Oscar Ceremony

[danfrank]

I agree that it was a very average Oscars show. Jimmy Kimmel’s affable style was serviceable and would have been forgettable had he not slipped in the Trump joke at the end. There were really no other memorable jokes by him, but “past your jail time” will likely be quoted for a long time. The only awards that caught my attention due to any element of suspense were the Actress and Sound awards, and to a lesser extent Adapted Screenplay. Ryan Gosling totally pulled off his number, and I thought John Mulaney was funny. Among the 20 past acting winners I liked Nicolas Cage’s introduction of Paul Giamatti and Rita Moreno’s intro of America, while the rest were fairly forgettable (time to put this quintuplet of presenters strategy back on the shelf, I think). It’s dumb not to re-name the Best Picture nominees at the end. And I don’t like Robert Downey Junior’s personality at all. Oppenheimer is a respectable enough winner.

That’s s about it. On to next year.

[Sonic Youth]

It was very much average. The good parts were good, sometimes terrific; the bad parts were bad, sometimes unbearable. I mean, it doesn't feel like there's any point in complaining. This year, the Oscars Oscar'ed, which is what they do more often than not. danfrank made a great comment a few days ago about how the Oscars are intermittent reinforcements. Some years the show will be good, others not at all; some years our favorites will win, sometimes not; some years there will be many exciting races, others none. But that's why we keep coming back. Rarely are we going to be entirely fulfilled, so all we can do is take our pleasures where we find them.

IMO what's most notable about the Oscars these days are how the acceptence speeches seem to get better and better every year. Another thing that has definitely changed over the past 10 or so years - and what may be related - are the audiences in the auditorium. The Oscars are no longer a polite social gathering but a rowdy rock concert. So rowdy, anonymous doesn't even use the "standing ovation" question in the contest anymore. There's such love and enthusiasm and encouragement, it sustains the energy level throughout the evening, and the crowd and the winner and speech-giver seem to mutually reinforce (that word again) each other until the atmosphere's overwhelmingly heightened. By the time we get to the last 20 minutes, it's reached a pitch of excitement. And even if the show's not very good, even if my favorites don't prevail, even if the races are practically preordained, it's this electricity between the audience and the winners that gets me to watch year after year.

[Big Magilla]

Update: That critique of Kimmel and the show that Kimmel read just before the Best Picture presentation was an actual post from the disgraced former president. Loved his response, "isn't it past your jail time?"

[Big Magilla]

They really did save the best for last or almost last with the "surprise" win for Emma Stone and Jimmy Kimmel's Trump joke, the only of the of the evening which made me laugh.

[HarryGoldfarb]

Standing ovations for everyone…

Except for the host and the trope of previous winners presenting the supporting acting categories…

[mlrg]

Ryan Gosling sure brought down the house!!!

[mlrg]

Standing ovations for everyone…

[mlrg]

A celebration of the 80’s…

[Sonic Youth]

Well, the audience clearly loooooves Eilish. Yeah, the song's winning.

Beautiful presentation, too.

[mlrg]

Probably the lamest monologue Kimmel has given while hosting the Oscars

[Franz Ferdinand]

Gotta love a solid rectangular penis joke!

[Big Magilla]

Awkward opening.

[mlrg]

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