So, the Academy Awards winners have been announced and by this point, all those holding golden statues and those who were nominated for them are recovering from numerous parties across Los Angeles. Green Book won Best Picture and although I did love that movie, I am deeply disappointed that another film that dealt with race did not score the motion picture industry’s highest honor.
BlacKkKlansman should have won. There is no question in my mind if you look at that list of nominees, it is the film that Oscar voters could hold up with pride three decades from now as an embodiment of who we are as a society and where we aspire to go. Spike Lee did win for Best Adapted Screenplay that he co-wrote, but I would also argue that the revolutionary filmmaker deserved to win Best Director as well. Alfonso Cuarón is a supreme talent, for that there is no debate. He has already won an Oscar in this category (for Gravity) and won several tonight for his beautiful Roma—including Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Film. Given the geopolitical landscape of our country, particularly in the last several years, the Academy missed an opportunity to show itself relevant to the mores of our society, circa 2018-2019, in a manner that puts a mirror to the world we live in.
Green Book shows us how far we’ve come, sure, but BlacKkKlansman illustrates how truly far we must go still. Sure, it chronicles the true story of a 70s detective (who was the first African American on the Colorado Springs PD) who infiltrated the KKK. But Lee frames his masterpiece with a look at the goings-on of today, what with his inclusion of video from the Charlottesville white supremist rally where our nation’s “leader” reported there were “good people” on both sides.
The Academy also failed by not including more montages. With the absence of a host (more on that soon), there was more time for saluting films of the past and present. The Academy should have shown a series of clips showcasing how the art of film has dealt with racism and race relations in the past and itself given us a framework for how far we have come and how far we still have to go. Given the films that were nominated tonight, including Black Panther and If Beale Street Could Talk, what a missed opportunity. This year alone they could have shown clips from Blindspotting, The Hate U Give, Sorry to Bother You and the Oscar nominated short, Black Sheep. Talk about timing being everything! The montage is as associated with the Oscars as the awards themselves. The show truly had none and the producers’ obsession with keeping the show at three hours hurt it immensely in the long run.
Cutting off certain categories’ winners while letting others go on for longer seemed truthfully unfair. Sure, we want to hear Best Actor winner Rami Malek talk about being a first generation American, especially in these anti-immigrant times (at least from the White House). But at the expense of those other well-deserving artists’ moment to shine? Please! Those of us who are film fans and have tuned into this broadcast for decades know what we are getting into when we sit down at Oscar tip-off. We’re looking at something that could clock in at four hours. It’s a once a year celebration of all things cinema and as such, we are ready for a celluloid ride worthy of our collective cinematic passions. The entire affair felt rushed, empty, heartless, soulless and above all else—placid. Those are not words I’ve ever used to describe Hollywood’s biggest night.
Now, let’s talk about this lack of a host thing. Losing Kevin Hart was a blow, sure, but a host gives the program its hue, its tone and framework. Going without one was a gamble, and the Academy lost. From a programming point of view, what they did do at the beginning of the show seems counterproductive to what they were going for. Sending out Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph at the start of the show to present an award and have them be absolutely hilarious in a longer-than-usual intro to presenting an Oscar, the Academy shot themselves in the foot. Why couldn’t those three be the hosts? Heck, after Melissa McCarthy strolled out in a royal rabbit costume to present her award, one thought immediately struck me—the quartet of women that instantly produce smiles from the audience simply by their presence could have been hosts. Or, any combination of the group—toss in Kristen Wiig and we’ve got a Fab Five of hosting potential. Shame.
So, let’s grade this puppy now that all is said and done.
Best Picture Winner: C-
Green Book, I enjoyed. But as I stated earlier, the Oscars missed the boat on this one. They could have made a statement with BlacKkKlansman and more importantly, rewarded a film that when history looks back at the event, members of the Academy could be proud to call themselves a part of this institution that is progressive in its collective personality.
Host Absence: F
Not having a host sucked the life right out of the entire event. It was nothing except award after award after award—and a few songs thrown in. Let’s bet right now that the Academy doesn’t do this again. In fact, there was a show host in many ways… the voice-over emcee who had to announce everything that was going on. Hey, it’s a boom for voice-over folks, but it sucked for nominees, winners and of course—the audience.
Olivia Coleman: A
Everyone was as shocked as she was winning the Oscar for Best Actress. The consensus was that Glenn Close would finally win an Oscar after seven previous nominations that resulted in a big donut in the win department. But when Coleman’s name was called, the British actress took the stage and somehow made it through an acceptance speech that was one for the ages. I love those moments. They are becoming rarer and rarer as award shows proliferate and it becomes a given by the time we get to the Academy Awards who is going to win certain categories. Also, some credit has to be given to Close as she handled it like a pro, unlike Lauren Bacall whose displeasure with losing to Juliette Binoche in 1997 could not be hidden. I mean, if looks could kill, Binoche would have dropped dead on the Oscar stage. But Close, she took it in such stride. Pure class.
Best Visual Effects: D
When is the Academy going to reward Marvel Studios for something they do so extraordinarily well? They have never received an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The tens of thousands of effects shots in Avengers: Infinity War were the favorite to win this category. But the Academy had other ideas as they rewarded First Man. Sure, that was some impressive effects as we know they didn’t really go to the moon. What Marvel’s effects wizards did with Infinity War was envelope pushing. They’ve gotten over the superhero movie at the Oscars thing as Black Panther won several awards. It’s now time to reward the comic book studio for doing what they do best—pushing the science behind the science fiction.
Best Song Performances: A+
Loved all the performances of the Best Song nominees, although sure missed seeing Kendrick Lamar at the Oscars. But there was something about that chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga that we saw onscreen in A Star is Born that found itself raining down on that Oscar stage in droves. The song was powerful. The performance was exquisite.
Best Score: Conflicted.
The score for Black Panther was certainly sublime, there is no question. But and this is a huge but… there is no score nominated this year, heck, there was no score in any film this year, that more impeccably reflected the tone, the subject, the color and sentimentality of its film than was achieved by If Beale Street Could Talk. Think this one was a mistake.
Best Animated Feature: A+
See, when witnessing Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, one sees film that is pushing the limits of what we know is possible. That is what should have been expected from the Best Picture winner. It was a bold and righteous choice giving Spidey the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, but that same mentality didn’t make its way to the top award of the night.
The Show: D
It was flat. The producers’ obsession with getting this thing in and done at the three-hour mark was felt throughout, as I’ve already stated. As such, opportunities were missed. More box office successes were represented this year versus any year in recent memory and as such, more eyes were potentially going to be on this show and they were. Viewership was up 15-percent this year. But this is the product you’re presenting to those potential new viewers? Think they’ll tune in next year or the year after that after a placid broadcast that did nothing in terms of capturing the spirit of the movie industry? Nope. A voice-over actor/emcee is not an Oscar host and nor should she be asked to do so. Why, Oscars? Why?!