As usual, I feel obliged to begin with my annual lament, which I first presented over a decade ago in “My Review of the 2008 Oscars,” February 25, 2008:
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With all due respect to critics and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Academy), how much a film makes, not whether it wins an Oscar, is the generally recognized measure of its success. This, especially considering that winning an Oscar is more the result of crass political campaigning than any assessment of artistic achievement.
Indeed, it might surprise, if not disillusion, many of you to learn that studios covet the Oscar for Best Picture primarily because — as Sumner Redstone, the owner of Paramount, conceded in a moment of extraordinary candor — it guarantees millions more in box office receipts. …
I’m on record stating how much I dislike the annual Academy Awards show (the Oscars). Because I have little regard for preening, pampered poseurs showing off their borrowed frocks and bling-bling as a prelude to a [nearly four-hour] show — only six minutes of which anyone really cares about (i.e., the time it takes to present Oscars for actor and actress in a leading role, actor and actress in a supporting role, best director, and best picture).
And, remarkably enough, the host comedians do little to relieve the boredom of the interludes between these carefully spread-out moments.
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From the Golden Globes to the BAFTAs, the entertainment industry hands out so many movie awards these days, the Oscars are becoming more of an afterthought than a crowning achievement. Not to mention the sapping of suspense this backslapping season now entails; that is, given the increasingly groundhog-day look and sound of the winners.
That said, it speaks volumes that the biggest suspense this year is not about any award. Instead, it’s about this still-unfolding spectacle:
This year’s Oscars are still officially host-free for the second time in their 90-year history. …
Kevin Hart was appointed to host the 2019 ceremony in December, but stepped down three days later in the wake of upset about homophobic comments he had made in the past. Before and after his departure, [four-time host Whoopi Goldberg] expressed interest in taking on a gig which few have been willing to consider.
(The Guardian, February 20, 2019)
Whoopi could be forgiven for thinking the Academy would hail her as Oscar’s white knight. But, given the homophobic and racist mess the Academy has made of this gig, everyone else would see her as Oscar’s black maid. It was barely acceptable for her to play a maid in Corina, Corina. It would be profoundly disappointing for her to play one at the Oscars.
I like Whoopi. Therefore, I hope comedian Joy Behar, her co-host on The View, was being straight when she pooh-poohed the scuttlebutt about Whoopi hosting. She insisted that Whoopi is too sick to host her talk show, let alone the Oscars.
Without further ado, here are my picks. As usual, I limit them to the six and only categories most people care about, with all due respect to others like Makeup and Hairstyling …
- Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali in Green Book: As it happens he won this same category in 2017 for Moonlight. That win made him the first actor with a legitimate shot at upstaging Denzel Washington as Hollywood’s most respected black actor.
Granted, Washington followed up his Oscar for a supporting role in Glory with one for a leading role in Training Day, whereas Ali is still playing second fiddle (never mind that it’s a piano he plays so well in this “controversial” movie). But Washington had twelve years between his two wins. Ali has had only two. So, forget Washington, because we might be comparing Ali to Daniel Day-Lewis and other three-time winners of Oscars for leading roles before the curtain falls on his career.
- Actress in a Supporting Role
Rachel Weisz in The Favourite: Because, well, she’s my favorite!
Rachel Weisz [is] an actress who can probably thrill me by simply reading the ingredients from my favorite cereal box on screen. …
I’ve enjoyed Rachel in a number of movies, but my cinematic infatuation was not consummated until I saw her in The Constant Gardener. This infatuation has only deepened with The Whistleblower; this, notwithstanding her recent marriage to Daniel Craig, a.k.a. James Bond 007 … lucky bugger.
(“‘The Whistleblower’, The iPINIONS Journal, August 5, 2011)
Enough said?
- Actress in a Leading Role
Olivia Colman in The Favourite: Because, even though playing the lead, she spent most of this movie basking in Weisz’s reflected glow.
But seriously, even though that diss happens to be true, Colman’s performance is eminently worthy. Mind you, most members of the Academy will probably vote for her based more on her role in The Night Manager (and on very tantalizing previews of her role in season 3 of The Crown). This, thanks to Netflix making movies and drama series more appealing for actors and more accessible for fans than Hollywood could have ever imagined.
- Actor in a Leading Role
Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody: Because it’s probably the last chance the old white men who dominate the ranks of the Academy will have to pretend to be hip. After all, I’d bet good money that, before this movie, the only “Queen” most of them knew of was from European royalty or their weekend trysts.
As for Malek’s over-the-top performance, the best way I can describe it is to say that Rami Malek is to Freddie Mercury as Alec Baldwin is to Donald Trump. This, with all due respect to what Christian Bale is to Dick Cheney in Vice, which deserves honorable mention.
- Directing
Alfonso Cuarón for Roma: All I can say is that not since Steven Spielberg has a director demonstrated such astonishing and compelling range. Indeed, it is noteworthy that, just as Spielberg’s signature movies range from E.T. the Extra Terrestrial to Schindler’s List, Cuarón’s range from Gravity to Roma – complete with cinematic similarities that are equally spellbinding.
Alas, Cuarón seems bound to continue the Oscar oddity of a director winning in this category only to see the movie he directed lose in the Best Picture category.
- Best Picture
Black Panther: Because the Academy wants to show that a blockbuster action film can win. After all, it is still reeling from the scandal it caused last summer when it proposed creating a wholly separate category for such “popular” films:
The Academy is clearly banking on this new category luring people who love blockbusters to watch the Oscars. Which, I suppose, is rather like Major League Baseball finally admitting blacks – even as it continued to treat them like second-class citizens.
Unsurprisingly, Academy traditionalists are panning this change as pandering to mob interests, while blockbuster producers are panning it as awarding a consolation prize.
(“The Oscars Cutting Fat to Attract Viewers,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 14, 2018)
Apropos of other categories, you probably recall the industry-wide protest that forced the Academy to ditch its plan to award certain Oscars during commercial breaks.
After mounting pressure from Academy members, The Motion Picture Academy announced it has reversed an earlier decision to cut four award presentations from the live Oscars telecast. …
In a statement on Friday, the officers of the Academy’s board of governors said it ‘has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards – Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling,’
(MSN Entertainment, February 16, 2019)
Well, that came on the heels of a similar protest that forced it to ditch its plan for this separate category for “Outstanding Popular Film.” But who knew the contest for Oscars could be as political and intense as the fight for civil rights, eh?
Oh, given Black Panther’s mostly black cast, this choice would also help the Academy put a nail in the coffin of #OscarSoWhite protests. Incidentally, this is why Green Book — which is about a black pianist despite its white-savior theme — will give Black Panther a run for its money.
Stay tuned …
Related commentaries:
My review 2008…
Rachel Weisz…
Cutting the fat…