Song of the day:
Reflecting on The Oscars
As always, I have some thoughts, but overall I thought this year’s ceremony was one of the better offerings of the broadcast. Having Jimmy Kimmel host wasn’t my favorite, especially after that weird laying on the stage thing at last year’s Emmy’s, but he was fine. As is typical, some of the bits worked and some didn’t.
I might as well get the giant elephant out of the way first…Best Supporting Actress. I don’t believe the academy got it right here. I love Jamie Lee Curtis, and her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once (EEAAO) was excellent - completely weird and crazy, mind you - but excellent nonetheless. But Stephanie Hsu’s performance in the same movie was better. I personally believe Angela Bassett’s performance in Wakanda Forever was better than both of them. I didn’t see the other two nominees so am unable to compare, but I thought - hoped - this was Angela’s year. She should have won for best actress back in 1994, but that’s a post for another day. I find it super interesting that in a primarily Asian movie the award went to a white person. Could the academy really not handle the idea that the two female acting awards went to people of color? That three of the four acting awards went to people of color? Was that just too much? Apparently it was. But again, no disrespect to Jamie Lee Curtis. All she did was act, and she did it very well. I’m truly happy for her. But I’m smad (sad/mad) about Angela.
Note: I absolutely LOVED Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors, who have both acted in other Marvel movies, coming out to give Angela her props. I nearly fell off my couch when Michael B. Jordan said, “Hey, Auntie,” one of his most iconic lines from Black Panther. It was absolutely perfect. Someone on Twitter posted that they both looked like they were about to morph into their Marvel roles to avenge her loss. I’m kinda here for that movie to be honest.
In a completely separate side note, I can’t wait to see these two in Creed III!
There were no surprises with the other acting awards. Everyone I thought would (and should) win did. Again, I didn’t see all the nominated performances, but I am thrilled for all three of the winners.
Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan is truly one of the most joyful humans on the planet. His spirit is infectious, and I have loved watching him win this award at every single ceremony. And I believe he is truly grateful for the opportunity he got with EEAAO. Every speech is emotional and heartfelt, and every time he sees Harrison Ford or Stephen Spielberg is beautiful. I can’t get enough and am excited to see what he does next.
Best Actor Brendan Fraser was always one of my favorite actors way back when. I never saw The Mummy movies, but saw most of his other films and always thought he was a much better actor than most people gave him credit for. It’s been fun to watch his career resurgence with his role in The Whale, a movie I did not see. (Actually, I didn’t any of the movies of the nominated actors.) Brendan also seems genuinely grateful and humbled by the praise and adoration. It will be interesting to see where his career moves from here.
Best Actress Michelle Yeoh is an absolute goddess and like Ke Huy Quan, she’s won this award throughout awards season. She has been amazing for years, and it’s fantastic that the academy (and all the other award people) gave her the props she has deserved for so long. Her role in EEAAO is like nothing I’ve seen before, and I can only imagine what it took to play. But she made it look effortless. I am so, so happy for her. I will note that Michelle William’s performance in The Fabelmans was excellent, but this was definitely the other Michelle’s year. But really, remind me again why it took this long for another woman of color to win this award? I digress…sort of…
I’m happy that EEAAO won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. It was so unique and incredibly well made - the editing alone was a masterpiece, which it also won for - that it felt like the right choice in all of these categories. The Daniels seem like amazing humans, and I can’t wait to see what they do next. I just wish they would have let James Hong do the acceptance speech for Best Picture though, because his speech at the SAG Awards a few weeks ago was magic. And yes, it’s a weird movie, and it’s certainly not for everyone, but if you haven’t seen it I would give it a try just to understand what all the fuss is about. I’m glad I saw it in the theatre because I feel like it might not have the same impact on the small screen. Still, give it a shot. But just be prepared, because it will absolutely make your head spin.
Now, onto some of the other awards…
Note: I can’t speak to the international films, the documentaries, or the short films, because I didn’t see any of them. I’m also not going to speak to the other more technical awards like sound and cinematography because I don’t believe I know enough about the difference between good and great. I also don’t have any feelings one way or the other about the films that did or did not win. I’m going to assume that the right films won, but if you have any thoughts, let me know!
Best Animated Feature Film - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. I think I wrote about this movie a few weeks ago after I watched it during my COVID lockdown, and it absolutely deserved to win. I saw one of the other nominated films (wanted to see others but didn’t get to them) and definitely enjoyed it, but this was hands-down the clear winner.
Best Adapted Screenplay - Women Talking. The only movie I saw in this category was Top Gun: Maverick, which I never thought was going to win. I heard good things about the winning movie, but it just didn’t appeal to me.
Best Costume Design - Ruth E Carter / Wakanda Forever. Yes, absolutely. This was a tough category this year, as there were some amazing designs across the board, but this was the right choice from my perspective. And what an incredible feat for her to win this award twice (the first was for Black Panther). She is an amazing designer. I mean her note cards perfectly matched her dress! Who does that?! Ruth does, that’s who.
Best Original Score - Volker Bertelmann / All Quiet on the Western Front. The only nominated movie I saw from this category was The Fabelmans, and of course, John Williams’ score was beautiful, but I can well believe that a war movie had a great score. I’d honestly never even heard of this remake until a week or two ago, and I’ve never seen the original, but it won a lot of awards so I might need to check it out. This gentleman’s speech was lovely last night, another person who seemed humble and grateful to just be in the room.
Best Original Song - Naatu Naatu / RRR, today’s song of the day. I have not seen RRR, but after seeing this song performed live, and understanding a bit more about its role in the film, I definitely understand why it won. And the acceptance speech was absolutely brilliant. I mean who expected someone to paraphrase the Carpenters at the Oscars?! Certainly not me, but it was perfection. And look, I absolutely LOVE Rihanna’s song from Wakanda Forever, Lift Me Up, and also thought Lady Gaga’s song from Top Gun: Maverick, Hold My Hand, was great, but I didn’t feel like they were actually big parts of those movies. They were in trailers and the end credits, but didn’t necessarily move the movie forward. Side note, both of their performances during the ceremony were incredible. Go watch them on YouTube if you didn’t see them. About the only thing I didn’t love about EEAAO was the song. It honestly wasn’t that memorable. And I didn’t know the other song since I didn’t see that movie. I think the right choice was made here, and I encourage you to turn up the volume and dance along!
I thought the In Memoriam segment was well done, but it seemed like they left a few people out, as they always do. I’m truly curious how they decide who gets included and who doesn’t. Lenny Kravitz did a great job with his song Calling All Angels, and John Travolta broke me when he introduced the segment. He lost two of his most memorable costars this year, Olivia Newton John and Kirstie Alley. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for him.
All in all, a pretty good Oscars from my perspective, the Angela Bassett snub notwithstanding. You can see all the awards and nominees here. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Video of the day:
I now require biscuits and gravy, with a side of fried chicken, all gluten-free of course…who can bring that to me? I can do without the sweet tea, though. Ick. I’ve got plenty of unsweet tea and lemons here.
I wonder about the In Memorium too. Paul Sorvino was left out, and he and Ray Liotta were both in Goodfellas!!