert Duvall was and that’s the important thing. Bud Cort, Joe Don Baker and Brigitte Bardot were left out of the In Memoriam montage. I can’t say why Cort and Baker were left out. Brigitte Bardot was undoubtedly left out because of her politics and shame on the Academy for that.
Sean Penn was not at the ceremony, so we were spared a Penn speech. Fortunately, for fans of wealthy celebrities bloviating about politics, Javier Bardem showed up wearing a big ugly button that looked like it was made by an 8 year-old.
There was a lot of talk about how AI will never replace real movies and it felt a bit desperate. I don’t want AI to replace real movies but, sad to say, I think we can all see where things are heading. Perhaps if the real movies were a little bit better, AI wouldn’t be such a threat.
I haven’t seen the ratings yet. Ten years ago, the Oscars dominated social media. This year, things felt much different.
Finally, my Oscar tweet received a review of their own last night.
*Sigh* Sorry, Liz.
Through the Shattered Lens 