The lead-up to last night's 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony proved to be one of its most controversial, and for several reasons. As such, a couple of elephants in the room need to be addressed here. First of all, the Academy's decision to pre-tape eight of the show's technical achievements was something they attempted to do three years ago (before several noteworthy filmmakers petitioned against the idea and ultimately overturned it). Nevertheless, they stuck to the decision this time around for the supposed sake of viewership ratings and runtime. In the end, however, the show ran for roughly 3 hours and 40 minutes. So live show wins for Sound, Documentary Short Subject, Visual Effects, Animated Short, Live Action Short Film, Original Score, Film Editing, Production Design, and Makeup & Hairstyling, would've still benefited the respective winners and unsung heroes behind-the-scenes of the year's most acclaimed films.
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro perhaps said it best earlier this month,
The nominees that we have here . . . [worked] against many, many difficult odds [to get here], and we don’t do [films] alone. . . . We do them together, and the people that made them with us did it risking everything in a pandemic, showing up, making the day, somewhat in a miracle. I must say, if any year was the year to think about it, this is not the year not to hear their names live at the Oscars. This is the year to sing it, and sing it loud.
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| (l-r) Hosts Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes, at the ceremony's conclusion |
And then there was that brief-but-heated situation between Best Actor nominee (and eventual winner) Will Smith and presenter Chris Rock. While the latter presented the award for Best Documentary Feature, Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smitt (who was diagnosed with alopecia in 2018), leading the former "Fresh Prince"--who was sitting in the front of the audience--to storm the stage and slap Rock. This arguably ranked as the show's most awkward-turned-gasping moment of the evening. (Twitter is reportedly still blowing up, as a result.). To be fair, subsequent presenter Sean "Diddy" Combs politely--if humorously--addressed the situation ("We're gonna solve that like family at the Gold Party"), while Smith delivered a tearful and humble apology during his acceptance speech, for his acclaimed performance as the family patriarch in the Venus & Serena Williams biopic King Richard. While we should at least give the man credit for his transparency (as well as reported words of wisdom from fellow nominee Denzel Washington), only time will if the Academy will invite him back next year.
Those elements notwithstanding, the ceremony, for the most part, managed to be engaging and well-done, with several worthwhile acceptance speeches and highlights involving cast and crew in front of and behind the camera. The same went for the humorous (if, at times, crass) hosting duties of comic actresses Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall, especially when they parodied Spider-Man, Richard Williams, and Tammy Faye, respectfully. (I theorize, however, if the decision to have three hosts this year was to make up for the last three, host-less Oscars.) While Warner Bros' acclaimed sci-fi blockbuster adaptation Dune collected most of this year's technical honors (including well-deserved statues for visual effects, sound, and Hans Zimmer's groundbreaking score), several other high-profile and festival-friendly picks took home at least one statue.
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| (l-r) Oscar-winners Ariana DeBose (Best Supporting Actress), Troy Kotsur (Best Supporting Actor), and Jessica Chastain (Best Actress) |
From The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion became the third woman to win Best Director, and the first New Zealand native to do so since Peter Jackson) to West Side Story (Best Supporting Actress Ariana DeBose--who knocked it out of the park as Anita in Steven Spielberg's superb musical adaptation--became the first openly queer woman of color and second Latina to win for acting), Encanto (Disney's latest phenomenon won Best Animated Feature Film, not surprisingly), Cruella (for Jenny Beaven's impeccable, 1970's punk-rock-inspired costume design), No Time To Die (brother-sister music duo Billie Eilish and Finneas continued the tradition of award-winning James Bond theme songs, while Eilish became the first Oscar-winner born in the 21st Century), Belfast (writer-director Kenneth Branagh won his first statue for his original, semi-autobiographical screenplay, while being the first person to be nominated in seven different Oscar categories throughout his decades-long career), Drive My Car (the 3-hour-long, multilingual character drama from Japan won Best International Feature Film, also not surprisingly) and The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain was declared Best Actress, while the televangelist biopic was also commended for its Makeup & Hairstyling), the evening had a fair representation of several diverse films, not to mention shout outs to their respective countries and/or communities (i.e., Ireland, the deaf community), including a moment of silence for the current situation in Ukraine. (The "In Memorium" segment, on the other hand--while featuring touching tributes to film actor Sidney Poitier, producer-director Ivan Reitman, and TV icon Betty White--, seemed a little too distracted by its more upbeat chorus.)
On a different note, several classic films celebrated their respective anniversaries this year, with surprise appearances from the actors and/or filmmakers behind them. These included the seminal 1972 mafia drama The Godfather (presented by director Francis Ford Coppola and franchise stars Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro), the 1992 basketball comedy-drama White Men Can't Jump (stars Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, and Rosie Perez presented Best Cinematography), the 1994 anthology crime thriller Pulp Fiction (stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman, recreated some of their famous movie moments and lines, including an appearance from the mysterious briefcase), the 2007 coming-of-age dramedy Juno (stars Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, and transgender actor Elliot Page presented Best Original Screenplay), and the 1972 Bob Fosse-directed musical Cabaret ("showbiz legend" Liza Minneli--wheelchair in tow--presented the Best Picture award with former Oscar-winner Lady Gaga).
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| Best Picture-winner CODA |
With the latter in mind, perhaps the other big surprise of the night was the Apple- and Sundance-produced indie drama CODA. Not only did Best Supporting Actor Troy Kotsur become the second deaf actor to win an Academy Award (his co-star, Marlee Matlin, was the first, having won Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God, 35 years ago). Writer-director Sian Heder was also awarded for her adapted screenplay (based on the 2014 French film, La Famille Belier), while the film itself became the underdog victor when it won the coveted Best Picture award. The film's producers ultimately thanked the Academy for "recognizing a movie of love and family in this difficult time." Here's hoping the Oscars reinstate the aforementioned technical categories to live presentations next year. They deserve said respect just as much.
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POST-SCRIPT: On March 28th, Will Smith issued a public apology to the Academy and to Chris Rock, stating,
I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness. . . . I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us . . . I am a work in progress.
That same week, he resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, while the Board of Directors banned the actor from attending the Oscars for ten years (beginning April 8, 2022), to which Smith accepted. As for Chris Rock, while his aforementioned joke was off-color and unnecessary, he should be commended for keeping his composure throughout Sunday night's ceremony.
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