So, how was the first (and hopefully last) pandemic Oscar ceremony like? Not bad, in my opinion. Placing the show at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and having the attending nominees sit at tables while a DJ (Quest Love, the drummer from the hip hop group The Roots) spun appropriate tracks gave the show a loose, party vibe that was fun. And not having an official host took the pressure off one person to be constantly entertaining, which worked for me. I enjoyed the long tracking shot that accompanied the first presenter, Regina King, as she made her way into the station. And her joke about the recent Chauvin trial's outcome was well made without getting too preachy.
Most of the awards did not come as a surprise: Nomadland was favored to win Best Picture which it did, and its director (Chloé Zhao) and lead actress (Francis McDormand) were also favored and also won. The big surprise was when Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for The Father over the late Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Personally, I preferred Boseman's performance, but in The Father, Hopkins, one of the most esteemed actors in the world, showed a willingness to play a character who is sad and pathetic, breaking down in a raw and honest way at the end of the film. (And maybe the fact that many of the Oscar voters are older themselves had something to do with it). In any event, I am a big fan of Hopkins so I won't say his award was completely underserved. (At the same time I still think that Delroy Lindo was robbed by not even being nominated in this category for his great performance in Da Five Bloods).
The lack of musical numbers (the songs nominated for Best Original Song were all performed in pre broadcast special) meant that the show could indulge longer speeches from the winners, which is really a lot of what people want to see the most anyway. And there were a lot of nice moments: Zhao becoming the first Asian woman (and only the second overall) to win Best Director (for Nomadland) and her thoughtful acceptance speech was great. As was Yuh-Jung Youn, who won for Best Supporting Actress for Minari, and who joked her way through her speech in a charming manner. And Tyler Perry, getting a lifetime award, gave a moving and sincere speech; even though his movies are not my cup of tea, his graciousness was appreciated.
Oh sure, there were a few silly moments in the broadcast as well: an Oscar music trivia contest felt too much like a bar trivia night, and some speeches did go on a bit too long. To me the worst decision was to announce the Best Picture winner before Best Actor and Actress. Since the Best Picture award is the one that is remembered the most, and can add enormously to a film's box office success, building up to it seems to be the logical way to do the show. In any event, ending the show with the Best Actor award really didn't work because when Hopkins won he didn't appear and no speech was given, causing the show to peter out somewhat pathetically. Still, considering everything going on in the world, this broadcast was a fun break from the stresses of our time. Obviously I didn't agree with some of the winners (more on that when I post about Nomadland), but that's all part of the show.
