96th Academy Awards

They moved the start time of the Oscar telecast up and I was not prepared.  I typically like to do a predictions post because it helps me cement my thoughts about the nominees and then update it with the winners but that did not happen on Sunday.  

Best Supporting Actress went to Da'Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers.  I didn't love that movie and she was not my pick to win but she gave a beautiful heartfelt speech and it clearly meant a great deal to her so I'm happy for her.

Best Animated Feature went to The Boy and the Heron, one the two films I didn't get to see.  It's a Miyazaki, so I'm sure it's excellent but it's always disappointing when I can't get to the frontrunners.

Best Animated Short went to the Beatles-inspired War is Over! Side note:  I had no idea Yoko Ono was 91.  That's insane to me.

When American Fiction got announced as the winner for Best Adapted Screenplay, I knew it wasn't going to win anything else.  They did the same thing with Straight Outta Compton.

Best Original Screenplay went to Anatomy of a Fall and they played that goddamn song.  But they did have the dog there and that made it worth it.  At one point, I thought I hallucinated that they had fake paws clapping in a reaction shot but I found a picture online and it was real.  

Best Makeup, Production Design, and Costume Design all went to Poor Things.  Can't be mad about that.

Best International Feature went to The Zone of Interest which was justly deserved but also immediately removed it from consideration for Best Picture.  No fucking way was it getting both.

Robert Downey, Jr. won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but it kind of felt like a "hey, you got clean and turned your life around, good job" kind of prize instead.  He was fine in Oppenheimer but there were better performances.  (#JusticeForSterlingKBrown)

Best Visual Effects went to Godzilla Minus One and if they could give an award for Best Group Acceptance, it would also go to them.  They had matching shoes and each of them brought their own Godzilla action figure.  A++.

Best Film Editing went to Oppenheimer.

Jimmy Kimmel did a sponsored bit with Don Julio tequila where his long-time night show sidekick declared he was married to Charlize Theron, which came as a surprise to the actress.  Clearly, because she knows that she's actually married to me.

Best Documentary Feature went to 20 Days in Mariupol, which also represented the first national win for Ukraine.  That should give it even more gravitas when it gets shown at the Hague.

Best Documentary Short went to The Last Repair Shop and they brought up one of the kids from the movie (presumably.  I didn't get to any of the shorts this year) who looked completely entranced and that was very sweet and lovely.

Best Cinematography went to Oppenheimer.  Acceptable.

Best Live Action Short went to The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar.

Best Sound went to The Zone of Interest in one of those deeply satisfying wins.

Best Original Song went to "What Was I Made For" from Barbie, it's only win of the night.  Best live performance of the nominees however, was Ryan Gosling doing a take on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes singing "I'm Just Ken" with all the Kens and actual fucking Slash on guitar.  Would have loved it if Slash had worn pink, but I understand the aesthetic.  

Best Original Score went to Oppenheimer.  The safe choice.

Best Actor went to Cillian Murphy.  Again, safe.

Best Director went to Christopher Nolan.

Best Actress went to Emma Stone.  I know that was a hard win for some people, myself included, who would have loved to see Lily Gladstone take it, but Emma Stone acted her tits off in Poor Things.  I can't fault that.  Also, her panic over her zipper breaking was so real.  I cannot imagine trying to stand in front of a huge room of people trying to give a speech while also worrying that my strapless dress is going to fall off.

In a related note, Emily Blunt's rigid strap dress has been polarizing the online community but I thought it was very Metropolis-inspired so I was willing to go with it.  For me, the worst dressed of the night was a tie between upcoming Wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.  Grande looked mildly concussed (but she always kind of does) in a failed Wonka bubblegum monstrosity and Erivo's green leather/pleather sheath was unflattering and did not look like it fit her.  She is a beautiful woman and they made her look like an overripe avocado.  A crime.  Honorable mentions go to Dwayne Johnson for head-to-toe no-no satin and whatever the scabby fuck was going on with Matthew McConaughey's facial hair.

And Best Picture went to Oppenheimer, announced by a clearly over-it Al Pacino.  

The best presenter of the night was John Cena walking out naked save for a pair of Birkenstocks to deliver the award for Best Costume and then being draped in a curtain a la The Carol Burnett Show's Gone with the Wind episode.  Excellent homage.  Utter commitment to the bit.  You love to see it.

And that's it for this year's award season.  I managed to see 29 of the 53 nominees, a little over half, in just under a month and now I would like to watch something fluffy and inconsequential for the next month.