The 91^st 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…..

The 90th Annual Academy Awards

The 90th Annual Academy Awards
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. 

Red velvet jacket is fine, but pants too?  No.  And who would have ever guessed that James Ivory would be the best dressed of the night.  If you weren't paying attention, James Ivory won the Best Screenplay award for the beautiful film, "Call Me By Your Name," and had a fashion trend setting moment.  He wore a classic tuxedo with a white shirt with a beautiful Da Vinci-like drawing of what appeared to me a man's face.  Fantastic!  Why wasn't the winner of Costume Design wearing that shirt?

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.

The 89th Annual Academy Awards

The 89th Annual Academy Awards

The 89^th Annual Academy Awards

Lisa’s Oscar Commentary

La La Landslide?  Oops.  Nope.  In case you fell asleep early expecting La La Land to continue racking up awards and win the final award of the night, Best Picture, you would have been right….at least for a couple of minutes.  And then, you would have been, um, mistaken.  In a historic Oscar moment, a blunder happened at the end of the show that would leave the live audience and viewing audience completely stunned.  You may have thought Warren Beatty is getting old and acting a little odd, but his odd behavior was for good reason.  As he explained, when he opened the envelope for Best Picture, he had the card for Best Actress that said “Emma Stone, La La Land.”  He didn’t know what to do and showed the card to Faye Dunaway who only glanced at the card and saw “La La Land” so that’s what she announced.  After several acceptance speeches by the producers of La La Land, the real envelope was delivered and the winner was not “La La Land,” but the surprise winner “Moonlight.”  Everyone seemed to handle it graciously.  Host Jimmy Kimmel blamed himself, and Steve Harvey, but the producers of “Moonlight” got to enjoy their moment even more stunned than if they had been announced as the winner in a normal fashion.  A lot of people seemed thrilled.  Although there were a lot of great achievements in La La Land, many believed it was not the best picture of 2016.  The year was one of the best years in film the industry has seen in several years.  Several films could have taken home the Oscar and all would have seemed worthy.  Hidden Figures, Lion, Manchester by the Sea all had outstanding performances, writing and direction…all contenders.  But “Moonlight,” a poignant story from boyhood to manhood that insightfully touches on race, culture, sexual identity, and criminal justice.  The film is a powerful portrayal of issues that resonate strongly in the current social and political climate.  Hopefully, more people will see “Moonlight” as a result.

With the exception of the Best Picture award, no other award was a surprise for anyone following the award season.  Viola Davis gave a more impassioned version of the acceptance speech she’s been giving all season, as did Emma Stone.  Casey Affleck seemed genuinely surprised to win the Best Actor award even though Denzel Washington seemed confident that Casey would win.  Mahershala Ali was a favorite all awards season for Best Supporting Actor, and like many previous supporting actress winners seems to be the darling of the awards season – we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the next few years.

JustinTimberlake opened the show with a fabulous song and dance of his nominated song “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from “Trolls” – such a perfect way to start the show, why haven’t they done that before?  The host doesn’t need to sing and dance.  The host doesn’t even need to open the show.  The host just has to be funny, stay engaging, and poke fun at himself, Hollywood, and the easiest target of all, our country’s 45^th president.  And that’s exactly what Jimmy Kimmel did.  As he said, he received a “sitting ovation” and the audience laughed and kept on laughing.  He hit some easy targets – like the president’s insane twitter rants, particularly about the legendary “undeserving and overrated” Meryl Streep.  Jimmy also took a play right out of Ellen Degeneres’ playbook – get down off the stage and interact with the audience.  Where Ellen’s ordering pizza and taking a group selfie broke the Internet, Jimmy dropped candy and donuts from the rafters (the most some of those actresses have eaten in a month) and brought in a tour bus of unsuspecting tourists who may have thought they were at Madame Tussauds.

Highlights of the show included the musical performances of Sting, John Legend and the 16 year old actress from Moana, Auli’I Cravalho, the mean tweets about the nominees, and 8 year old Sunny Pawar, the star of Lion who should have won Best Actor.

Oddly, this year, people seemed to be looking forward to the In Memoriam portion of the show.  So many exceptional artists died in 2016 that people wanted to make sure they were not forgotten at this year’s awards.  Mary Tyler Moor, Gene Wilder, Patty Duke, Michael Cimino, Ken Howard, John Hurt, Garry Marshall, Prince, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Nancy Reagan, and more.  A rough year.

The red carpet was somewhat less surprising than the Best Picture, but more captivating than many of the speeches.  The trends on the carpet were velvet, long sleeves, asymmetrical and shorter lengths, sheer fabrics, beads and appliques, and tousled bobs. 

Ruth Negga, Isabelle Hubert, Chrissy Tiegen, Jessica Biel, Dakota Johnson, Amy Adams, and Meryl Streep all wore long sleeves.  For most, the look worked.  Isabelle, Amy and Chrissy all looked draped in flowing silk shimmering in delicate beading from head to toe.  Jessica Biel chose a body hugging gold Kaufmanfranco long dress with a train and a gold-feathered statement necklace from Tiffany.  Jessica’s body could rock any dress, but with long sleeves and high neck, the necklace and train were overkill.  Ruth Negga also missed the target in a long Valentino lace gown with sheer accents, high neck and Victorian sleeves.  Though the dress was a great color and captured a lot of the fashion trends, the overall look was too costumey and overpowering on her slight frame.  But she was not the worst….

Felicity Jones wore a chiffon and tulle ballerina dress that was on trend in the shorter length, the lack of color completely washed her out.  Kirsten Dunst looked stunning in a black, asymmetrical length dress, shorter in the front that beautifully accentuated her tiny waist and ample bosom.  Alicia Vikander was also a vision in romantic black lace with an asymmetrical hemline – the dress was just a tad too short in the front and tapered into a long train in the back.  Her criss-cross strappy shoes pulled the whole look together perfectly.  Naomi Harris, on the other hand, didn’t quite get it right.  Her white sequined dress appeared sporty from a distance with a swimsuit styled bodice and the short, mid-calf length in the front. 

Hayley Steinfeld and Scarlett Johansson embraced the sheer trend.  Hayley’s was romantic and tasteful with appliques in sufficient places, while ScarJo looked more like Rainbow Bright.  The dress was just too much – too many colors, too sheer, the sides seemed to not connect and revealed a short slip under a long dress that always looks strange.  Her funky short hair looked chic and her makeup was beautiful but she would have looked better in a tuxedo like Evan Rachel Wood wore all award season.

Taraji P. Henson rocked an Alberta Ferretti black velvet off the shoulder gown with a high slit.  This dress might appear simple, but when Taraji wears it to perfection, and it’s styled with a diamond statement necklace, emerald cocktail ring, and tousled bobbed hair, she’s tough to beat.  Her look will probably produce the most knock-off dresses of the night.  Other Best Dressed nominees were Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton – the plunge halter in black with the eggshell beaded long skirt suited her pixie hair to perfection.  This dress will also be one we will see on the knock-off racks (in fact, Emma Roberts wore something similar, but not quite as on trend).  Nicole Kidman rarely disappoints; this year was no exception.  She wore Armani Prive nude, Indian inspired sheath with beaded appliques, styled to perfection with drop earrings and red lipstick.

Two other red carpet stunners who never disappoint – Charlize Theron and Halle Berry.  Charlize slayed in a pewter Dior gown with a plunge neckline and full skirt while Halle stunned in a body hugging one-shoulder Versace.  But no fashion commentary would be complete without a comment about Halle’s hair.  We are all used to seeing her in short haircuts (like ScarJo and Charlize) so the departure itself was shocking.  Halle could look amazing in curls and big hair but this hair looked like a wig she picked it up in the Halloween store.  It sat so high on her head, it looked like you could pull it off her head with two fingers.  The color was terribly unnatural and wrong for her gorgeous skin tone.  It’s hard for anyone as beautiful as Halle to look bad, so I can’t say she looked bad because the dress was stunning and her skin glowed…but there are a thousand hairstyles that would all look better on her than that one.

Viola Davis stunned in a shocking red gown and stylish bob, and Emma Stone followed the golden rule – if you want to win an Oscar, dress like one.  Emma stole the show in a Givenchy Haute Couture beaded, fringed, gown that captured old Hollywood and current fashion.  Emma not only took home the Oscar, she was the best dressed of the night – head to toe.

So, who was the worst dressed?  Even though Scarlett Johanssen missed the boat, as did Ruth Negga, they were not Worst Dressed.  Janelle Monae was a contender.  She is so adorable it’s upsetting to see her in dresses that are trying too hard.  Points for not playing it safe, but she’s like the little girl playing dress up that puts on all of the costumes in her closet at once.  Too much.  And yet, she was not the worst.  The great honor of Worst Dressed goes to Dakota Johnson.  She tried to be on trend in long sleeves, but the dress looked old fashioned and not retro chic.  One might think she found her grandmother’s dress in the attic, but her grandmother was Tippy Hedron, and she would never have worn that dowdy dress.  Sometimes really stunning young women can wear dowdy dresses or stringy hair and still look beautiful but Dakota is not one of those girls.  That Marcia Brady hairstyle is for weekends at Starbucks only, and that dress needs to be returned to the Salvation Army.  Miss Fifty Shades of Grey was more like Fifty Shades of Beige.  Blah.

The men really stepped it up this year.  Blue tuxedos still trending this year, and white dinner jackets, but the newest trend for the men was blue velvet.  Samuel Jackson, Dwayne ”The Rock” Johnson, and even Michael Strahan rocked the blue velvet tuxedos.  But the Best Dressed of all the men was the one who took the risk that paid – Ryan Gossling.  His blue shawl collared tuxedo fit him perfectly with a tapered leg and slim fit, but he kicked it all up a notch with the blue tipped ruffled shirt.  It could have been 1970’s prom tux awful, but it wasn’t.  Just enough ruffle and just enough blue.  Elegant and cool, just like him.  Ryan may not have beaten Casey Affleck for the Oscar, but he sure out-dressed him.

The red carpet commentary this year would not be complete without a nod to the all the stunning couples who walked together – Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, John Legend and Chrissy Tiegen, Lin Manuel Miranda and his Mom, Emma Stone and her brother, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, Denzel and Pauletta, Michelle Williams and her “bestie” Busy Phillips, Mel Gibson and his Babysitter, um, wife?.

Jimmy Kimmel said this is the last (and first) year he’s hosting the Oscars, but let’s hope not.  We need more laughs.  We need to feed those starving actresses more junior mints.  And we need more big blunders. 

The 88th Annual Academy Awards

The 88^th Annual Academy Awards

Lisa’s Oscar Commentary

“Welcome to the White People’s Choice Awards.”  These were the opening comments of host, Chris Rock.  For the second consecutive year, all the nominees for the major awards were white.  Leading up to the Oscars, there was a lot of commentary and conversation about #OscarsSoWhite.  The conversation has been about inclusion, not just diversity….inclusion of all genders and people of color in the filmmaking process, creating real roles portraying real people – people of all ages, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicities and color – film and filmmaker should reflect the world.  Though some people chose to boycott the Oscars, others chose to be part of the conversation.  Chris hit the subject hard and kept hitting it.  There were uncomfortable moments, humorous moments, and not so humorous ones.  Though it was important to address the elephant in the room, and it was necessary to make people uncomfortable, he never successfully moved to the stage where people could relax and enjoy the show.  Unfortunately, it all became very one note and began to lose the impact of the first five minutes.  In an election year where the slate of nominees offers enough fodder for comedians to deliver hours of material, not one joke was fired over that bow.  The one time where Chris strayed from the #OscarsSoWhite mission, was when he sold girl scout cookies to the audience on behalf of his daughters.  The girl scout cookie sale, Ryan Gossling, and Louis C.K. were the funniest moments of the show.  People who were expecting a funny show because Chris Rock was hosting were surely disappointed.

While the show was all about black and white, the red carpet was full of color.  Though some dazzled in black – Jennifer Garner, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Lawrence, and Julianne Moore – and some dazzled in white – Olivia Wilde, Lady Gaga, and Rooney Mara – color ruled the day.  Winners Alicia Vikander in yellow Louis Vuitton and Brie Larson in blue Gucci both looked like a breath of fresh air – their vibrant enthusiasm shined through their ease and natural grace.  Metallic sequin dresses were a trend that shimmered in emerald green sequins on Saoirse Ronan (in custom Calvin Klein), and blue/purple on Naomi Watts (in Armani Prive), and in gold on Margot Robbie (in Tom Ford).  Ruling the red carpet in red were Charlize Theron (in Dior) who can do no wrong, and the surprise red carpet success, Olivia Munn in a one-shoulder Stella McCartney, and the best dressed pregnant woman, Chrissy Teigen in Marchesa.  Though Charlize, Naomi, Saoirse, and Margot will all make best-dressed lists, there is one goddess of the red carpet who once again was breath-taking and stood out among all the others.  The best dressed of the night was Cate Blanchett in seafoam Armani silk chiffon with floral appliques…..the color, the shape, the way she just seemed to float through the crowd, she truly is the Queen. 

Though so many women were dressed beautifully, there were some that stood out and some that disappointed.  Tilda Swinton is a fashion icon and stands in a class by herself even though she looked like she was doing a tribute to David Bowie.  Jennifer Jason Leigh wore a dusty pink Marchese dress that looked like an arts and crafts project – the color was all wrong, she looked uncomfortable and possibly drunk.  The worst dressed of the night had to be Heidi Klum, in a lavender Marchese gown that looked like a 1970’s negligée or a Project Runway challenge loser.

The men mostly looked fabulous.  Lots of navy tuxedos, black velvet, tight pants, and shrunken styles – shorter pants, shorter jackets, and shorter sleeves.  Eddie Redmayne and Henry Cavill stood out in black velvet while Common stood out in white.  Bryan Cranston, Liev Schrieber, and Leonardo DiCaprio all looked elegant in classic well-tailored tuxes.  But the best dressed of the night was in a class by himself…no one could compete with Jacob Tremblay.  When an adorable, smart, poised nine year old walks the red carpet in a perfectly fitted Armani tuxedo, with his hands in his pockets and grinning ear to ear, everyone else might has well have worn a rental from Men’s Wearhouse.  So glad he was allowed to stay up past his 8 o’clock bedtime.

Fortunately, Jacob Tremblay was not the only highlight of the show.  Lady Gaga delivered a moving performance of her nominated song “Til it Happens to You.”  She was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden, joined on stage by a group of women survivors of sexual assaults, and received a standing ovation.  Another highlight, in case you missed it, Brie Larson hugged each and every woman as they exited the stage.  She may have just surpassed Jennifer Lawrence for “Oscar Winning Actress You Want to Hang Out With.”  The audience also gave standing ovations for Joe Biden, Ennio Morriconne (Best Musical Score for the Hateful Eight), and for Leo.  After five nominations and twenty-three years since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Leo finally won an Oscar and gave the best speech of the night.  This year, the Academy had the brilliant idea to run the list of names that people wanted to thank on the scroll at the bottom of the screen so that recipients could use their speaking time to say something more profound.  Few people grasped that concept.  Fortunately Leo was one of them.

The other highlights of the night were the big surprises.  There were three big ones.  First, after a performance that brought people to their feet, Lady Gaga did not win.  Second, the sentimental and Vegas favorite, Sylvester Stallone did not win.  After 40 years since Rocky won best picture and Stallone didn’t win an Oscar, it would have been great to see him win for playing Rocky Balboa one last time.  The final shock of the night was the Best Picture winner.  Spotlight won the first award of the night for Best Original Screenplay, and stood aside all night to watch The Revenant and Mad Maxx sweep the bulk of the awards until the final award of the night – and the Best Picture is Spotlight! 

Three hours and thirty-six minutes of boring thank yous with very little comic relief.  At least Leo won.   Maybe next year will be #OscarsLessWhite and #OscarsMoreFunny.