It took me a while to get on board. At the beginning I found the ceremony kind of … rudderless. But my husband, who usually bails on the show 30 minutes in, pointed out the brilliance of having no host: “whatever charms the host offers is offset by the inevitable awkwardness of the situation.” And he was right!
What We Lost in this Year’s Ceremony
There was no mocking of the honorees. No annoying naval-gazing jokes about Hollywood. No silly and time-consuming gags (Pizza! Snacks! Selfies!) to break up the ceremony. No clip montages, other than the “In Memorium” segment. I don’t even think there was a Lifetime Achievement Award. We lost all the annoying fluff and filler.
What We Gained in this Year’s Ceremony
1 hour. Yup, that’s right. The Oscars are usually 4+ hours. This year they were a bit over 3 hours. The focus of the evening went from the host to the movies themselves, which is as it should be. We gained quite a lot, actually.
A Word on the Intro
A long-time fan of the big Oscar production number intro, no host meant no splashy intro. The producers did a fantastic pivot by kicking the ceremony off with a splashy performance by Queen, followed by the first set of presenters Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph. Since many people would have loved for them host the ceremony, it was fun to see them up there first and foremost.
A Word on the Rest
There were some great impromptu live moments which is, after all, why we watch. My top 5 faves: 1) Melissa McCarthy’s rabbit costume/parody of The Favourite, 2) Barbra Streisand’s intro to BlacKKKlansman and good-humored bonding with Spike Lee, 3) Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, referencing their original “Bohemian Rhapsody” carpool karaoke, 4) Spike Lee’s disjointed but exuberant acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay, 5) The Documentary Short Subject winner’s conclusion to her speech “I can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar!”
Who Won
It is a little troublesome that given the many excellent and thought-provoking movies about race relations in America by African-American directors (BlacKKKlansman, If Beale Street Could Talk are two that received nominations this year, but there were others) that Green Book won. I enjoyed the movie, but it was in no way Best Picture-worthy. This was in my opinion a weak year for movies, and Roma was far and away the best movie of those nominated. But I totally get that many Oscar voters are deeply afraid of Netflix roiling the movie industry as it has done with TV. So Green Book it was.
More About Who Won
The ceremony was also interesting because it really wasn’t clear who was going to win in a number of categories, particularly Best Picture. And there were upsets! Olivia Colman was hilarious up there, as she, as well as everyone else, had assumed Glenn Close would win. That this year the winners were not at all predictable made the ceremony quite fun to watch.
My Best Picture Movie Review Blurbs
A Star is Born – Liked the first half, particularly the scenes of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performing. Found the second half too long and at times ridiculous.
BlacKKKlansman – Interesting, well-acted and thought-provoking movie with confusing editing.
Black Panther – Around as good as a superhero movie is going to get. Fantastic production design and costumes (I’m so glad it won for both).
Bohemian Rhapsody – I was amazed that this likable but featherweight movie was nominated. But it was fun to watch.
The Favourite – A clever and well written movie about profoundly unlikeable people. Not my favorite.
Green Book – Enjoyable well-acted comedy/road movie in which the racism of the past is so egregious that everyone feels great about where we are now.
Roma – Starts slowly, but builds gracefully, with incredible camera work. Unquestionably the best film of those nominated.
Vice – overrated, but perhaps it was because I really didn’t want to look at Dick Cheney for two hours. The Big Short was much better. Although I would have loved to see Amy Adams win.
In Conclusion
Hostless is the Mostless!
The Judge 