Looking back at 2021, it was a roller coaster for the industry.  Theatrically, the films struggled to find a screen due to many locals shuttering or capping attendance at the cinema.  Those markets that were open, oftentimes, found audiences cautious to make that drive into town when for the last year they had been able to stream blockbuster content directly to their homes thanks to a monumental push from Warner Bros placing their slate day and date in cinemas and on HBO Max.  This resulted in lower box office returns which scared off many of the other major distributors from holding their release dates, so the calendar just kept getting pushed back later and later. 

It was not until July did I venture out to a theatre, not from a lack of desire, but given the lack of titles to choose from.  A little film dropped by Neon, Pig, was the siren’s call and it kicked off what would be an amazing second half of the year for the indie studio and, personally, it was a return to a pastime that was sorely missed.  It was not a large audience – which is fine by me – on that Saturday matinee, but to be in that dark room with a bag of Twizzlers on my lap sitting in awe of the giant screen, there was only one thing on my mind: The movies are back, baby! 

With movies, come The Oscars, and the night is finally here after the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences faced a grueling PR nightmare in the leadup to the event.  In an attempt to return to previous years’ viewership, they announced not one, not two, but three hosts, a fan favorite award to help bring in some more eyes at home, and to make the night move a little faster, they caved to ABC and will give out eight awards in the hour before the live broadcast.  Dissatisfaction at each new announcement was being hurled from all corners, obviously not what the producers were looking for, but despite all the ire and outrage, the movies being honored are all quite enjoyable and – especially in the case of Best Picture – signal the coming of a new, more global Academy after their expansion from the fallout of #OscarsSoWhite only a few years ago. 

After the usual red-carpet nonsense – that was even more cringe-inducing than typical – we open with a pre-taped rendition of Beyoncé’s “Be Alive” from King Richard. Bathed in tennis ball green, it’s a poppy way to start things off on paper, but in execution, it falls flat as it does not do anything to showcase the energy of the room before introducing the three hosts with their meandering banter of quick jabs and agreeing nods.  It is an awkward and seemingly unbalanced bit that oscillates between rough jabs at the films and attendees and some crunching down on the low-hanging political goings-on.  Thankfully, the ceremony as a whole does not go on to be as politically postured as in years past, but the first real surprise of the night comes when Amy Schumer begins her solo introduction and her jokes roasting the films are actually quite enjoyable, it’s her personal brand of comedy that is still unsavory and annoying. 

Finally, after 23 minutes, the first Oscar envelope is opened recognizing Ariana DeBose for West Side Story.  In an incredibly unnecessary and misguided remake of a musical that is better left to gather dust on the shelf, DeBose is one of the few shining stars of the film.  She injected a great vibrant life into the popping colors and sweeping camera movement and was a delight to see on screen. A supporting role – even if it is in one of Steven Spielberg‘s rare missteps – is not a bad way to get launched into superstardom and hopefully, she will benefit from the increased name recognition brought about by her win tonight that will find her roles in far better films than this in the near future.  

Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa thankfully signal the end of a raunchy Regina Hall bit showcasing Timothée Chalamet‘s minimalist approach to men’s formal wear, to award the pre-taped Best Sound to Dune.  It is in these technical categories where we have an opportunity to cut the nonsense and showcase the work that went into creating the sound of the film.  It is too late to save the second sound award, but for a show awarding the movies, let us see the movies being made.  Dune follows up with its second win of the night for Best Cinematography – well earned.  Even going day and date on HBO Max, the film looks incredible for those who did not wish to journey to the cinema.  The dust was so vibrant yet obscuring at the same time, an incredible feat, and truly one of the best-looking films of the year, further proven by its third win: Best Visual Effects. This statuette was presented by rising star Rachel Zegler alongside Jacob Elordi, but not before first getting in a few jabs at the Academy given the embarrassment they faced earlier this week when news broke that Zegler, star of West Side Story, was not initially invited to the ceremony. 

Over an hour in, one James Bond montage, and another musical performance checked off the list, we are ready to give out the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film: Encanto.  In a surprise to no one, it is still disappointing seeing as the film, while fine, is not the best on the ballot and not even the best of the 2021 Disney slate.  Luca is right there, Academy voters, but one can’t help but wonder if Encanto pulled out the win given the recency bias and the strange Pixar theatrical shutout since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.  This disappointing award is followed up by showing off the fan favorite movie moments and, in another surprise to no one, is heavily weighted towards the flashy comic books movies and yet another tease of a live performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” furthering the strange Encanto love affair and a shameless appeal to get more people tuning in after the breakout success despite the truly beautiful performance of the actual nominated song “Dos Oruguitas” performed by Sebastián Yatra. 

Wanda Sykes introduces the clip showcasing the AMPAS museum in a really embarrassing and joking manner. To see this years-in-the-work project get ridiculed nonstop for however long just seemed like a really poor promotion to something the Academy is clearly proud of if you follow any of their actual releases about the museum. For what is supposed to be seen as a prestigious monument to almost a century-long artform being treated in such a curt way just does not mesh.  

Youn Yuh-jung – with a charming introduction – presents Troy Kotsur with the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the first win for CODA.  Kotsur brought great life into the Rossi family patriarch, and the humility and the genuine thankfulness in his walk to the stage and the opening of his speech is beautiful.  It is an inspiring and nice moment to witness and brings some humanity into a rather sterile show.  It does not last long as Chris Evans comes in to introduce Lightyear since Disney, the owner of the broadcast network ABC, will take any opportunity to peddle out their goods.  It is one of the biggest questions of the 2022 slate – where will Lightyear debut, cinema screens or phone screens? 

The show returns with Tiffany Haddish and Tommey Leung delivering the first presenter bit that actually garners a true laugh in advance of awarding Drive My Car with the Oscar for Best International Feature.  From Japan, the film follows a theatre director mounting a production of Uncle Vanya in the wake of his wife’s passing.  The film is a truly moving and heavy piece that was a favorite going into the announcement, it is not an easy watch, but it is a rewarding one.  With well-founded rumors of a Criterion Collection release in the summer of 2022, Drive My Car is a film with so many layers and careful consideration in its structure.  At once it is a simple film, but taking that step back the profundity of it all makes itself known and marks itself as one of the true well-earned awards of the evening. 

Jenny Bevan takes home the Oscar for Best Costume Design, and while Cruella itself is riddled with faults on the page, the achievement in costuming is well deserved.  While all nominations tonight had a lot of merits, the range of costumes in Cruella is so wide and bold, and it was so nice to see Bevan highlight the works of her hair and makeup crew because they really do complete the look.  She delivers one of the best speeches of the night but gets cut short for the pointless and uninspired performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” an embarrassing pandering act that rightfully so, fell flat.  There was no dancing in the seats to be seen in the aerial shots of the auditorium as everyone sat and watched a strange rendition, tailor-made with a new verse, albeit poorly so, for the Oscar Ceremony performed by Megan Thee Stallion. 

An awful, yet thankfully short, trio bit queues in the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, consistently one of the most exciting awards, this year recognizing one of the weakest scripts on the ballot: Belfast.  Deeply personal, for sure, there is just nothing here of note.  It is ill-conceived and poorly executed.  The few moments that do stay in mind are from the exceptionally manipulative editing, it is certainly not from anything on the page.  One of the major misses of the night, to be sure.  Kenneth Branagh gives a short speech so Shawn Mendes and Tracee Ellis Ross can talk about salads in what is the first truly grasping-at-straws presenter bits of the evening before awarding the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay to Sian Hader who penned CODA.  Another miss of the evening because the script for CODA is messy and over-indulgent as it strives to do a little bit of everything.  The film is carried by its performances far more than it is served on the page.  

The ceremony returns to award Hans Zimmer with his second Oscar for Best Score for his inventive work on Dune; however, he was unable to attend the ceremony, so Momoa accepts on his behalf.  Rami Malek quickly steps in to introduce Billie Eilish and Finneas for their live performance of the title track for No Time to Die.  It is a very metered song without the bold breakout verse to really show off the power of Eilish’s voice and the exceptionally dark stage, while fitting, does not serve her well at all.  Potentially being the third Bond songwriter to bring home the gold, this live performance does not serve the song well at all. 

Dune follows up with another win for Best Editing, presented before the show and spliced in by editors that the folks at ABC do not deem important enough to recognize in front of their peers yet rely on their talents to make it look like it was handed out live.  Embarrassing.  Shameful.  The insult to injury comes quickly on the heels as Sykes and Hall return to deliver a pointless bit that serves no purpose.  Not to be outdone during this evening of classlessness, Will Smith approaches the stage to slap Chris Rock for a joke pointed at Jada Pinkett Smith during Rock’s presentation for Best Documentary (awarded to Summer of Soul). Smith returns to his seat and yells obscenities at the stunned comedian which really dampens the already struggling energy of the room. The enraged outburst quells any lingering questions about whether or not this whole affair was part of a larger bit, but either way, it is not what you want on Oscar night. 

What follows is, what is being called at least, a tribute to The Godfather (1972) celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year. The montage, in a word, is embarrassing. It looks and feels like a poorly made highlight reel from YouTube as we see a rapid-fire rundown of all the iconic moments across the trilogy unthoughtfully spliced together and backed by a hip-hop infused track to make it more relatable to the younger audience that ABC is so desperate to lure, but again the condescension just served to agitate the core audience at home that actually cares about the movies. The speech that follows, from director Francis Ford Coppola, flanked by leading men in the trilogy: Al Pacino and Robert DiNiro, is a true moment of class for the evening. Coppola is a man who, despite the studio all but writing him off at the time, made one of the most iconic works to ever come out of Hollywood. He is a director whose career is measured in the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and to hear his words of gratitude and his humility was a highlight of the night.  

With eight minutes left in the timeslot, Dune receives Best Production Design before Zoë Kravitz and Jake Gyllenhaal present Eilish and Finneas with the Oscar for Best Original Song for “No Time to Die.” A truly shocked and happy Eilish is nice to see, and the sibling pair delivers a genuinely appreciative speech.  Kevin Costner comes up with no regard for pacing as he recalls one of his formative theatrical experiences in cinema-going as a young boy in the Cinerama Dome, with only a minute left in the scheduled slot the theme “Movie Lovers Unite” finally comes into play here in the introduction speech for Best Director which goes to – finally, in its first win of the evening – The Power of the Dog helmed by Jane Campion. 

The Pulp Fiction (1994) cast returns to honor Will Smith with the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role as the titular King Richard.  The audience cam was enamored with Smith from the start of the broadcast, and he was long the favorite to win putting in the work on the Oscar trail since his film dropped in the fall.  The first half of his acceptance is an emotional speech, and while the film itself is overlong and not that great, it is a very personal story produced by the Williams sisters – who are in attendance which the camera does cut to after some technical difficulties to reveal that they also had been regulated to some back corner of the auditorium. The second half, however, attempts to address the elephant in the room; the slap heard around the world. It is a strange moment for sure as he attempts to justify his violence as an act of love. The court of public opinion is still out on this one, but a star with such a storied career as Smith will most likely come out of this blunder with an apology tour to save face, though this incident will not be easily forgotten. 

After a hastily spliced-in acceptance for achievement in makeup and hairstyling for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Schumer returns with a poorly timed bit that highlights how everyone involved with the Oscars is important.  A strange introduction to a quickly glossed-over recognition of the Governor’s Honorary Academy Award recipients: Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann, and then Danny Glover who was recognized with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. 

Anthony Hopkins, who decided to attend the ceremony this year, takes the stage to present the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading role to Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye in a surprising win.  The biopic had a pretty soft reception, but it was a very enjoyable film and Chastain was unrecognizable in the title lead.  It checks all the boxes of a pretty standard biopic, but besides the bold makeup and hairstyling rightfully recognized, Chastain and her screen partner, Andrew Garfield, deliver solid performances that carry and separate the film out of the realm of forgettable into something special.  Chastain’s speech opens with honoring the work of the below the line crew before calling for equality and acceptance has a nice parallel to what is going on in state law rooms around the country as well as the personally held viewpoint of the subject of her film. 

For the final award, Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli coronate CODA as the Best Picture.  Lady Gaga handles Minnelli with care and grace, though the aging star did not look good here, and it brought about sympathy from the audience seeing the Academy quite literally drag out one of the few giants they have left with no regard for their own personal comfort as they treat their icons like sideshow acts to be awed at in wonder but deep down its just uncomfortable pity. With this win, however, CODA swept the three categories for which it was nominated but it does not change the fact that the feel-good film is just that: good.  It plays it safe and while it is easy enough viewing, it is rather forgettable.  It is toothless and proves again the downfall of the preferential ballot which tends to award to most pleasing and simple films in favor of the true achievements.  It is not to take away from its monumental success, but to place it above films such as The Power of the Dog, Drive My Car, and Licorice Pizza just seems insane.  Not to mention the sting to Netflix which has for years now supported some of the finest directors in the industry today to be shut out from the top prize yet again. To CODA’s credit, it was simply acquired by Apple Studios and not produced by them, so to everyone involved with the film who is not on the tech giant’s payroll, this is a great moment and one that is nice to see. To frame this win for Apple as some up-from-nothing underdog-takes-all win, however, is not only incorrect, frankly, it is stupid. 

It is safe to say that this was a failed experiment as the broadcast still ran 44 minutes over.  The fan-favorite film and most cheerable moment clearly backfired for the Disney-backed production as there was no fanfare or explanation as to what the two quick montages were that saw the awarding of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and Justice League, respectively. One thing is clear, there is a fundamental misunderstanding on all levels of the production and until the show can come to a unified idea of what audience to cater to, it will continue to falter and fail year after year after year.  If it truly wants to honor the pioneers of the industry, those who take risks and big swings in their approach to the medium, they need to accept that the films that fit that bill will almost never be the big Box Office heroes of the year.  They will never attract that audience, but what they will attract are film lovers so make a show that is geared towards them so that it is actually enjoyable to watch instead of poking fun at a medium they deeply care about in an attempt to go viral or be made into a meme.  It is doubtful that this change will ever be seen, at least not while ABC still holds the rights, but hey, a guy can dream, right?