It’s the slap seen ’round the world. Not heard…because the audio was cut quickly from the U.S. broadcast.
This year’s Oscars tried some new things, but did it work?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to say since Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after Rock made a pointed jab at Smith’s wife Jada is what everyone’s talking about. I don’t have commentary to add to this moment; none of it was OK.
Here are my thoughts on the 94th Academy Awards:
Did the 3 hosts work?
Hiring three women is cheaper than hiring one man to host was one of my favorite jokes of the night because it’s funny while being relevant.
Amy Schumer, Wanda Skyes and Regina Hall hosted this year’s ceremony. They were announced late and are the first to host in three years.
All considering I thought they did well. They had funny bits, though some ran long (Skyes at the academy museum) and felt thirsty (Hall’s “random” COVID test callout).
The segmentation of one host at a time felt disjointed and rigid over the night’s run. They were best together.
Overall I prefer having hosts to no host. And more than one allows synergy and takes the pressure off.
Did cutting awards work?
Pre-Oscars, the biggest controversy seemingly was cutting eight awards from the telecast. Except they weren’t cut; they were announced early and edited into the show.
Usually, these nominees are stuck in the back of the theater because they aren’t big names. So in a way, it saved filler time by cutting out the part where they have to run to the stage to get the award.
But the point was to reduce the overall run time. And the Oscars still ran for more than three and a half hours.
There were other ways to ensure the ceremony went less than three hours. While the anniversary bits were nice, they could’ve been shorter (especially the Pulp Fiction one since it was a 28-year anniversary, not a milestone year like 50 or 25).
I actually liked that the Oscars were more of a celebration of movies overall, not just this year’s nominees. The nostalgia made it more enjoyable. But it was disappointing to have some of it take away from well-deserved wins.
What news source should you use for your Oscar pool?
I reviewed predictions from Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Gold Derby, The New York Times and NPR ahead of Sunday’s ceremony.
The best predictor? It’s a toss-up between Entertainment Weekly and Vanity Fair; the two publications got the most right. Entertainment Weekly got all the craft categories right but missed Best Picture. Vanity Fair got all the top-of-the-line winners correct.
So if your Oscar pool is weighted, you can decide where to go next year.
What were my standout moments?
I think it’s interesting that Billie Eilish won an Oscar before Taylor Swift or Beyonce. Eilish’s reaction was joyous.
I appreciated that during Troy Katsur’s acceptance speech, his interpreter was off-camera so we could focus on Katsur, the true winner.
The In Memorium segment was much livelier than normal, and I liked that it was more celebratory than sad.
I’m glad they added the Best Song performances back into the telecast, along with using movie soundtrack songs for the background scores for various parts of the night.
What did you think of the Oscars?