90TH OSCARS WRAP-UP

THE 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS

Host: Jimmy Kimmel

Winners: The Shape of Water, Guillermo Del Toro, Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Allison Janney

Notable Occurrences/Trivia: 

+For the first time in 20 years, a host hosts two years in a row. Billy Crystal was the last.

+Jordan Peele becomes the first black winner of Original Screenplay.

+Frances McDormand wins her second Best Actress Oscar.

+2 Oscar-winning actresses present the leading Oscars. 

+Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty return to present Best Picture after last year's envelope mix-up. 

+After 13 losses, cinematography Roger A. Deakins becomes a winner on his 14th nomination for Blade Runner 2049. 

+Writer James Ivory, at the age of 89, becomes the oldest Oscar winner.

+Guillermo Del Toro wins Directing, thus all three of the "Three Amigos" (Del Toro, Inarritu and Cuaron) all have Oscars. 

+Daniela Vega, star of the Foreign Language Film winner A Fantastic Woman, is the first trans presenter ever at the Oscars. 

+The Shape of Water is the first Best Picture winner since Million Dollar Baby to be led by a woman.

The Good:

 +Kimmel was solid once again. Most of his jokes worked and, that I recall, there really weren't any groaners. I'd like to go with a different host next year just to spice things up, but I won't mind Jimmy returning down the line. His joke about Timothee Chalamet missing "Paw Patrol" was probably my favorite, though it helps I have three nephews and know what it is. Surprised there was no Matt Damon gag other than his ending joke.

+A horror film (!!!) relased in February (!!!) won a major award. 

+I'm glad there weren't too many envelope jokes. I think they handled it about as well as possible. I loved Guillermo checking the envelope after Warren gave it to him. 

+The stage was absolutely spectacular. They've been very art deco heavy in the past, but this was jaw dropping. I can't imagine how that Coco set piece looked in person. I wish I could find more pictures that did it justice. 

+The jet ski thing. I'm surprised it took so long to reprise this bit, as the last time I think was the 2000 show with a TV, which led to some amusing bits. Julia Roberts: "I already have a television." Nice incorporation of Helen Mirren, too.

+Okay, Lakeith Stanfield's "Get out!" bit was kinda perfect. I kinda wanted him to actually do it and the fact that he stuck around the stage muttering to himself made it even more perfect. 

+Memorable speeches, particulary McDormand. She's proof that a no-nonsense, private character actor can absolutely own a room. 

+The show picked up in its second half. I always so I prefer movies that get better in the home stretch than ones that pitter out and this ceremony definitely did the former. 

+Sandra Bullock can sell a bit, and she did. 

+Add Jodie Foster and Jennifer Lawrence to that. Jodie's "She I, Tonya-d me." was perfect.

+Glad George Romero wasn't forgotten in the In Memoriam.

+Very few people were cut off. If the show runs long, and this one did, that should always be the reason is runs long. Let people speak.

+The crowd was really there for Black Panther. I can't recall an Oscars where people were so enthusiastic about a film that was in current release and not eligible until the next show. Between that and Sandra Bullock's comments on the red carpet, it has the potential to score some major nods next year. 

+Eva Marie Saint owned that stage. She's 93 and sharp as a tack. See, I'm totally with these old stars being on the show as long as they are cognizant and can speak clearly. 

+As did Rita Moreno, though given she's been at almost every other award show, it wasn't as much of a surprise to see her as Eva.

+All the intro clips to the acting categories were good. I know people hate them, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE montages. Give me an entire show of film montages and I'm good. 

+I did like the one that thanked audiences for 90 years of moviegoing. It was a little scattershot in the films it used and could have been assembled a little better. This was the one that people on social media really hated, but I think making it about the film's audiences liked redeemed it. And using the Love Actually music was a nice touch. 

+Kumail and Lupita's tribute to dreamers, the Coco people thanking their same sex spouses, the love for Mexico, the Foreign Language Film winner being about a trans woman...yeah yeah yeah "Too political." Those things aren't political, they are personal. And the Oscars have always been political. Do people not remember Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere and Michael Moore?!?!?!

+Meryl Streep and Denzel Washington are clearly the Queen and King of Hollywood based on their front and center seating the past two years. Here for it. And I love that everyone seems to wait and see if Meryl will stand before starting the standing ovation. 

+Haddish and Rudolph - another great presenting pair. Yes, they could easily host this thing. We'll see how Haddish does with the MTV Movie/TV Awards in a month or so. Tiffany's obsession with Meryl will always make me laugh. 

+The music performances were pretty terrific, though we need more shots of the audience reacting. I need more Viola Davis jamming away. 

+I wasn't a huge fan of the bus bit from last year, but I actually liked the theater visit this year. I'm not sure how the Academy and audience felt about Gal's "This is so much better than the Oscars!", though. Jimmy commenting that the theater smelled like weed made me laugh hysterically. As someone who worked at a theater for way too long, I can attest that Sunday night crowds always wreaked of pot. So when he said that and I realized what day it was, I had a good laugh. Though imagine getting stoned to watch A Wrinkle of Time and seeing Guillermo Del Toro and Lin-Manuel Miranda bringing in a six foot sub, Armie Hammer with a hot dog shooter, and Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Mary Poppins handing out snacks.

The Bad:

+The first half may have been a little too slowly paced. I think what would help is presenting the technical categories a little differently than a bunch of film clips. The show 2 years ago did a great job of showcasing the technical categories. Remember the sound editing montage? They kinda did a brief version of that this year. I'm glad every film gets it's showcase, but you can still find interesting ways to showcase those films. 

+The little black and white movie at the beginning was cute and had some good jokes, but felt a little too short. It probably should have been cut. 

+Kimmel should have let the other producer from Shape of Water speak and he kinda dickishly shooed him away.

+I mentioned the music performances, but I wasn't impressed by this version of "Stand Up For Something". That's a huge crowdpleasing song, so I'm not sure why Common switched the rap or why he was allowed to do that. Shouldn't the song be performed as is? Plus, the activists in the background got swallowed by the production. Also, I didn't realize how abbreviated "Mystery of Love" was. It wasn't even half the song. 

+Tobe Hooper was left out of the In Memoriam. They included Leatherface in the film montage, at least. 

+Why didn't they give Judd/Sciorra/Hayek a standing ovation? That was really awkward. And shouldn't Mira have been onstage with them?

+The Baby Driver duo presenting categories where there film is nominated. STOP. THIS. I bitch about this every year. 

+After the winner is announced, use a split screen to show the person walking to the stage on one side and a clip of the film they won for on the other. Or just show the person walking to the stage. The directing of the show completely ruined Ivory's standing ovation moment. They showed a loooong clip of Call Me By Your Name and when we came back Margot Robbie had already helped him to the stage and the crowd was already up getting ready to sit down. Come on. Don't ruin those moments, especially for such a historic win. Jordan Peele's moment, however, was perfect.

+I've complained about this for the past three years and I'll add this year: I know they Academy is trying to make the show more inclusive, but too many of the presenters are only of the fame level of presenting Sound Editing or Documentary Short. We need some bigger stars to participate in the show. This is the second year of the past four that I've actually had to google who someone was after they were announced as a presenter. It was clear the audience had no idea who Eugenio Derbez and has joke went over like a led balloon. This was the best they could do for a 90th show?

+The Star Wars actors' banter landed with a huge thud. Most of the other banter was decent, but that was painful. Oscar Isaac tickling BB8 briefly made me want to be that little robot. 

+I know it was the 90th show, but I'm not liking the Honorary Oscar clip and Sci/Tech ceremony clip being glossed over. Sci/Tech host Patrick Stewart was there, but didn't get to present. Also, the Honorary Oscar winners should get to take the stage. Donald Sutherland and Agnes Varda were both there, as well. Completely overlooked. 

+Some of the presenters' writing was really cheesy and too long. A few years back they kept things really short and sweet. 

+The Military Movie montage was a nice gesture, but felt a little like pandering. Like, hey Fox News, we're not all anti-war liberals. Here's Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge.

+Lastly, I know there were a lot of complaints on social media (complaints on social media?? WHAT?!) but it does seem like the Academy and producers did try to get the team from Moonlight involved. Apparently, they didn't want to revisit it, and that's understandable. It would still have been nice to have them incorporated somehow. 

Best Dressed:

NICOLE KIDMAN!

This is sooo instantly iconic. One of my favorite looks from her in forever. 

Honorable Mentions:

Allison Janney!

Jane Fonda!

JLaw is Vegas Disco Barbie and I LOVE IT!

Betty Gabriel = Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Jennifer Garner wasn't just the night's best meme

Greta looks great!

I know some didn't like it, but I love Lupita's look here.

Laura Dern is a queen!

Worst:

Uh, maybe...Saoirse Ronan? Emma Stone from the waist down?

I went with Andra Day. Mostly because I'm not sure why she's lying down on the red carpet.

And that's an official wrap on award season 2017.

The ratings were really bad for the show which makes me dread what awful things the Academy and next year's producers will come up with to try and win people back. As someone who has been watching this show for 20+ years, almost every year has been greeted by: too long, too boring, too political, not enough big stars, get rid of the musical numbers, cut categories but add these other categories, move some categories to another night, no one even saw these movies, etc etc. It's just par for the course. But with ratings dropping so significantly, I'm worried we're in for a big overhaul. 

Anyway, leaving with some positivity:

This might be my favorite image from Award Season 2017.
Margot, Saoirse, Sally and Meryl hug after losing to Frances. It was Saoirse's idea.