OPINION: 2019 Oscar Wrap-Up

Courtesy of ABC

Considering the disastrous lead-up to the 91st Academy Awards, it’s a small miracle that the telecast turned out as well as it did. Perhaps the most publicized blunder along the journey to Sunday night’s ceremony was Kevin Hart being named host, only to quit after refusing to apologize for a history of homophobic tweets. So, the Academy officially announced the show would go without a host for the first time since 1989.

Crisis averted, right? Not so fast. Soon after, producers decided only one of the Best Song nominees would be performed, but they backtracked after significant criticism. Then, apparently failing to learn from their mistakes, producers announced that four categories would be presented off-air during commercial breaks; yet again, they relented after another backlash.

Imagine my surprise when all those upheavals resulted in one of the smoothest telecasts I can remember. A hostless ceremony ended up being a decent idea, speeding things along and keeping the focus on winners. There was also a refreshing lack of unnecessary “here’s why movies are important” montages and goofy bits designed to break up the monotony, but only extending an overlong production even further.

As always, there were a fair amount of hits and misses, as well as one genuinely stunning upset. Here are some of the night’s most memorable moments, for good or ill.

The Good
Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph kick things off:
Following a “wait, is it over already?” performance by the current incarnation of Queen, the trio did the host’s most important job – telling a few jokes before getting to the awards. They were wonderfully self-aware, mocking the cheesy monologue jokes most people expected to hear. But, because they’re brilliant women, those lame jokes were also funny.

Regina King wins Best Supporting Actress: Although it means that Amy Adams still doesn’t have an Oscar (despite six nominations), I was thrilled to see King win for her stellar performance in If Beale Street Could Talk. Not only that, she delivered one of the most heartfelt speeches of the night.

Spike Lee finally wins an Oscar: Although he earned a student Academy Award back in 1973 and received an honorary Oscar in 2015, the man responsible for Do the Right Thing – one of the greatest films ever made – had somehow never won in general competition. The Academy finally rectified that by awarding Lee and his BlacKkKlansman co-writers the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. What’s more, his good friend and longtime collaborator Samuel L. Jackson, who couldn’t contain his excitement, got to be the person who handed him the statue.

Olivia Colman’s delightful, impromptu speech: In the evening’s most stunning upset, Best Actress went to the British performer for her brilliant work as Queen Anne in the twisted comedy The Favourite. Everyone thought Glenn Close had it in the bag because it was “her time,” and that clearly included Colman. When co-presenters Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell called her name, there was a collective gasp in the room and her face revealed she had no clue this was going to happen. After taking the stage and regaining her composure, she delivered the night’s most charming, obviously off-the-cuff speech.

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performing “Shallow”: The moment pretty much everyone was talking about Monday morning was the sizzling chemistry between the two A Star Is Born actors as they sang a stripped-down version of the song that would eventually win the film’s only Oscar (despite being nominated for seven). Aside from an unfortunate closeup that revealed the performers’ jarring, Trump-like orange makeup, everything about the segment was phenomenal. It was masterfully directed as a single shot, Cooper was dynamic as he sang in his “real” voice and took full advantage of the staging, and Lady Gaga played the heck out of that piano. Plus, it ended in an intimate moment that reminded viewers why the movie is so affecting. Chills.

The Ill
Awkward and stilted acceptance speeches:
After all the criticism about moving some awards to commercial breaks, the winners of Best Makeup (for Vice) didn’t do themselves any favors. For a couple of seemingly unending minutes, they stuttered, stammered and clumsily lurched their way through a few perfunctory thank-yous. Considering their category just barely missed the chopping block, you would think they’d bring their A-game.

Brief Wayne’s World Reunion: At first, seeing Mike Myers and Dana Carvey together, introducing Best Picture nominee Bohemian Rhapsody, was a nice bit of meta-infused nostalgia. (Get it? Their characters headbanged to it in their film’s most iconic moment.) But then they started halfheartedly delivering bits of famous dialogue and the whole thing started to feel forced and awkward. Too bad… it was a good idea in theory.

Green Book wins Best Picture:
A surprisingly decent night came to a jarring halt with the final and most prestigious award of the evening. Green Book, a reverse-Driving Miss Daisy with an outdated, overly simplistic view of racism, was awarded Best Picture despite competitors like Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman addressing similar issues in far more realistic, yet entertaining fashion. They prove films about important, controversial topics don’t always have to feel like homework, but instead voters went for a glorified Hallmark movie that comes off patronizing at best, racially tone-deaf at worst.

As such, Green Book immediately became one of the worst films to ever win the top prize, up there with Crash and the aforementioned Driving Miss Daisy. Ironically, winning is going to make the movie look even more ridiculous in hindsight. Think about it: no one remembers Shakespeare in Love as a charming romance. Instead, it’ll always be the movie that beat Saving Private Ryan. The same goes for Crash – rather than a well-intentioned but mediocre drama about race relations, it’s the movie that beat Brokeback Mountain. Honestly, I’ll be shocked if we’re still talking about Green Book five years from now. Does anyone remember The Artist? Yeah, that’s what I thought.