Lisa’s Oscar Commentary
Oscar is 90! The first year, the show lasted 15 minutes. As we all know, the show has gotten a whole lot longer. So, this year, they started the show half an hour earlier to keep everyone on the east coast from falling asleep before the Best Picture is awarded. Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted for the second consecutive year, offered a JetSki to the shortest speech of the night. He brought the JetSki on stage with Helen Mirren playing the role of Vanna White. Jimmy is on his way to being the next Billy Crystal. I imagine Jimmy will be hosting for the next few years. He does a great job and makes it all look easy. By the way, the shortest speech of the night was awarded the winner of Costume Design.
In the age of the "Time's Up" movement, there was a new effort on the red carpet to conduct interviews based on content and not on the fashion. Almost no one plugged their dress, shoe, handbag, or jewelry designer. Does this mean they're going to start having to pay for their own outfits? Maybe when they all earn equal pay, they will buy their own dresses.
Though fashion wasn't the focus of the conversation on the red carpet, it's still what people will be talking about the next day. After the Golden Globes, where everyone wore black in support of the Time's Up Movement, it was great to see some color. Some were hits, some were misses. Stunning in body conscious, white column dresses, Laura Dern, Mary J. Blige, Margo Robbie, and Jane Fonda stood out above all others. They were all four contenders for Best Dressed.
Eliza Gonzalez shined in a bright yellow gown with lush red lips - her gown was reminiscent of the red carpet moment Jennifer Lawrence made in the red Calvin Klein dress she wore for her first year at the Oscars.
Some sparkeled in mettallic glimmer and glitz. Some of these shiny missiles hit their targets, while some missed. Jennifer Lawrence did it best in gun metal shimmer - the cut and the curves were perfection - even though she wasn't a nomminee this year (for a change), she looked like a winner. Perfection in head to toe, partially due to her blessed genetics, was Gal Gadot - she truly is Wonder Woman - Wow! Lupita Nyong'O, also blessed with great genes, is always one of my favorites on the red carpet, but this year, she missed the target for me - extremely shiny gold with a black accent stripe, big glasses, and big earrings - crossed the line from fashion to costume. On the other hand, Sandra Bullock wore a similar gold and black sparkles, which was less costume, and more fashion - she almost looked like Cher with her super straight, long, dark hair, but she pulled it off.
Pink. No, not the singer. Viola Davis. She loves to wear color and alway looks great in bright colors - unfortunately, this year's neon pink was a color that shouldn't be used in anything except swimwear....and don't get be started on her hair - for an elegant woman, she looked anything but. Salma Hayak took a chance on pink but looked like Bollywood's version of Little Bo Peep.
The ladies in Red. Merryl Streep, nominated for her 21st Oscar, looked better than ever. In many ways, she wore a simple red gown, but she looked beautiful and ageless. In a not simple red dress was Allison Janney. I never new sleeves could have a train, but wow. That was a memorable dress. This was Allison's first time at the Oscars and first nomination, which after years of brilliant performances, is hard to believe. And after winning the Best Supporting Actress award and wearing one of the most memorable dresses of the night, we are sure to be seeing her on the red carpet for years to come. A best dressed contender.
And then there was Blue. Not only the theme color for the Best Picture winner, The Shape of water, but some of the most memorable dresses of the night. Emily Blunt, always one to watch, wore a beautiful pale blue chiffon that was similar to a better dress Cate Blanchett wore years ago. Emily's dress is far less memorable to the other ladies in blue. The biggest statement came from Nicole Kidman. Though this shiny, bright big-bowed blue dress will make the red carpet best of pics for years to come, she looked like a blue Jessica Rabbit without the curves. Not her best look - but memorable. The one who won the night in blue, who graced the stage with an audible "wow' was Jennifer Garner. She was head to toe perfection - not costumey, not simple or boring, and will be the most sought after dress of the night. Best dressed of the night. Well done, Jennifer.
Fortunately, and unfortunately, there were some memorable misses. Taraji P. Henson, usually one of my favorites, seemed more interested in making her friend Mary J Blige shine - she even went so far as to sacrifice her own good taste. Taraji broke one of the simple rules of fashion - too many things going on - peep hole, cold shoulder, high slit - pick one, or two, but not all three. Whoopi Goldberg - took a chance on floral - who thought that was good idea? When you think of Whoopi, do you think flowers? Emma Stone always looks amazing, and I love seeing her in pants, but haven't we seen enough pants from her? And though the pegged pant and tuxedo jacket were perfectly tailored, the pink bow classing with the red jacket ruined the outfit. Kelly Rippa's simple black gown looked like her kids stuck huge pink and blue balloons on her back. All of these were disappointments, but none were horror shows until....Maya Rudolph. If she's trying to win Worst Dressed on all the lists, then she's winning. Wearing a giant read snuggie, with pink and blue earrings she pcked up at the local kids craft fair, and her mother's orange lipstick. It's rare to find such a head to toe disaster. Hands down worst dressed of the night.
The men mostly looked great. In short: Gary Oldman - Yes. Chadwick Boseman - No. Timothee Chalamet - Yes. Armie Hammer - No. Daniel Kaluuya - yes. James Ivory - Yes, Yes, Yes. Never would have guessed that Armie Hammer would be the worst dressed of the night, thought it's impossible for him not to look handsome, but a red velvet tuxedo is just wrong.
Jimmy Kimmel made three fashion changes - all looked great. Jimmy did a terrific job. In addition to the JetSki, the most fun moment was when Jimmy took Gal Gadot and others across the street, into the movie theatre, to give out food. "Be careful - don't shoot hot dogs at the vegetarians."
Jimmy had a lot of great one liners - one of the best: "For those of you who say we're all a bunch of out of touch, Hollywood elites, I'll have you know that each of the 45 million Swarovski crystals on this stage tonight, represents humility."
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway got a do-over. They got it done, though it would have been great if they said Three Billboards so Martin McDonough could have gotten the recognition he deserved having not even been nominated for Best Director.
The worst speech of the night - Roger Deakins for Cinematography who thanked his wife, sort of. "I want to share this with my wife of 37 years," gestures to her then says "whatever." She looked like she took a bullet.
Sam Rockwell, Best Supporting Actor winner for Three Billboards gave one of the best speeches of the night. He told the story of how he got called to the prinicipal's office to find his Dad there to take him out of school for a Grandma emergency. They got to the car, he said "what's wrong with Grandma?" His Dad said "nothing, we're going to the movies." Thanks, Dad. He also thanked anyone "who's seen a billboard." Another great speech was given in sign language by the winners of Best Live Action Short Film for "The Silent Child." But Frances McDormand brought the crowd to their feet, literally. In the age of women, Frances asked the women nominated in all categories to stand, asking Meryl Streep to lead the pack. And they stood. They had a moment. It most certainly cost Frances the JetSki, but it was worth every second. The women have spoken - Time's Up.
Posts
