Photo: Chris Rock, presenting at the 2016 Academy Awards, from Patrick Fallon for the New York Times.
A lot of quick things to say about the 2016 Oscars--so much, it may take a few posts.
--Not to be lost in the controversy is that Chris Rock unequivocally said that Hollywood IS racist.
--The scroll of names the winners want to thank is not working for me. At all.
--The pop-up info about the presenters works for me only if I'm interested in the presenter.
--The producers and directors of this telecast are clearly working hard to improve the ratings. The ticker of names, the pop-ups, the displays, the pictures of the nominees behind the presenters, and the tricky camera angles centering those pictures as the presenter describes that person's performance...lots of changes. Many of them aren't bad, but the presenters aren't enjoying the moving camera in front of them. They just want to read the teleprompter and get the hell offstage.
--Nominated Best Picture films I've seen this year: The Revenant; The Martain; Bridge of Spies; Mad Max: Fury Road. I really wanted to see Spotlight, and I wouldn't have minded seeing The Big Short.
--Ten films can be nominated for Best Picture, but only eight were. Two of the many overlooked: Sicario and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Those two, and The Revenant, were the best ones I saw.
--Anyone see Andrew McCarthy in the many ads for his new TV show, The Family? It's been a long time since Weekend at Bernie's and Pretty in Pink, I guess.
--Lots of good cinematography this year, more than usual, from my movie-going experience. Emmanuel Lubezki's third consecutive win for Best Cinematography is unheard of. Probably the first time ever, in Oscar history. But his work in Gravity, The Birdman, and now The Revenant makes him worthy.
--By the way, Mr. Trump, the past three Best Director Oscar winners--all Mexican. Just sayin'.
--It's been long-predicted that Mad Max: Fury Road would sweep the technical awards. Well-deserved.
--I like the music the Academy chose to play to shut down the winner's over-long speech: The Ride of the Valkyries.
--I also like seeing celebrities taking selfies with their celebrity fans.
--I blogged about Mark Rylance's performance in (the otherwise underwhelming) Bridge of Spies earlier this year, and I've said he deserves the Award for Best Supporting Actor. (Full disclosure: I have not seen Creed.) Rylance had not received a single award from the other places (Screen Actors Guild; New York Film Critics, etc.) and I didn't expect him to get this one. Neither did anyone else--except for all the Academy's actors who didn't vote for Sylvester Stallone here. I thought this award, the Best Actor to Leonardo DiCaprio and the Best Actress to Brie Larson were all locks tonight.
--DiCaprio and Larson are still locks, though.
--And Stallone won't have another chance to win another Oscar.
To be continued...
