Call it a guilty pleasure, but watching the Oscars is just in my DNA. They could get much worse (though after last night it’s difficult to see how) and I’d still tune in. Michael Phillips called it frivolous in a year of serious concerns. Personally, a healthy dose of frivolity is just what I need to keep my head on straight in this of all years.
So, I drove to Whole Foods, masked up, and found the makings of a solitary Oscar feast, a one off indulgence in what every responsible diner should avoid: runny triple cream brie, country pate, golden caviar, jumbo shrimp, stilton blue, and fat, crisp, toasted slices of rye with a crust as hard as an armadillo’s hide, all to be washed down with slugs of Pear William, cherry pie to follow.
No one is more patient than I when it comes to technical categories. Still, I was relieved that the sound categories were combined. Sorting out the difference always tied my brain in pretzel knots. That said, my patience was sorely tested last night. I’m usually annoyed by critics who claim each edition of the Oscars is more boring than all that went before. But this time it was true. The evening quickly became a deadly bore.
A big part of the problem was the decision to eliminate clips in favor of cutesy biographical intros of the nominees. In a year when few viewers have been able to see many, or any of the contending films, why not give us a clue as to their content? We might actually want to take a look. The ads for the new West Side Story and In the Heights piqued considerable interest, more than anything done to promote the nominees.
Then too, while I applauded getting rid of the “Time’s up” music, winner after winner felt free to indulge in epic acceptance speeches. Greer Garson rides again!
Then three, to pad out the proceedings with that tasteless, intrusive and utterly excruciating business of “Was this song ever nominated?” stopped an already sluggish evening dead in its tracks.
The awards themselves seemed mostly reasonable and deserved, except for the abysmal attempt at period black and white photography in Mank and the circus like make up in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. As to the acting awards, good, sound performances all. Frances McDormand is fast becoming a national treasure. This third best actress award edges her past Meryl Streep and Ingrid Bergman. She trails only Katharine Hepburn, and has years ahead of her.
Yes, Chadwick Boseman didn’t win, but the Academy is historically unsentimental when it comes to posthumous awards. Death gave no edge to Spencer Tracy or James Dean. On the rare occasions when such an award is made, (very few come to mind: Peter Finch in Network, Heath Ledger‘s Joker, and Victor Young‘s score for Around the World in 80 Days) the winner is clearly unsurpassed. Anthony Hopkins had no need to apologize. Boseman certainly wouldn’t have wanted him to.
I did like the look of the program; in fact, I think Union Station is a keeper, along with the groups at tables. This was a lighter physical environment, better suited to three hours plus than a crowded, darkened theater. As to attire, a subject that usually generates much bitchy invective the morning after (never by me), these ladies and gents were decked out quite smartly. I will only point out, as gently as possible, that Carey Mulligan is rather petite for a wide ball gown that seemed to be swallowing her, and readers of a certain age will understand what I have in mind bestowing the Faye Emerson award on Amanda Seyfried.
The show was relentlessly political, but it was that kind of year. The most eloquent speech of the evening was given by Tyler Perry. I’m not a fan of his movies, but I greatly admire what he does with the money he makes from them. At the other end of the oration spectrum, we had the winner who wished he could cut his Oscar into five pieces for his competitors. Right. Lets grab some tools and get right on that.
As a predictor, I managed to beat Michael Phillips by two.
It’s over now. So many categories, but not a scrap of love for First Cow?
Me Now 
Nobody has written a better review of the awards show and I’ve read several. Bravo!
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