The 94th Academy Awards
Last night’s Oscars, intended to be a revival of sorts, apparently really slapped.
After the past few years of either no or thin in-theater viewing, the movie crowd has been waxing. As a result of having record low ratings in 2021-marred obviously by the pandemic-the producers wanted last night’s Oscar ceremony to be a sort of “return to home” when it comes to the show’s position in pop-culture. I’m not quite sure they got what they bargained for.
The show kicked off with Beyoncé performing her nominated song “Be Alive” which was for the film King Richard. The show also brought back hosts…actual live hosts…to preside over the ceremony, three of them actually: Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Regina Hall. They made the usual jokes poking fun at Hollywood Elite such as Lady Gaga and Leonardo DiCaprio, leaving politics pretty much off of the table. Besides a small reference to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill the night was largely bi-partisan.
All of this was dwarfed by the meme-worthy Slap Heard ‘Round The World when Chris Rock took the stage to present the award for Best Documentary. He made a “G.I. Jane 2” joke at the expense of Jada Pinkett Smith, in which Will Smith jumped on stage un-prompted and delivered a point blank slap to Chris Rock. A bit stunned, Rock tried to make light of the moment saying it was just a joke. To which Smith, having walked back off stage to his seat said to Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your [expletive] mouth.” And he said that twice. Rock said he would, while he and the rest of the room-and the world watching-struggled with the new awkward tenseness that Smith injected into the moment.
The context here is that Pinkett Smith has been open about her recent struggle with alopecia and did not appreciate the jest. Later Will Smith won best actor for his role in King Richard and during his speech apologized and defended his reaction saying something along the lines of, Love makes you crazy.
Other notable moments: Jane Campion one Best Director, the only female director to have been nominated twice for the category. She also took home the award making it the second year in a row that a women has won Best Director back-to-back. Last year Chloe Zhao won for Nomadland.”
Best Picture went to the film CODA whose cast was mostly deaf-marking a big moment for the deaf and disabled community. Troy Kotsur who is also deaf, won for Best Supporting Actor for his role in CODA. Upon winning his award he signed from the stage, “This is our moment.”
A complete list of Oscar winners is below:
- BEST PICTURE…………………………………………………………………………………….CODA
- BEST ACTOR………………………………………………………….Will Smith for King Richard
- BEST ACTRESS…………………………..Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR…………………………………………..Troy Kotsure for CODA
- BEST SUPPORTED ACTRESS……………………….Ariana DeBose for West Side Story
- BEST ORIGINAL SONG………………………Billie Eilish & FINNEAS for No Time To Die
- BEST ANIMATED FEATURE………………………………………………………………..Encanto
- BEST DIRECTOR……………………………………….Jane Campion for Power of the Dog
- INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM…………………………………………………Drive My Car
- BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE…………………………………………….Summer of Soul
- LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM…………………………………………………The Long Goodbye
- BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY…………………………………………………………….Belfast
- BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY………………………………………………………………CODA
- BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING…………………………….The Eyes of Tammy Faye
- BEST VISUAL EFFECTS…………………………………………………………………………Dune
- BEST ORIGINAL SCORE………………………………………………………………………..Dune
- BEST ANIMATED SHORT……………………………………………….The Windshield Wiper
- BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY……………………………………The Queen of Basketball
- BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………..Dune
- BEST COSTUME DESIGN……………………………………………………………………Cruella
- BEST FILM EDITING……………………………………………………………………………..Dune
- BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN…………………………………………………………………Dune
- BEST SOUND……………………………………………………………………………………….Dune