What Went Down At The Oscars
Well, it's been a week since the Academy Awards. And, though coverage of it-- or more accurately, coverage of the very end of it has been relentless, it's taken me about that long to process everything that's happened. I'm not entirely sure how to go about this, other than in chronological order. So that's what I'll do!
The ceremony itself began with a break of norm: where most Oscars will begin with a pre-taped comedic segment or compilation of the year's biggest movies, before launching into the host's monologue. This time, perpetual showman Justin Timberlake (seriously, just let him host the awards already) kicked things off with his nominated song "Can't Stop The Feeling!", bring the cameras and energy from the Red Carpet into the auditorium. Though this beginning initially felt awkward, it proved to be a good move, as the surprised attendees warmed up to the song and dance, and the show began with a great pace. Though I felt "meh" about the song itself, its performance made me happy it was nominated. What's more, it bled perfectly into host Jimmy Kimmel's monologue, which began with snarky banter with Timberlake.
Speaking of the host and monologue: contrary to what inflammatory Huffington Post headlines might tell you, Kimmel was splendid as master of ceremonies. To be fair, perhaps I set a low bar with my expectations, but the talk-show host far exceeded them. His typical sarcastic ribbing had a touch of good-naturedness throughout the night, and was well-received by the audience. The ongoing "feud" between he and Matt Damon was, as expected, present throughout the night and increasingly hilarious in each instance. This gag culminated in a prerecorded clip of Kimmel sarcastically mocking Damon's performance in We Bought A Zoo which preceded the introduction of Damon and Ben Affleck being announced as "Ben Affleck and guest." Nearly all of Kimmel's gags were humorous, and he stayed present without being overbearing.
The first acting awards given were, per usual, the Supporting Actor and Actress. These were probably among two of the least anticipated races of the night, being that Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) and Viola Davis (Fences) had won virtually every time on the awards circuit. The result was no different at the Oscars, and both acclaimed actors gave wonderful, humble acceptance speeches.
Other major awards that went according to script were Best Animated Film, Best Documentary, and Best Foreign Film, which went to Zootopia, O.J.: Made In America and The Salesman, respectively. The former two had been locks to win, and many had begun to believe The Salesman (Iran) would beat out Toni Erdmann (Germany) due to the political situation involving the former film's director, an outspoken critic of the U.S. Travel Ban.
Best Actor was one of the big races of the night-- Manchester By The Sea's Casey Affleck had won most of the awards circuit, but Denzel Washington (Fences) had won the SAG Award, the most Oscar-predictive of any other award. Affleck ended up winning, marking the first time since 2004 (Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean) that the SAG Best Actor winner failed to win the Oscar. Affleck's victory was met with much criticism, particularly due to questions surrounding a sexual harassment case in his past. I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole, but I personally was upset because I genuinely though Denzel had the superior performance.
La La Land was in many ways the big winner of the night, as Damien Chazelle and Emma Stone took home the Best Director and Best Actress trophies that they were expected to. Still, it ended up being somewhat of an underwhelming night for the popular musical, as it only won 5 out of their record-tying 14 nominations.
Of course, it helped that they won Best Picture. Well, at least for 2 minutes. Yes, that's right, if you haven't been on the Internet in 8 days and haven't heard what exactly happened Oscar night, watch this: https://twitter.com/ABC/status/836082138176970752
Yes, that's right. Moonlight ACTUALLY won Best Picture, a fact that shockingly wasn't realized for over 2 minutes after initial announcement of La La Land. The chronicles of the Best Picture fumble have been well documented, but something that was sadly lost int he botched announcement was the enormity of Moonlight's win.
This was an upset of enormous proportions. La La Land had the A-list stars, had the considerably larger fanbase, and all the awards circuit momentum. What's more, it was seen as the "type" of film the Academy loved to reward. All signs pointed to their anointment, and that's why nobody batted an eye when Faye Dunaway announced them as the winner. Yet, the real winner was the small-studio, small-budget film with a black writer and director, and entirely black cast. It wasn't just a historic win, it was a deserved win. Moonlight was easily the best critically-received film of 2016, and told a story so different from anything we had witnessed on screen, and told it so magnificently and heartbreakingly well. It was a major upset, but a worthy one, and it's a crying shame that the recipients had to temper their excitement and curtail their acceptance speeches thanks to the big flub.
Not to mention, it was incredibly unfortunate for the La La Land company that had to awkwardly and sadly shuffle off stage after 2 full minutes of celebration. It was a shame for all parties involved that one of the better Oscars ceremonies in recent history didn't get the finale it deserved. But hey, Moonlight is king and that's fine by me.
And most importantly, I tied for the win in the Oscars predictions with Sierra, whom I dreadfully misquoted in the Best Picture predictions (my apologies again, Sierra!). All hail Daniel and Sierra, the Moonlight of Couch Film writers.