The 91st Annual Academy Awards
No host? No
problem. Give us Adam Lambert and Queen
performing “We Will Rock You” and “We are the Champions” every year. The was possibly the best opening for the
show in the history of the show – invigorating the crowd, getting everyone’s
blood pumping and bringing them to their feet for a standing ovation. A few more moments with Mya Rudolph, Amy
Poehler and Tina Fey would have been fun, but honestly, No Host was needed. The mellifluous voice of announcer Randy Thomas
was all that was needed to transition from one award to another – if you hadn’t
noticed, she’s been doing that for many years.
In the year that followed the #MeToo movement and
#OscarsSoWhite, a light seems to have finally been shined on the
underrepresentation of women and people of color in the motion picture
industry. Watching this year’s awards and
seeing women and people of color winning awards in almost every category, you
would think this year was the norm and the awards are representative of all the
films in 2018, the they are not.
Highlights of the show included the performances of the
nominated songs – Bette Midler and Jennifer Hudson were standouts, but no
moment in the entire show left the audience more breathless than the
performance of “Shallow” by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. First, the music started with an empty stage
as Bradley and Gaga made their way to the stage together from their seats. Next, in the silence, you could almost hear
the conversation you imagined took place during the commercial break – Gaga whispering
to Bradley “It’s just you and me….just look at me and everything will be okay.” When Bradley started singing, there was
almost a gasp from the crowd as if to say “wow, this is live, he really can
sing.” As the two gazed into each other’s
eyes and ended the song cheek to cheek at the piano, this private moment we
were watching in complete stillness was broken by the audience applause. Somewhat grateful tha the camera did not cut
to Bradley Cooper’s supermodel girlfriend, but we can’t help but think “is she
seeing what we’re seeing?” But to Lady
Gaga’s acceptance speech, another highlight not only because of her passion and
message of perseverance but because of her anticipated expression of adoration
of Bradley. If you saw any of the
interviews she’s given this year, by comparison, she was far less effusive in
her acceptance speech which seemed even more suspicious.
Regina King’s win for Best Supporting Actress was a
highlight. How long have you loved
Regina King – since Jerry Maguire, right?
Her emotional acceptance was genuine and her expression of appreciation
of her mother pretty much ruined things for all other winners – no one’s mother
could possibly be satisfied with a “thank’s Mom” after Regina.
Spike Lee’s win for Best Adapted Screenplay for
Blackkklansman was one of the night’s biggest moments. Samuel Jackson picked up Spike like he was
the size of a seven year old. Truth be
told, he’s not much bigger, but his message was powerful. Embrace our history, the truth, and move
forward.
Special guests introduced the Best Picture Nominees. Some seemed a bit confusing. Serena Williams introduced A Star is
Born. Barbra Streisand introduced
Blackkklansman. The interaction between
Brooklynites Spike and Babs was intriguing.
Made you want to hang with them, may grab a coffee or a slice…does Babs
eat pizza?
Biggest surprise of the night was Olivia Coleman’s upset
over Glenn Close for Best Actress. Her
surprise was so genuine and her British self-deprecating humor was
charming. No wonder the Academy gives so
many awards to Brits – they’re so much more humble than American, and witty.
Speaking of Americans, Rami Malek gave a heartfelt
acceptance speech for his Best Actor win for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury
in Bohemian Rhapsody. He shared that we
all need to embrace who we are, and as the child of immigrants, he is standing
on stage and winning an Academy Award.
Clearly he’s living the American dream.
Hopefully his message was not lost.
The final surprise of the night was the win for Green Book
for Best Picture. Though momentum was on
its side, no one could be certain which film would win.
This blog could not be complete without discussing the
fashions. As good as this year was for
film, it was even better for fashion.
The trends for the women were sparkeles, ruffles, tulle, metallic,
pants, tuxedos, and pink!. The sparkling
best dresses: Emilia Clarke (lilac
sparkle), Amandla Stenberg, Michelle Yeoh, Amy Adams, and Brie Larson. The sparkling pantsuits: Awkwafina and Jennifer Lewis. The best Tuxedos: Diane Warren, Amy Poehler,
Allison Janney, and Jennifer Hudson’s performance tuxedo with the 50 foot
jacket train.
Best in Pink: Angela
Bassett, Helen Mirren, Gemma Chan, and Julia Roberts.
Best in Ruffles:
Jennifer Hudson (in red), Constance Wu in Saffron yellow reminiscent of Michelle
Williams best Oscar look.
Not easy to choose the Best Dressed woman this year. JLo too the sparkle to another level in a
long sleeve mirror ball dress. Julia
Roberts made looking gorgeous at the Oscars seem easy. Brie Larson brought an edgy sleek look this
year with a high neck silver sheath with tousled blonde waves. Angela Bassett was breathtaking a a pink
structured gown with a giant bow on one shoulder reminiscent of Nicole Kidman’s
best Oscar look (the big red bow). These
were all fabulous, but the best was an unlikely candidate with a surprising
dress. Gemma Chan’s Valentino hot pink
ruffled tent dress was spectacular – an unlikely silhouette but on her tiny
frame, the volume was refreshing. This
dress will be a trend setting this summer.
The worst-dressed woman were unfortunately abundant this
year. Big misses from Charlize Theron (a
long sleeve long, square shoulder, gray body con long dress with strange darts
at the bust – looked like a librarian from the future), Glenn Close (42 pounds
of gold dress – should have traded it for 5 pounds of gold statue), Emma Stone
(meh- great hair and makeup), Rachel Weiss (was that red vinyl?), Linda
Cardellini (wanted to be noticed, she was, but looked like a Victoria’s Secret
Valentine’s robe)….But the worst dressed was Kasey Musgraves. Her awful dress clashed with her hair and
makeup – she looked like Kim Kardashian in a Tinkerbell costume. Ridiculous.
The Men this year were the best dressed ever. They pushed the fashion envelope. Trends were brocade tuxedos, velvet,
plum/burgundy, lapel flowers, and gender bending.
The best were Ryan Seacrest(brocade), Adam Lambert (classic
Tom Ford with dangling cuffs and tons of ear jewelry and an orchid lapel
flower), Daniel Craig (classic), Trevor Noah (classic), Rami Malek (Euro slim),
Michael Keaton (classic), Chadwick Boseman (love the way he always pushes
fashion to the edge), and Mahershala Ali.
A few men stood out pushing some looks that were truly out
of the box. Jason Momoa wore dusty rose
velvet suit (with a matching scrunchy he wore at the after party). Alfonso Cuaron in the color of the night –
plum. John Mulvany in a floral brocade
tux jacket (like a play on a blackwatch plaid tux jacket, it’s a muted floral –
this could trend).
Henry Golding looked incredible in a Ralph Lauren custom
Black Velvet tux with a white cotton pique bow tie and shirt. There was someone who flew a little under the
radar but may have been the trendsetter of the night. Nicholas Hoult wore a Dior black wrap coat
tux. It wasn’t loud but it was different. Nicholas Hoult and Henry Golding were Best
Dressed.
Some of the men pushed the fashion to the brink of good
taste. Spike Lee like to stand out in a
crowd – a purple tux with a blue shirt, a purple cap, purple glasses, a Prince necklace,
and Michael Jordan gold sneakers is a good way to stand out in the crowd.
Billy Porter also wanted to stand out – a tuxedo dress was
the best way to do that. The ball gown
was a bit much but the streamlined dress looked really good on him.
Stephan James got it wrong.
The fit was great. Velvet is
great. The odd red color and the giant
red clip on tie made him look like a ring master at Barnum and Bailey. Sadly, worst of the night.
Until next year – will there be a host? Will Bradley and Gaga become Braga? Will Glenn Close and Diane Warren ever win an
Oscar? Will Jennifer Lopez ever look
older? More reasons to watch…..
1 comment:
Lisa - your blog never ceases to be on point. Thank you for a great recap of the night.
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