98th Oscars: Post-Oscars Review

Before we get into our individual re-caps of this year’s Oscars, let’s get the plaudits and results posted for our predictions this year.

Coming in first with 18 correct predictions, 5 runners-up, and 1 miss is Wesley Lovell. He narrowly beat out Thomas who got 17 correct with 7 runners-up, and 0 misses. Pete came in third with 16 correct, 1 runners-up, and 7 misses. Overall, all of the categories had at least one winner and or one runner-up prediction. Live Action Short Film was the only category that only one person got a winner and/or runner-up prediction correctly. Thomas forecast Two People Exchanging Saliva as the runner-up. What’s even more unusual about that is that it was a tie meaning two chances for a winner and/or runner-up prediction and that was it.

Pete was the only person to correctly predict Documentary Feature. Thomas was the only one to predict Documentary Short Subject. The only category no one correctly predicted the winner was Best Live Action Short Film and with a tie at that.

Now, let’s dig into the reviews of this year’s Oscars.

Wesley Lovell

Never before have I missed a portion of the Oscars and yet because of a spat between Dish and the company who owns our local ABC affiliate, I had to dash around to try and find a place to watch the ceremony. I started at Hulu and was watching ABC 7’s red carpet coverage but it never transferred over to the official red carpet coverage. I tried everything I could to find the live broadcast but never found it. I ultimately had to do a trial subscription for YouTube TV to watch it. I tuned in while the nominees for Best Supporting Actress were being announced. That means I thankfully didn’t miss any awards being handed out but I did miss the entire opening of the show.

Unfortunately, by deadline time, I was not able to catch all of the segments I missed. I’ve managed to view the pre-show red carpet special and the cold open and that’s unfortunately it. I will include what I may and may revise at a later date should I be able to catch what I missed.

The pre-show was a little less manic than prior years. The same fawning. The same empty segments. But at least it didn’t feel like people who were unprepared for the night had been let loose on the carpet. Forgettable sure, but not egrious.

That cold open was pretty inspired. I’ve never been a fan of Conan O’Brien, but it was handled brilliantly, moving through most of the Best Picture winners (no Bugonia, Frankenstein, The Secret Agent, or Train Dreams) and KPop Demon Hunters. It was well handled and hilarious. I only hoped I had gotten to see beyond the segment with Conan running down the aisle with the kids chasing him.

(This paragraph added-post editorial, pre-publication) YouTube TV and ABC.com were worthless and, surprise surprise, I found the full show on Hulu late in the day so I was able to catch the less-than-twenty minutes following the cold open. The monologue was passable. He got off one good pedo joke and the opening number with Josh Groban was cute but underwhelming. I really wish they had delivered all Oscars via fake owl but they didn’t. Conan remains one of my least favorite jokesters and little in this section got me excited, though I must say I’m a bit disappointed that Frankenstein, The Secret Agent, and Train Dreams continued to be ignored with Bugonia barely getting a mention either. Yes, there are ten Best Picture nominees but ignoring some of those is a frustrating. Billy Crystal would have found a way to work those in.

The rest of the show was pretty smooth with a few clunky moments with some speeches cut and a few that were about to be but the winners pressed on. Some of the best moments came from those winners who recognize this as their moment and want to make it special. One particular shining example is the winners for Two People Exchanging Saliva and their discussions of multiculturalism and queer acceptance. It was a beautiful moment that highlighted the film’s importance.

Of all of the presenter banter segments, the best one that was with the stars of Bridesmaids (unfortunately not including Wendi McLendon-Covey). Their references back to Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning were well timed and the actors were game, which is always appreciated. Another great one saw Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pescal talking about aliens and then referencing their co-star Grogu in the audience with Kate Hudson fawning over him. Weaver viciously called out to her “get away from him, you bitch.” It was so unexpected and corny as hell but also brilliantly handled.

Runner-up honors go to the Anne Hathaway/Anna Wintour bit that was meant to give off a Devil Wears Prada vibe and it largely succeeded. They played well off one another, showing that Wintour has an underappreciated sense of humor. It did feel like there was something missing and perhaps that was Meryl Streep or Emily Blunt cameo.

The presentation of the casting category was interesting using a well regarded technique of having people introduce the designers in the flesh but it was teased as a moment for the heralding of the casting director’s influence historically but was unfortunately limited to actors from the nominated films waxing glowingly over the nominees and dragging said introductions beyond the dullness point.

Another year without a full array of Best Original Song presentations highlights the fact that the Academy is decidedly condescending towards those that don’t aren’t “popular” enough. The two that were present varied in their quality. I appreciate the technical achievement of the “I Lied to You” segment but after a time, the music started to crash into itself and become a cacaphonic mess. Trying to adapt the corresponding scene from the film worked to an extent, though it could have been cleaned up a bit more with a more melodic arrangement.

The other was for “Golden” and while it was a stellar semaphore-styled triumph, it cut off before the end and felt like it. Finding a way to reach a crescendo by removing the second verse instead of the last might have made for a more entertaining conclusion. In either performance’s regard, they suffered from poor technical decisions.

The set design was gorgeous, a golden-hued, old-Hollywood flavored affair. It did feel like it had been pulled from a wood-paneled 1970s home decor spread in Homes & Gardens but it was at least visually distinctive, creatively used, and an overall attractive choice.

The bum notes for me surrounded the In Memoriam segment. While I agree it was better handled than some years, it was the opening, middle, and closing moments of that. We start with the overlong tribute to Rob Reiner and his wife. Going over numerous films the director helmed, the bit went on interminably. Although it was a beautiful moment when they brought out several prominent actors who starred in those films, it had grown tedious by the fourth film highlighted. This was a lifetime achievement award type speech and even longer than most of those last.

The second came half way through the segment with Rachel McAdams talking about four of the women in the roll, starting with Claudia Cardinale in brief, Diane Ladd even more briefly, Catherine O’Hara underwhelming in length and then for Diane Keaton who probably deserved something on the lines of the Reiner tribute considering her impact as an actor but then again, O’Hara would have been deserving of that as well.

The final bit came as Robert Redford scrolled across screen and his longtime friend Barbra Streisand who rarely makes public appearances these days. She waxed nostalgic on their relationship and ended with a decent rendition of “The Way We Were,” which tied back into her discussion of his initial reluctance to star in the film. It was sorrowful but helped highlight how dangerous these types of tributes can be to include in the Oscars when major names like Alan Bergman and Grahame Greene got virtually nothing. The more of these segments that are done, the more important figures will populate them and it’s imperative to find a better way of highlighting these names throughout the night than in one lengthy, underwhelming and under-representative segment.

With all of that said, a brief comment on the winners. There were only two I would consider complaining about. The first is the aforementioned casting category. This award is for the casting director but was awarded to the best ensemble. For all intents and purposes, Sinners was the most acclaimed casting work of the year. One Battle After Another wasn’t even nominated by the Casting Society of America. Sure, Sinnerswon the ensemble prize at SAG as well but no one had though of One Battle as the powerhouse of the category and it still won. While we will need a few more data points for this but it’s started off in a concerning direction.

The other was the tie between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva. I have no problem with the latter but the tie should have been with Jane Austen’s Period Drama and not the mediocre The Singers. Of all the live action animated shorts I’ve ever seen, that one has to be the most unworthy winner they’ve ever had.

And that’s all I have to say about this year’s Oscars. I did one to reference one other bit of trivia that I find interesting. This is probably the best the guilds have done at predicting the Oscars ever. Other than the Casting Society of America, American Society of Cinematographers, and the Annie Awards, all of this year’s guilds named the eventual Oscar winner. In Best Casting, the guild awarded Sinners and several others over One Battle After Another, which coincidentally wasn’t even nominated; in Best Cinematography, the guild (and BAFTA for that matter) picked One Battle After Another over Oscar winner Sinners; And in Best Animated Short Film, the Annies went with non-nominated Snow Bear over Oscar nominee The Girl Who Cried Pearls.

With that tidbit out of the way, I’m calling it for this year. I’m sure to add my comments on the opening bits subsequent to the cold open and up to the presentation of the Supporting Actress category once I’ve had a chance to review them. However, for now, that’s all I have to say.

Pete Patrick

I thought the 98th Academy Awards show was the smoothest in years.

There were few A-level presenters, but I didn’t mind most of the banter except for Adrien Brody who always annoys me for some reason.

The In Memoriam segment was the best they’ve ever done. It usually strikes me as unfair when they single out one or two of those who passed away during the year but the tributes to Rob and Michele Reiner, Diane Keaton, and Robert Redford were well deserved. Streisand, after saying she wasn’t going to sing, did so anyway. If her voice isn’t what it once was, there’s still no one who can sing “The Way We Were” any better.

One Battle After Another was the first Best Picture winner I agreed with since Spotlight ten years ago.

I haven’t agreed with Best Actor since Joaquin Phoenix’s win for Joker six years ago, but I’m fine with Michael B. Jordan’s win although I would have preferred to see Leonardo DiCaprio or Wagner Moura take it.

Jessie Buckley was the first Best Actress winner I’ve agreed with since Renée Zellweger in Judy six years ago and my favorite winner of the evening.

I didn’t at all agree with Sean Penn’s win for One Battle After Another. I thought Jacob Elordi, Stellan Skarsgård, Benicio Del Torro, and the non-nominated Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor (for Wake Up Dead Man) were all better but his was the only major win of the evening that I really disagreed with. I can’t complain too much, though, as the last two winners in this category, Robert Downey, Jr. and Kieran Culkin, were my choices.

I am pleased that Amy Madigan won for Best Supporting Actress, the category that I most disagree with in Oscar history but one that has done well in the last few years with winners like Yuh-jung Youn and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

And, of course, I agree with the choice of Paul Thomas Anderson for Best Director, but it should have been his second and would have been if had won for 2007’s There Will Be Blood as he should have.