OSCAR WATCH 2024

 It was a good show, some great moments and Conan was really good.

As expected, I didn't do great, only 13 correct (which means 10 wrong).

You can read about my predictions here.

I totally bummed on all the shorts, and utterly by fault, I usually spend a good couple of hours researching these, but I was in and out quick this year. I totally underestimated Anora, even though I thought it was the better film, so am pleased for those mistakes. I had no clue about the Animated Feature, lol, I never do. And I really thought Timothee would win. He did not...

The opening was great, long but great. The LA film homage was really good, rolling into Cynthia and Ariana who were superb with their Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, and Wicked. Both amazing, but Cynthia is just a goddess, watch her sing those incredibly high and long notes, she nails them effortlessly. She is a natural, and a genius, her voice is like butter. Conan was great, funny, himself. I loved Adam Sandler helping out. 

The presenting was mostly good, sometimes great. I loved how they paid homage to the Cinematographers and Costume designers, they have done this with the acting noms in years past. It does take longer, but to do this to 'lesser' categories makes a lot of sense. Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn were lovely together, very cute. Ben Stiller, as always, hilarious. June Squibb and Scarlett Johansen were very funny, loved them. Mick Jagger was a true surprise, and very funny. Mark Hamill and Quentin Tarantino brought certain gravitas to the proceedings. It was lovely to see Billy back on the stage with Meg Ryan, 37 years since he first hosted The Oscars...oh vey!

Speeches are always a thing. There were some great speeches from some of the minor awards, Costume Design, Animated Feature etc. Kieran Culkin's was funny and spot on, as expected. Sean Baker hit the right note with each win, classy. Walter Salles' gave a lovely speech for International Feature. Adrien Brody needed a strong look from John Lithgow, what a pain. Mikey Madison was also great.

I don't get the wasted time on James Bond. Halle Berry looked amazing, the singers were ordinary, Adele must be rethinking her semi-retirement. 

I liked that Morgan Freeman spent some time talking about Gene Hackman at the beginning of the In Memoriam. We lost some greats this year, the time wasted on fluff like Bond should have been spent honouring David Lynch or James Earl Jones. Also there were, as usual, some key omissions! Shannon Doherty, Alain Delon (seriously!!!???), Bernard Hill, Michelle Trachtenberg and more. Do they even have researchers?

Even the Quincy Jones tribute seemed out of place, yes he scored for films and was nominated, but not for anything that great. I think it was just to get Oprah and Whoopi on the stage together. They are always great to see. But poor Queen Latifah singing Ease on Down the Road, Aye Karumba, she deserves better.

Back to the good, was thrilled to hear my main man, Nick Offerman doing the voice over work, perfection and funny.

Thrilled for all the Anora love, go in blind, I didn't know much about it and really loved it. Was superb and nice to see small indies winning. I did split my director/movie votes between The Brutalist and Anora. I missed most of the Anora wins, hence my low score, but happy to have them win over my choices.

I still think Timmy was robbed!!!

And I dream about the kind of speech Isabella Rossellini would have given. I love her date was Laura Dern, except that had me excited there would be a David Lynch tribute...oh well, never mind.

But in all, it was a solid 7 out of 10.

And now to what we all care the most about, the Farshun!!!!!

Let's start with those bringing the drama to the show. Amazing dramatic, large gowns, I love it. Especially Cynthia's emerald velvet, clever! And Halle Berry as a Glitter Ball, bloody love it!

   

And I love that the men are embracing fashion more and more. Bowen Yang (lurve Bowen) looked amazing! Colman showed his flair with red.

Then there is the sleek and classic styles. Love Scarlett, Amy, and Meg in Velvet.

OK Worst dressed

My top 5 best dressed in no order:

OSCAR WATCH 23/24 - how it went!

It always seem to take forever to arrive, but comes and goes so quickly!

Oscars 23/24 was not too bad.

Jimmy Kimmel has grown on me, he is a solid host. Not spectacular, like Billy Crystal, but what you see is what you get and he keeps things moving, and that is sufficient.

First off the bat, I noticed an acknowledgement of country prior to the ceremony, which I have never noticed before let alone anywhere in the US. So that made me smile, a perfect move.

So the 96th Academy Awards, I cannot wait for year 100, now that is going to be spectacular. 

And as a film buff, especially a classic film buff, I love to see old Hollywood and nods to those that came before. Of course, there are not many classic film stars left, but there are moments to be had. And this year had some.

Jimmy mentioned it was 48 years since both Jodie Foster and Robert De Niro were nominated for Taxi Driver and here they were nominated again! Of course, he added an awkward joke about age, but what are the Oscars if tropes are not rolled out...sigh.

Bringing out those that work behind the scenes was a masterful move, very classy.

And having Messi the dog from Anatomy of a Fall sitting in the audience was just wonderful.

The presentations I loved the most were the acting ones, where they had 5 previous winners talk about each nominee, They did this once before and people said it took too long. My response then and now, is really? If that is your commentary why are you even watching? This is exactly why you watch the Academy Awards. Bizarre.

So this year it was wonderful to see a range of superb actors and actresses welcome the newest member into the club. I found it moving and wonderful. But then, this is exactly what I want when I watch this show!

There were other memorable moments in terms of presentation. Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling exchanging barbs over their respective movies and the whole Barbenheimer rivalry. Very funny.

Danny De Vito and Arnold Schwarzenegger giving Michael Keaton some grief about how badly Batman treated their villains (Now Keaton wasn't AS's Batman, but that is a-ok), also funny.

And Kate McKinnon and American Ferrara talking about Dinosaurs, Jeff Goldblum, and Steven Spielberg, incredibly funny. Jon Cena's naked joke and John Mahoney's Field of Dream monologue were both good.

The songs this year were mostly great.

I really enjoyed seeing Barry Corbin (from Killers of the Flower Moon and Northern Exposure) in the song from that movie. The whole performance was powerful.

Billie Eilish and Fineas were all class delivering what would be the winning Best Song. I love that song so much, it was just great to see, as was their winning speech. 2 Oscars in 3 years at such a young age. Brilliant.

But the moment of the evening, was Ryan Gosling performing I'm Just Ken.

OH MY GOODNESS!

I didn't think he would even do this, so it was unexpected and even better than what I would have thought had I expected it.

Ryan's Kenergy was legendary in the lead up and after the movie, he just got into it and had fun. I love that. And his performance was next level Kenergy. Where is his recording contract, he can bloody sing (and dance). He was a Disney child but still. The presentation was perfection including some Marilyn Monroe (Madonna) AND Busby Berkeley choreography which was equal parts inspired and hilarious! Add in some work with the audience, showing the whole thing was live (they usually are) and some guitar genius from Slash. This goes into my top 10 Oscar moments! 

Other moments of note were Paul Giamatti escorting Da'Vine Joy Randolph right up the stairs to the stage when she won, and shedding a visible tear in a cutaway after her speech. What a classy guy!

Sean Ono Lennon up on the Oscar stage with the directors of the Best Short, Animated WAR IS OVER! and giving 91 year old Yoko a shout out. Tears of course!

Now to the winners, and how I went.

Each year there are some categories I am emotionally attached to and I either let my emotions push my choices (usually a mistake) or like this year I ignore my emotions and just choose what I think the Academy will chose, and this year the Academy loved Poor Things as much as I did, which I didn't think they would!

So the 4 awards for Poor Things, including Emma Stone for Best Actress were bloody amazing and well deserved and exactly what I hoped would win, but not what I choose to win...sigh. I lost in Sound and Animated Film too.

So 6 incorrect BUT 17 correct, which is not bad. I have done much better, but I have also done much worse.

I loved all the acting and big speeches, it was a great year for film. 

And now the fashion:

Best Dressed

Faves

The Rest

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