92nd Oscars Wrap Up

THE 92ND ACADEMY AWARDS

Host: None

Winners: Parasite, Bong Joon Ho, Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger, Brad Pitt, and Laura Dern

Notable Occurrences/Trivia:
+Parasite becomes the first foreign film to win Best Picture
+Bong Joon Ho wins four Oscars, the most any individual has won for a single ceremony since Walt Disney in 1953.
+Parasite becomes the first Palme d'Or Winner since Marty to win Best Picture.
+Joaquin Phoenix joins Heath Ledger as winning an Oscar for playing the Joker. All four actors who played the character on the big screen are now Oscar winners.
+Laura Dern does what both her parents, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, couldn't and wins an Oscar.
+Brad Pitt wins his first acting Oscar. He won previously for producing 12 Years a Slave.
+Eminem performs his Oscar-winning song "Lose Yourself" 17 years after he won the Oscar. He didn't attend the ceremony the year he won.
+For the second year in a row, the show has no host.

The Good:
+Very few winners were played off. I think only two? And the audience demanding the lights be brought up so the Korean producer could give her speech was great. Even after sitting there for 3.5 hours, the audience had her back.
+The audience got much more active in the second half of the ceremony. Maybe "Lose Yourself" really energized everyone? As I've always said, the more active the audience is, the better the ceremony usually is.
+The audience was also there for Parasite. The joy around its wins was palpable.
+They brought back the previous acting winners to present the new acting wins. Thank you! I shouldn't have to praise them for this, but last year's switcheroo was stupid.
+Wasn't sure what column to put this in initially, but the acting categories clips being presented as a montage kind of worked. In particular, the supporting actress package was exceptionally done. Ultimately, I prefer individual clips. They did a similar thing at the Martin/Baldwin ceremony ten years ago for the supporting categories, but I think it worked better this time. This was a pretty divisive issue, though I was surprised how many people thought it worked. I know people love the Oscar clips.
+Loved Josh Gad saying "Idina Menzel is pronouced exactly as its spelled." Good burn, Josh.
+The "Into the Unknown" and "Stand Up" performances very good. I also loved the camera floating around Cynthia as she gently blew it a kiss.
+Penelope Cruz's montage intro to International Feature was one of the few montages of the night, but it was a good one.
+Hey, a woman presenting Best Picture solo. Again! Progress! Jane Fonda's dramatic read of Parasite showed her for the true queen she is.
+Scorsese getting a standing ovation during Bong's speech was pretty cool, even though The Irishman has to be one of the biggest award season losers ever.
+I wanted more of Diane Keaton. She and Keanu Reeves presenting together was a sweet, funny reunion. Award shows could use a touch of her loopiness.
+Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig "auditioning" bit was great, as was their singing about costumes.
+Olivia Colman can join them as an award show savior. The show was running long and I could've listened to her speak forever.
+I enjoyed Rebel Wilson and James Corden. Apparently, the bit with the mic was completely improvised on the spot. They probably should've just stuck with that as the Visual Effects joke caused some controversy.
+Laura Dern's tributes to her parents was probably the best part of the major speeches.
+I know it pissed some people off (hey, what doesn?), but I liked Captain Marvel, Ellen Ripley and Wonder Woman presenting together. Yes, the "Women are superheroes!" was a bit much, but clearly Brie and Gal adored Sigourney.
+Happy Hildur Guðnadóttir got a standing O. I love seeing the crafts people get the crowd on their feet.
+Also happy that the scores got showcased on the show. Do that more often. Less other musical numbers, more of that.
+Billie Eilish's "Yesterday" was good for the In Memoriam.
+Janelle Monae's opener was solid, even if the energy seemed to drop immediately after it. People were also pissed (WHAT?!?!) about her dancers dressed in costumes from movies that weren't nominated (Dolemite Is My Name, Queen and Slim, Us, Midsommar). I wonder how many people in the Dolby Theatre even got that she was the Midsommar Queen.
+I thought most of the technical categories were presented well. (Some disagreed.) I do think they could've put some of them on the whole screen instead of that little slip on the stage. The clips for the sound categories were well chosen. A lot of people thought that Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell were disrespectful. Wasn't the point that they were ignorant of what the job entailed? Though it would be nice if cinematography or another technical category got their own montage like the "Songs in movies" one. Lastly, always present the screenplay categories like that. Loving the subtle shade toward 1917 and Joker.

The Bad:
+I'm not certain what column to put the Eminem performance in. On one hand, it got a standing ovation and most of the crowd seemed into it. (Scorsese and Menzel, the exceptions.) Look how many people were caught mouthing the words. It probably might have worked better as the show opening? That said, the audio wasn't great and Eminem seemed to be out of breath. And again, why was this happening. That song won 17 years ago, so it's not like it's an anniversary thing. (NOTE TO SELF: Have Janelle open Oscars by singing "Lose Yourself".)
+If there's ever a thing that wastes time at an award show, it's bringing out someone to introduce someone else. Presenters presenting presenters. It also was odd because most of them were youngish and people of color. It's almost like they were junior presenters. Instead of Beanie Feldstein intro'ing Mindy Kaling, why not just let them present together? Anthony Ramos introduced Lin-Manuel Miranda, who intro'd the clip package of movie songs, which served as a lead-in to Eminem. What kind of award show inception? I enjoyed Utkarsh Ambudkar's rap/wrap-up, but we don't need a mid-show wrap-up.
+And despite presenters introducing presenters, three of the songs were not introduced at all. I think the Breakthough song had some info on the stage television decor thinger.
+6th-7th year in a row of complaining about the presenters. Not enough previous winners/nominees, too many new people, too many TV people.
+Speeches were kinda low key. From just about everyone. I blame this fast award season.
+The show's direction was really bad at times. I think Glenn Weiss should be retired from his duties. I wonder how many drones they have running in the Dolby. And it looked like the camera dropped after that one shot of ScarJo.
+The order was very odd. It was a bad idea starting with Supporting Actor. I would have gone with Supporting Actress. I guess they thought after the screenplays, everyone would just continue to pay attention because the tech categories are often more of what people have seen. Visual effects probably came in too late. Ordering the categories is probably not an easy job, though. It's all about momentum.
+Those Song nominees were just too bland and forgettable to work. I would've said 2 minutes each, no more.
+This is not the Grammy's. There is no need for 8 musical numbers.
+Stage was kinda bland this year. I'm looking at pictures of past telecasts, and man was it far more colorful and grander.
+I know FCC and all, but it's 2020. No one young is watching this, and if they are they are probably also watching porn on their phones. We don't need to beep people swearing. Though it was perfectly fine to show a clip from a Tarantino movie where someone gets set on fire by a flame thrower?
+I get that the Honorary Oscars are their own thing now, but the winners should be allowed to take the stage. Geena Davis and Wes Studi could've presented something.
+The Academy made a big deal of the first woman conductor for the show, but then she only did the Original Score category?
+I complained about this now four years in a row: stop taking up the entire screen with a film clip as someone walks to the stage. Do a split screen!
+Sorry if you haven't seen some of the nominated movies. The Best Picture and acting clips contained some big spoilers. (Of course, the Judy trailer showed the last few seconds of the movie. I digress.)
+Film scores should be utilized in the show, but please explain Renée walking off stage to the Pirates of the Caribbean theme, or JLD and Ferrell walking on stage to Ghostbusters.
+Steve Martin and Chris Rock didn't quite click. Their material felt dated.
+Which brings me to this show kinda proving that the Oscars might need a host. Last year, I felt the exact opposite. Too many people (the junior presenters, Rock/Martin, Monae) were doing the job of the host. Perhaps some of the talent prefers that to presenting, but I get the feeling Steve or Chris would've hosted the show if they were asked.

Best Dressed:

Not gonna do Worst. I will say that if Zazie Beetz dress had been long with a train, she would've made my list. Wasn't a huge fan of either Actress winner's look. Renée did kill it all season, though.

Honorable Mentions:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a simple look that
would be great yesterday, today and tomorrow

Mindy Kaling in a simple look that would be
great yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Regina King again dominates the red carpet,
though I wish this didn't have the train. 

#5 - FLORENCE PUGH
I know some didn't like it, but I love it.
Perfect for her first Oscar night.

#4 PENELOPE CRUZ
Probably one of my favorite Oscar
looks from her. 

#3 - GEENA DAVIS
The Honorary Oscar recipient looks amazing,
and how cool to see Miss Thelma on Brad
Pitt's big night.

#2 - BRIE LARSON
I originally had her as #1, but I decided there's
a few elements here that I've seen before. She
killed it 2 years in a row now. Go, Captain!

#1 - JANELLE MONAE
Instantly iconic! A perfect look.

And that's a wrap on Award Season 2019. The Academy will always be one step forward, 2 back. Or 2 forward, one back. Here's hoping for significant progress next season. The ratings hit an all time low, so God knows what next year's ceremony will be like. Meanwhile, the Globes ratings have the most consistency of any award show. They don't mess with their formula, and deliver exactly what they promise.