So this year we have another Oscars in the history books. Overall, I think this year was an improvement over previous years.
Below are my thoughts on the night.
THE GOOD
1. Early Start
I read someone who wrote that we lost an hour from daylight savings, but we got it back with an early Oscars. It's funny how true that was. I think starting the evening early was a great way to earn a bit more good will from television audiences back East.
2. Nolan and Downey Jr. Win
This was a great night for Oppenheimer. But I was much more concerned for director Christopher Nolan and Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr. Nolan is one of the best movie directors working in the industry and he has been horribly overlooked. In fact, the reason they expanded the number of Best Picture nominees is because his The Dark Knight was overlooked for the category. In his filmography, he already has more great movies than most directors have in a lifetime: Memento, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Inception, and Interstellar. And that doesn't even count Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, Dunkirk, and Insomnia. I thought that his award was well overdue and that his acceptance speech was respectful and filled with gratitude.
Robert Downey Jr. has always seemed to me to be a person truly grateful for the rebound his career has taken. When listening to him in interviews, he gets that he has been given a great opportunity after hitting rock bottom. On top of that, the man is an amazing talent. When I saw his performance in Chaplin, I was utterly astonished. With age came an even greater command of his charisma. But in Oppenheimer, he disappeared into the role in a way I had not seen him. I am very happy for the success he has.
3. "I'm Just Ken."
Readers of my blog know that I did not care for Barbie. But the musical performance of "I'm Just Ken" was pure enjoyment. Ryan Gosling played the part with such serious intesity that it play so well against the laughter of the audience. The costumes and choreography were incredibly fun and the cameos from the other Kens and even Slash from Guns 'N Roses kept me laughing. Man, I wish this song had actually won the award.
4. Godzilla Finally Wins an Oscar
The other truly joyful moment of the night was when Godzilla Minus One was awarded Best Special Effects. First of all, this award was well-desereved, as anyone who has seen the movie can attest. There may not have been a lot of money, but there was a lot of love. Second, it touched my heart to see the entire crew of the movie stand up after the win, holding their Godzilla action figures in their hands. Again, there was something so touchingly un-cynical about how much they love Godzilla. Even though director Takashi Yamazaki was difficult to understand at times, his enthusiasm was contagious. And it was also very sweet and moving to see them holding a photo of one of their late-producers so that he could get the recognition he should have gotten for their work.
5. Batman Reunion
I loved how the Twins reunion turned into a Batman reunion. I forgot that both Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger both played Batman villains (Penguin and Mr. Freeze). But what topped that was the fact that Michael Keaton was in the audience, totally in character. What would have moved that from a good bit to a great bit is if Jack Nicholson was there too.
THE BAD
1. The Show Still Drags
Even with the early show time, the show still crawls along. The first award took 6 minutes to introduce, not counting the acceptance speech!
2. Jimmy Kimmel
While he was fairly decent, he couldn't help himself in getting political. To be sure, it wasn't as bad as other hosts of the past, but it was distracting. Which brings me to...
3. Joking About Robert Downey Jr. Past
Look, Robert Downey Jr. is a public figure and I don't think that anyone is beyond being joked about. But this night was the culmination of a hard won comeback from the lowest point of his life. It felt like incredibly poor taste for Kimmel to bring up Downey's addictions at this moment. It felt to me as if he was saying, "Your accomplishment tonight will not make us forget your worst moments."
4. Poor Things
For this next one, please feel free to dismiss my critique as ignorance. I have not seen the movie Poor Things. So if for that reason you think that my problems are baseless, I understand. But the reason I have not seen it are twofold. The first is that it looked intentionally ugly, something that I cannot stand about modern "important" films. But the main reason is that the premise seemed so disgusting: a scientist does a Frankenstein and brings a woman (Bella) back to life but gives her the brain of a child. This in and of itself isn't the problem. The problem is that a major focus of the movie is Bella having lots of sex. Again, let me repeat: a focus of the movie is a child in an adult body having lots of sex. There is something so pernicious about this premise that I cannot bring myself to watch it. And what bothers me too is how much a movie like this was embraced by the wards that night, winning 4 Oscars.
So those are my thoughts. What are yours?
And now, the moment you've been waiting for... the winners of this year's CATHOLIC SKYWALKER OSCAR GAME.
In third place with a combined score of 18.6... Linda!
In second place with a combined score of 18.8... me!
And in first place with a commanding score of 26.8... Nicole K!
Nicole is frequent winner of this award and she is once again a returning champion. Congratulations Nicole!
This year, I think not seeing most of the nominees hurt my score.
When grading purely on predictions, the order of the top three winners remains the same (Linda = 11.6, me = 11.8, Nicole = 13.8)
When it came to scoring purely on choice, Nicole still wins (13), but second place goes to Catholic Lois Lane (8). And there is a 4-way tie for third place with 7 points: Linda, Phil, Eponine Von Trapp, and me.
Thank you to everyone who played this year. Good luck in next year's game!
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