Oscars 2023

Yesterday, the Academy held the 95th annual Academy Awards presentation at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.  While the events went off without a hitch, after the shock of last year's ceremony, this year's ceremony seemed downright boring.

And boring, in that respect, was welcome.

Even better though, it had several heart-warming moments.

The event was just what I would have scripted, with minor changes.   Back to a singular host.  Every category included back in.  Winners generally allowed to make their speech.  Not really caring about the length, just letting it be what it should be.

Sure, the memoriam section still needs to be turned over to TCM or someone else to produce.  There were odd choices made in the song performances.  And some of my choices didn't work out.

Generally, though, it was a successful show.

Everything Everywhere All At Once continued its successful march that led up to the ceremony and largely swept the categories with seven awards including Best Picture, Best Director(s), Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.  This included great celebratory wins for Ke Huy Quan, the first award for Jamie Lee Curtis, and a historic win for Michelle Yeoh as the first Asian American to win a best lead actor/actress award.

A24 as a studio is really the one to watch out for, becoming the first studio to win in all the major categories in the same ceremony.  Its fare has become more varied and is drawing more attention, so it will be a major player to watch.

It made for a late night, as on the east coast, we didn't wrap until 11:30 pm, but it was fun to make it through.  Will have to see what next year brings.

Hopefully another boring, but heart-warming show.

Oscars 2022

Last night, Hollywood held their annual celebration of film and filmmakers, hosting the 94th annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater. The event held many bright spots, including Ariana DeBose being awarded the Best Supporting Actress Award, the first queer person of color to receive such an award, Tony Kotsur being awarded the Best Supporting Actor Award, the first deaf actor to receive such an award and only the second deaf performer to be recognized (after his costar Marlee Matlin), Kenneth Branagh receiving his first award for the screenplay of Belfast, Hans Zimmer receiving his second award for the score to Dune, and for all the love Coda received including Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.

For sure, the telecast had its fair share of cringeworthy and head scratching moments even early in the program. A multitude of jokes from the three hosts, Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Regina Hall, that fell flat. The decision to have extreme sports stars Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater, and Shaun White introduce the 60th anniversary of the Bond films. The awkward insertion of the eight categories they cut from live broadcast. And viewed as a whole, the telecast was still a bloated, awkward, and even mean-spirited event. The strange decision of having an upbeat gospel choir perform the memoriam, the recognition of the 28th anniversary of Pulp Fiction, and the promise of the first live performance of the current hit We Don’t Talk About Bruno, which was anything but.

None of that really matters, though. Last night’s celebration will be remembered for Will Smith battering Chris Rock during the broadcast, and the heated exchange that followed.

(As an aside, from a legal-technicality perspective, this is where most people have erred in their discussion, suggesting that Smith committed assault against Rock. Technically, assault would have been Smith approaching the stage and Rock with the intent to intimidate, battery is the physical touching that followed. Smith committed both.)

In one of the oddest moments I have seen on live television, Chris Rock took the stage to announce the nominees and winner for Best Documentary Feature Film. Prior to the specifics of that award, Rock opened with a bit of room work, as if it was part of his stand up routine or as if he were hosting. After a couple of initial jokes, he came to a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith. Rock commented on Pinkett-Smith’s shaved head, saying that he loved her and was looking forward to seeing her in G.I. Jane 2. The camera panned to the Smith family for their initial reaction. While Will Smith pretty visibly laughed and reacted to the joke, Jade Pinkett-Smith rolled her eyes and was visibly upset by the joke. The camera then switched back to Rock who was continuing his shtick. After about 10-15 seconds of material, Rock’s face changed, as the camera revealed that Will Smith was taking the stage. Smith walked up to Rock, smacked him across the face, and left the stage.

At this point, to most everyone watching, it seemed like a bit. A planned event in the evening, that while shocking, would have been completely staged. When the audio dropped out of the broadcast for FCC reasons, it became clear it was no bit.

Rock, quite stunned, then said “Will Smith just slapped the sh!+ out of me.” Smith, replied “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*#k!ng mouth.” Rock asked something like “You’re upset about a G.I. Jane joke?,”to which Smith reiterated, yelling from his seat, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*#king mouth.” Rock looked around, as if he was trying to confirm how the producers were going to proceed, but continued on with the show.

And so it was, on with the show, as if nothing had happened. Sure, there were a couple of mentions of the awkwardness and there were a couple of guests who tried to mediate. Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry tried to smooth the situation over in the commercial break. Sean Combs even made mention of it in his introduction to the anniversary of The Godfather, suggesting that Smith and Rock should work things out like adults at the after party. If you had told me years ago that Puff Daddy would be the voice of reason at the Academy Awards in 2022, I would have fell out of my chair.

Smith would even go on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in King Richard. His speech was an emotional ramble that was part defense, part therapy session, and minor mention of a broad apology to the Academy and to the other winners and nominees. Mostly it was a scrambled justification of his need to be a protector, with the strangeness punctuated by cuts in the video feed when the Williams sisters were shown because of unfortunate wardrobe malfunctions. An emotional speech, but not exactly what was required.

The event tainted the rest of the broadcast. Ahmir Khalib Thompson, aka Questlove, seemed visibly shaken during his acceptance of the award for Best Documentary Feature immediately following the event. The rest of the presenters seemed unsure of what was going to happen. Smith’s own award remained awkward because of the event and his acceptance speech. The combination made the smattering of standing ovations he received even stranger.

The altercation between Rock and Smith has its roots in the 2016 Academy Awards, which Rock hosted. Smith was thought to have been snubbed a nomination and Pinkett-Smith had announced a boycott of the event. Rock made several jokes at their expense that year, starting a bit of a feud. This year, the target of Rock’s joke was Pinkett-Smith’s shaved haircut. To many who did not know, this seemed to be just a joke at a stylistic choice. Pinkett-Smith, however, has been open with her struggle with alopecia and the hair loss that has resulted. While it is unclear that he knew for certain, Rock certainly would have been well situated to know of Pinkett-Smith’s condition.

This makes the joke tasteless, no question. It’s not a great joke, even if her haircut was purely a stylistic choice. It’s never really a great joke to pick on someone’s appearance.  When it is at the expense of a condition for which she has no control, the joke is offensive.

But the question we have to answer as a society is whether it is acceptable to meet words, no matter how offensive, with violence.

And that question has been asked a lot today.

To many, the answer is absolutely yes. I can’t tell you how many responses I have read that amount to “Rock got what was coming to him,” “Smith absolutely had to stand up and defend his wife,” or “what else did you expect?” These same responses can’t believe that Rock would go after someone’s spouse. Smith’s actions are being portrayed as the desired outcome, the noble outcome even, as he was stepping up and defending his wife’s honor. Celebrities like Tiffany Haddish echoed this sentiment, commenting “When I saw a Black man stand up for his wife. That meant so much to me… it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.” There are whole chains of tweets where girlfriends are asking their boyfriends if they would do the same for them.

This line of thinking is so problematic. First, while defending and standing up for your spouse/significant other is noble, in this instance, Pinkett-Smith is also a celebrity and a public figure, who is in the public eye and open to ridicule at these ceremonies just like Smith himself, and like Smith himself, Pinkett-Smith is perfectly capable of defending herself. Second, the manner of the defense does not match the offense. Had Smith approached Rock and said “not cool man, that goes too far, you know what she’s dealing with” Smith has taken the high road and Rock looks like an ass. Even if he just yelled his existing comment from his seat, the point remains. Smith is still defending his spouse, he’s just using a broader tool box of available defenses. As it stands, Smith comes off looking like the aggressor, especially to the millions of people who did not know what Pinkett-Smith was suffering.

It also becomes very confusing regarding what we are trying to teach as a society. The same commentors justifying Smith’s actions would condemn violence in every other situation. They just look at this one and say, “this one’s cool though.” And for some even, “this one is desirable.”

That’s messed up.

Violence, even in defense, is a measure of last resort. It’s what we use when everything else has failed, because we know the consequences. It remains true on a macro level, in global conflict, and it remains true on a micro level in interpersonal relationships. Smith never even tried any other avenues. We went from joke to physical confrontation, in no time flat. It was the first resort.

At some point, we have to remember “two wrongs don’t make a right.” And hopefully, in doing so, we may can change the conversation around this.

We certainly do live in interesting times.

Oscars, in the time of COVID-19

Sunday night marked the 93rd Academy Awards.  The ceremony was definitely impacted by the ongoing pandemic in more ways than one.  The location had changed from the traditional Dolby Theater in Hollywood to the Los Angeles Union Station.  A much smaller gathering of those nominated filled the limited space that they had, separated at tables by groups.  There were other "hubs" for Oscar nominees at theaters in locations like London for other nominees to be able to virtually appear from.  Still, several nominees were not able or comfortable attending at any location.

The production of the ceremony was likewise off.  They showed very few clips of the films that were nominated; those that were shown seemed random and sporadic.  There was no live orchestra, just QuestLove serving as DJ.  That meant no live scores, no live performance of the songs nominated, no live performance for the in memoriam montage.  

For the third year, the show had no single host, just a passing of the baton from presenter to presenter.  This was particularly noticeable with the poorly conceived "name that tune" bit asking if songs had won the award, were nominated, or were neither.  Given how little the ceremony ran over time this year, had they cut the "name that tune" bit, it would have landed right on time.

Most curious, the order of the ceremony was completely upended.  Best Director, which is usually awarded closely before Best Picture at the end, was awarded first.  Best Picture was not the last category awarded, but rather followed by the acting awards.  Even there, they forwent the tradition of last year's best actress giving the Best Actor award and vice versa.  This year, the previous winner in each category gave the award for that category.

This last bit seems to have garnered the most attention and controversy.  It seems to many that they were building to the Best Actor award as the finale, expecting a posthumous award to Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.  Instead, Anthony Hopkins was awarded for The Father. Hopkins had not attended. He had asked to stream in from his home but was denied.  So, the Academy accepted the award on his behalf, causing the ceremony to close with a whimper. 

I can’t subscribe to the rumor that the choice was deliberate, in the expectation of the posthumous award.  For one, there have been posthumous awards in the past and ones that have come so closely to the actor’s death that the impact was still being felt.  Heath Ledger’s posthumous award comes to mind.  And in those instances, the order of the proceedings was not altered. 

The rumor I have heard and lend more credence to, is that Joaquin Phoenix was running late. In an ordinary ceremony, he would have presented the award for Best Actress.  With him running late and not being present, they would have delayed both the best actor categories, as they usually go in pairs. This would explain the seemingly rushed Rita Moreno presenting Best Picture early and the visibly uncomfortable Phoenix who completely eschewed the format that had been established for presenting. 

A stage manager issue, as opposed to a producer issue. 

The result made the Oscars incredibly underwhelming. The lack of real surprises , the unconventional format, the weird structure issues, all made the broadcast land with a thud in a way that it has not done so before. 

The viewership numbers were not a surprise. The ceremony dropped below 10 million people for the first time in a long time, with viewership down 57% from the past year. This has led some conservative commentators to claim a Hollywood backlash finally paying off. As if America was finally done with Hollywood once and for all. 

The reality is a lot more mundane.  Despite this years films being largely more accessible to the general public through early access video on demand and streaming platforms, the individual films nominated were not that well known.  Unless you were following the award seasons and buzz, it is very likely the average American would jot have heard of any of the nominated films, much less have seen them. 

It’s a problem that has been plaguing the Oscars for years. Gone are the days when blockbuster films like Rocky or Star Wars are nominated for Best Picture. The films of today are still largely niche films primarily released in the late fall and early winter.  Oscar bait films. Until that changes, viewership of the ceremony will also remain a niche event. 

I still wish they’d just embrace it. Lean into the niche aspect of it and make it a true celebration of Hollywood and film. Bring back a host that makes it an even longer and grander celebration. Own what it is. 

Or at least do something interesting and make the Muppets the hosts, complete with running commentary by Statler and Waldorf. 

Whatever it is, next years ceremony just can’t be this dull. 

We Have a Long Way to Go

As if we needed proof.

We've recently seen both open and explicit reminders and subtle and quiet reminders of how far we have to come regarding addressing racism, racial discrimination, and bias.  

First, much attention has been drawn to Spike Lee's Oscar acceptance speech, with some, including our President, referring to it as racist.

Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019

Here's the text of Spike's acceptance speech (included below).  I'm having trouble finding the racism in there.

"The word today is “irony.” The date, the 24th. The month, February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year, which also happens to be Black History month. The year, 2019. The year, 1619. History. Her story. 1619. 2019. 400 years.

Four hundred years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night. My grandmother, Zimmie Shelton Retha, who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave. My grandmother who saved 50 years of Social Security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me “Spikie-poo” — she put me through Morehouse College and NYU grad film. NYU!

Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people. We all connect with our ancestors. We will have love and wisdom regained, we will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment. The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there."

What I see is a reminder of our uncomfortable history and a call to action.  It's not racist to disagree with the President.  It's not racist to say that Trump is on the wrong side of history. There are people of all races who think that.

It is ironic that a President who has trouble identifying actual racists believes Spike Lee to be one.  And also ironic that a President known for having issues with a teleprompter calls out Spike for reading from his notes.

I mean, I get it.  Spike's style is in your face. It's real.  It's visceral.  But that's his point.  BlacKkKlansman, his opus presented last year, opens with bookends of films within the film.  It opens with a long tracking shot from Gone With the Wind revealing the Confederate wounded, showing our twisted vision of a grand noble Dixie.  A Technicolor dream of the Old South.  In the middle, it slips in clips of The Birth of a Nation, a problematic  silent epic that on one hand cemented films legacy, but also was blatant propaganda for the Klu Klux Klan.  It ends with the reality of the live footage of the Charlottesville marches.  All gut punches that remind us of what we've been through and where we are.  How much this truly racist strain is among us.

But his speech Sunday night?  That's a good speech and a relatively restrained Spike.  I shudder how people calling him racist would react to his movies.

Plus, props to him for trying to walkout when Green Book was announced for Best Picture.  I'd have thrown my hands up too.

As a further reminder of how far we still have to go in more insidious ways, New York City, as of February 18, 2019, just passed an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on hair or hairstyle.  Specifically, the guidelines mention the right to maintain "natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state."  Workplace bans on any of these specific types of hairstyles would disproportionately affect minorities, specifically African Americans.  And they are surprisingly common.

As the article states, the guidelines are based on an argument that hairstyle is inherent to one's race and can be closely associated with racial, ethnic, or cultural identity, therefor deserving protection under the city's human rights laws.  This is currently something that is protected only at a local level.  There is no legal precedent in federal court for the protection of hair.  Last spring, the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Catastrophe Management Solutions (2013, Alabama), in which a black woman, Chastity Jones, had her job offer at an insurance company rescinded after she refused to cut off her dreadlocks.  The lower courts had ruled that the company's actions did not constitute racial discrimination.

This is tied to the idea of "good hair" - visibly loosely curled, wavy, and/or straight hair as opposed to tightly coiled hair.  The idea that somehow one style of hair is better than the other.  That natural hair is not desired.

I mean think about it.  It's 2019 and we have to forcibly remind people that others should be allowed to wear their hair as it naturally comes out of their heads!

We've made great strides, no question.  But we've got a long way to go.  And we really need to stamp out some fires that are coming back that we thought we put out long ago.

Quickly.

Oscar 2019

The 2019 Oscars are finally done.  After all the missteps and controversies along the way, the ceremony last night went off without a hitch.  Thankfully, after a few years of not having access at home to watch the ceremony since cutting the cord, we were able to put together a way to stream the show and watch the full presentation of the awards.

I have a few thoughts.

First, addressing the controversies that popped up throughout the year.  I am grateful they did not award a most popular picture category, as I've written before.  That is not what this ceremony is for, and thankfully cooler heads prevail.  That did not prevent well-seen popular films from being nominated or even winning awards.  Black Panther took home three Academy awards for Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Production Design, and for Best Score.   A first for a Marvel Studios Production.

I'm also glad they put the Best Film Editing, Best Film Cinematography, Beast Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Live-Action Short back into the broadcast.  The broadcast ran at a brisk three hours and eighteen minutes, longer than they hoped for, but still very efficient.  If they really wanted to fix the broadcast in an impactful way, they might decide against airing only one announcement between commercial breaks as the night goes on.  I don't need a break between Best Director and Best Picture and they are not really changing the set, so there's no need to shoehorn in the commercial there.

Plus, getting the televised ceremony under three hours is not going to attract new viewers to the broadcast.  Many of the people who are not watching the Oscars are not going to watch the Oscars no matter what the Academy changes.  From the people engaging in a so called "boycott" for political reasons to those who have no interest in the awards at all, perhaps it's time to stop trying to cater to a crowd that doesn't want to watch?  The "boycotts" fascinate me for two reasons.  First, generally the people claiming to boycott would not have watched the ceremony for any reason.  Second, the same people who want to boycott because of the political content of the show (i.e. the political jokes by the hosts and presenters and the potential political speeches of the recipients) are generally the first people to share on social media when a celebrity endorses their particular ideology.  Just an observation.

The lack of a host changed things in an unexpected way for me.

The show was boring without a host.

A host brings their personality into the show and generally gives the show its personality.  Without a host to provide color commentary or to smooth transitions, the show was a rapid fire movement between presenters of the awards with only a disembodied voice announcing the presenters.  There's no soul to the show, it just kind of happens.  Hopefully, there will not be a repeat next year, and perhaps they can bring along some classically entertaining hosts to provide a great spirit to the show.

It also did not help that there were no real surprises (beyond the bombshell at the end of the night).  The awards were largely expected.  A few minor brights spots, but those still generally fell into expected votes.  Even the award to Green Book for Best Picture, while problematic, falls into a predictable pattern for the Academy.  Once you figure the Academy did not want to reward Netflix, Roma is out.  Then you assume Bohemian Rhapsody had enough controversy around it early enough to put off voters.  That leaves Green Book, a "safe" picture that supposedly deals with a tough topic and was seen by a decent enough population.  While personally, BlacKkKlansman should have won, I would have anticipated A Star is Born to be the surer bet.

While I would not go as far as to say it is the worst best picture since Crash, as the LA Times has done, Green Book is problematic.  A film about race that downplays the contributions of the African American subject of the story.  A film which did not consult his family for contribution to the story, and whose family has protested its release.  Knowing the controversy around the film and the way it is presented, really taint enjoyment of the film and the award.  Again, hopefully next year, the ref's make a better call, to paraphrase Spike Lee.

A few rapid fire thoughts to wrap up:

• The Queen opening kind of just happened and did not work as well as they hoped it would.  Adam Lambert is no Freddie Mercury.
• Politics were way down, despite what the Twitter of a leader might say
• Very happy for Into the Spider-Verse to win Best Animated Feature.  
• So glad Spike Lee finally got his Oscar.  He should have won at least one more.
• Olivia Colman delivered the best speech of the night.
• Really appreciative of the thought that went into each of the celebrities introducing the nominees for Best Picture.
• Love that John Williams Superman score was used for the In Memoriam section, but TCM still makes a better one.
• Props to Trevor Noah for one great hidden joke. 
• Also to Tyler Perry.

Did you watch the ceremony?  What were your thoughts?

2019 Oscar Nominations

The Academy Award nominations for 2019 were released yesterday and contain some surprising inclusions and snubs.

Nerd culture continues to show its strength with the inclusion of Black Panther in the Best Picture nomination, and with the two favored animated features being Incredibles 2 and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Won't You Be My Neighbor being snubbed for Best Documentary Feature is surprising, as was Bradley Cooper's lack of a directoral nod for A Star is Born.

The impact of streaming services can also be seen with the nominations for Roma and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, both of which were Netflix releases.  Netflix had 15 nominations this year, with Roma accounting for 10 of them.  With Netflix joining the MPAA, this is only likely to increase.

Jamie and I have only seen one of the Best Picture nominations this year (but two of the Best Animated Features).  We hope to remedy that soon. We have a date weekend coming and hope to catch up on at least three thanks to streaming, Redbox, and a trip to the theater.  We used to try to see them all and come to our recommendations, but that has been much more difficult after children.

It will be interesting to see how this ceremony progresses, as the plan as of now is to still proceed without a host.  While the Muppets do not seem to be imminent, there may be an Avengers reunion in the works.  Synergy at its best.

What have you seen of this year's nominees?  Let me know your thoughts.

A complete list of the nominees can be found here.

It's Time To Get Things Started - An Appeal to the Academy

The Academy still needs a host.

For those who have not been keeping up with the Academy's search, Vanity Fair ran an article yesterday on how the search for an Oscar host has so far yielded no results.  After Kevin Hart stepped down as the announced host on December 6, 2017, following the re-surfacing of his previous anti-gay/homophobic tweets and comments made during his standup-routines nearly 10 years ago, the Academy has scrambled to find other options.  Hart has recently appeared on Ellen Degeneres' talk show to apologize for the old material and discuss the fallout.  Ellen, for her part, offered a lengthy defense and said she called someone at the Academy to request that he be reinstated.  Despite Hart's appearance on the talk show, he has told others that he would not reaccept the position.  Ellen's support for Hart has sparked its own controversy.

According to the Vanity Fair article, this has left the Academy with no clear sense of who they want, but a definite sense of who they do not want.  The host should not be anyone "socially divisive," with a high enough profile whose appeal does not primarily attract older audiences, who is not strongly identified with another network (not ABC), and who is not already hosting another awards show this season.  That rules out a lot of previous hosts.

And while I always love to see Billy Crystal host (though at this point, he is probably in the "primarily attracts older audiences" camp, unfortunately), I want to throw out a more ... unique suggestion.

It's time to start the music.

It's time to light the lights.

It's time to get things started...

And let the Muppets host tonight.

It's time for the Muppets to host the Oscars.  They've presented.  They've been part of the show.  Let's let them host.

This is not the first time the idea has surfaced.  A Facebook group was started in 2012, which still has 33,000 followers.  Paste magazine has suggested it this year.  Even Forbes.

And it makes a bit of sense.  The Oscar ceremony is a bit of modern variety show.  Opening song montage and monologue, hosting duties, bad jokes.  These are all part of the Muppets' schtick.

The Muppets are definitely not "socially divisive."  They would be about as "safe" a choice as they could make.

They have a broader age appeal down to toddlers now with the new Muppet Babies cartoon on Disney Jr. and have a greater presence thanks to their successful live shows at the Hollywood Bowl and the O2.  In fact, it's these shows that convince me they would be able to successfully host.  One of the concerns was that the show would be largely improv by necessity.  I think the well-received live shows prove the Muppets can hold their own in that arena.  Plus, there is still great nostalgic affinity for the group.

 The Muppets are strongly tied with ABC as part of the Disney family and would represent a great deal of corporate synergy.  And they are definitely not hosting anything else right now.

There's really no reason not to do it.  It's not like the Oscar ratings of late have been stellar.  Last year's ceremony was the lowest-rated telecast ever.  Maybe injecting a little mayhem and making the ceremony fun, is just what they need.

So, come on Academy, let's make the 2019 the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational Academy Awards show possible!