Well, another Academy Awards broadcast in the books, and 2019 was nothing if not... interesting. Here's my thoughts on the positives and negatives:
+ NO HOST | Oscar went without a host for the first time since the Rob Lowe Snow White debacle back in 1989, but this time, I barely noticed. In fact, it seemed to run smoother without an MC, like a well oiled machine. The takeaway? I could get used to this. |
+ QUEEN | Without a host, Queen opened the academy awards with front man Adam Lambert. Rocking the place with We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. It was bold, brash and in keeping with the theme of the evening, very bohemian. Any excuse for more of this! |
| ...but oddly enough, even Queen wasn't quite enough. Perhaps it was the song choices. C'mon, be daring. We know THESE are safe. Perhaps it was Adam Lambert. He has an impressive vocal talent, but he's no Freddy Mercury. No one is. Perhaps it was Christian Bale, looking like he was barely tolerating the whole spectacle. I dunno. Something was off. | - QUEEN |
+ Maya, Tina, and Amy Right from the get go, the first trio of presenters Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were, riffing on the No Host controversy and making a solid case for why they should be hosting next year. + PacingThe broadcast felt snappier, quicker and better paced than previous years. (Our opening trio had the first award out in eight minutes versus TWENTY last year). It was a very economical way to run the show, and it moved well. |  |
| One of the consequences of pacing was the lack of montages. Those wonderful (yet admittedly pointless) breaks in the action that celebrate cinematography or editing with a four or five minute series of clips of great films strung together to a John Williams score. We like those. And we miss those. | - No Montages |
| Oddly, the one montage of clips to a John Williams score we did get this year, the in memoriam segment celebrating the lives of those Hollywood has lost, had very little emotion in it, and felt very sterile and cold. | - In Memorium |
+ Melissa and BrianThis was one of... if not THE funniest visual of the night, and McCarthy proved that she's got the comedic timing and acting chops to not only pull stuff like this off, but to truly sell it with a rabbit puppet. + All Categories, LIVEAcademy voters had a hissy fit (and rightly so) at the idea of awards being presented during commercial breaks. We're glad we got to see ALL the presentations LIVE. |  |
| While it was great to see every category get their moment in the sun, when the award for Best Hairstyling and Makeup was announced and the three winners fumbled all over themselves trying to let someone else go first and no one could read prepared notes and then they got played off and the microphone got cut, we almost wish they had been on during the commercial break. | - Hairstyling and Makeup "Speeches" |
| Okay, we get it. Winning an Academy Award is a big deal. You're nervous, excited, overwhelmed, etc... Shock is a factor. Bring notes. Be brief. Tell a witty story, go to pieces, these are acceptable. Do not thank everyone under the sun. If you start off with "oh, there's so many people I have to thank... in alphabetical order they are..." Dude, unless you brought the fucking Micro Machines guy with you I don't wanna hear it. Post that shit on the internet later because inevitably the shock is gonna make you forget someone and they're gonna be mad and you know you can't get them all in anyway. | - Bad Speeches |
+ Regina King's Speech | Not you, honey. You did just fine. |
| We know it's customary--nae, tradition--for the president of the Academy to deliver a speech of some sort during the proceedings. But after all the issues this year, the false starts, the course corrections, etc... it just seemed like there was an air of "How dare you show your face here!" Maybe this would have been the year to forgo that little tradition and stay hidden away backstage. | - The King's Speech |
+ Shallow | ...was anything but, as Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper delivered a performance for the record books. Not only heartfelt, soulful, and--OMG are they an item?!? But the Academy shot it just like Cooper did in the movie--from the stage. It was unique and beautifully done, and took none of the luster of the foregone conclusion that the song would win. |
+ Spider-verse | It was the victory I think most of us were hoping for, the one that everyone kinda KNEW was going to happen, and yet was terrified that it wouldn't. Not only was Spider-verse the best Spider-Man movie released thus far, it was the best animated film of the year. And it has the statue to prove it. It also became a nice capstone for Stan Lee's legacy. |
+ Diversity | There was far more diversity on display during this year's Oscars than at any time previous. Which is not only a good thing, it's a great thing. More voices should be represented here... |
| ...but all that diversity was tempered with Hollywood's "business as usual" with the big award, Best Picture. Now I LOVED Green Book, but I also understand it was the safe bet. Hollywood is run by OLD, WHITE, MEN. And that's the category that's the most resistant to change and new ideas. Black Panther, (IMHO) is the film that really deserved to take home the statue. But 1) It's a new idea for Oscar: a superhero film. 2) It's a sci-fi action film. 3) It's a film that has a tiny African country be revealed as more rich and powerful than any other nation state on the planet. 4) The plot involves arming blacks around the world with superior weaponry so they can rise up to fight their white oppressors. I doubt very much the OLD, WHITE, MEN who run the joint were particularly eager to celebrate the movie regardless of how well it was made. Their second option if the internet is to be believed? Spike Lee. Also not happening. Roma was a lock for foreign film, and the Academy isn't fond of doubling up, which left Green Book. The Safe Choice. But in a year of diversity, safe feels like a back step and the wrong message to send... | - Squandered Good Will |
Ah well, there's always next year...
