The Oscars Got It Right...Almost

Academy, I didn't know you had it in you, but you managed to present an awards telecast which lasted only three hours and fifteen minutes.   Granted, it could've been shorter, but considering how bloated the awards ceremonies have been since forever, this is a positive step.    You don't need a host.   A host kills the first 10-15 minutes with a mostly lame monologue which no one remembers, and then the writers feel they have to write stunts, gags, and jokes for the host to pepper throughout the show.    They have a host for a reason, right?   Why pay him for just the opening fifteen minutes?  And let's throw in meaningless montages too.   Anything to kill the momentum.

I pray the Academy learns from this year and tweaks next year's telecast so it ends just as the 11:00 news is supposed to start.    The ads were the most bloated thing about this year's show; stuff about Oscar-winning directors urging the folks at home to follow their dreams and go make films, or something like that.   There were highlights, lowlights, a few upsets, and the year's best movie actually won Best Picture.    I didn't exactly clean up in my Oscar predictions though.   Only four of my eight predictions came to pass, batting .500 in this instance is not good.   

Best Picture:  Green Book.   I predicted Roma, and although it won three prizes for Cinematography, Directing, and Foreign Language Film, the big prize eluded it.    As stated in my predictions article from last month, this was a lean year for movies.   I gave positive reviews to only three of the eight Best Picture nominees, and Roma was not among the positive.    Roma was a critical darling, but if many critics had a choice between watching Roma and Green Book, they would choose Green Book and throw away the remote.   But, even though Green Book took home the Producers Guild prize, I felt without a corresponding Best Director nod that Green Book's chances were nearly dead.    I was wrong, and I'm glad because Green Book was my favorite film of 2018. 

Best Director:  Alfonso Cuaron (Roma).   Cuaron was a frequent visitor to the stage, and his Golden Globes and DGA wins were precursors to this award.    As close to a lock as you could get.   My prediction was Cuaron.  

Best Actor:   Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)  I picked Christian Bale even though Malek won the Golden Globe and eventually the SAG Award for Best Actor.    I didn't feel either performance was on the same plane as Viggo Mortensen's in Green Book or even Bradley Cooper's, who must be shaking his head wondering why he worked so hard when Malek simply lip synced Freddie Mercury and took home the Oscar.   Cooper isn't the only one shaking his head.

Best Actress:  Olivia Colman (The Favourite)   Glenn Close was my pick and virtually everyone else's outside of the Colman household, but Close had to watch someone else give an acceptance speech for a seventh time.   Colman gave a frenetic, awkward acceptance speech, likely because she didn't expect to win.   Or was she just doing schtick?   Either way, I felt bad for Glenn Close.

Best Supporting Actor:  Mahershala Ali (Green Book).   Ali was my pick, and his performance outshone the other nominees in a quality category.    It's his second Oscar in three years, and well-deserved.   

Best Supporting Actress:  Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)  Amy Adams has now had to sit through an Oscar loss for the sixth time, one short of Glenn Close.    Her performance wasn't Oscar-worthy anyway, and King's momentum didn't stall after her Globes win following by no nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA.    King was my pick

Best Original Screenplay:  Green Book.   My pick as well.   It was a lively script with characters I could listen to all day long.   

Best Adapted Screenplay:  BlackkKlansman.   I chose If Beale Street Could Talk, but Spike Lee would not be denied his first competitive Oscar win.   He was a Governor's Award recipient, but a competitive victory was obviously more exciting for him.   Then, he went ahead with a terrible display of sportsmanship and turned his back on the Green Book winners as they accepted their Best Picture award over Lee's film.   Bad form, Spike.

Some other observations:   

*  Just please don't add a Popular Film Category.   Pretty please.

*  Bradley Cooper's duet with Lady Gaga "Shallow" was the highlight of the Best Song nominee performances.    There were three other songs performed, and none of those were memorable.   But, if I were Bradley Cooper's girlfriend, I would keep an eye on he and Lady Gaga after they got all close up at the end.   

*  During Barbra Streisand's long-winded introduction of BlackkKlansman, she pointed out how she and Spike Lee both hailed from Brooklyn.   Lee shouted out "BROOKLYN!" and represented.   That was funny.

*  Samuel L. Jackson's enthusiastic announcement of his old pal Spike Lee's win was also endearing and memorable.   There is little doubt who he wanted to see take home the Adapted Screenplay prize.

*  In an age of information available in a flash at our fingertips, how is it humanly possible to miss prominent names in the In Memoriam section?   Carol Channing and Sondra Locke, both former Oscar nominees, were omitted from the tribute.   It must be wearying for the Academy to keep attempting to explain away glaring In Memoriam omissions.   Or perhaps not, because they continue to leave names off the list.