Then I saw it, and though I liked it (my #26 of last year), it did not really seem like best picture material. Not in filmmaking quality, but in subject matter.
Oscar voters thought differently, and Anora cleaned up. Even Mikey Madison won. In fact, only Yura Borisov missed. Anora won in every other category where it was nominated.
Interestingly, I own this film, as I had to buy it in order to fit it into the best available viewing slot between Christmas and New Year's. So, whenever I want, I can watch it again to see what I (sort of) missed.
Now, on to my thoughts, recorded in real time as I was watching, which is maybe not the best way to do it. (But makes it easier to remember and to publish more quickly.)
This post is not going to receive any Oscars for best editing as I am leaving in all the thoughts I wrote down while watching the show, even though they are boring. Enjoy!
- My 11-year-old is starting out on the couch with me, which is nice -- and which makes me feel bad that I couldn't start watching until 20 minutes after I got home from playing tennis.
- I thought my son might be nonplussed by Cynthia Erivo's bald appearance, but he did not mention it. Glad I'm raising a good one.
- I liked Wicked as much as the next guy -- it was my #2 of the year -- but the opening was a bit long.
- The orchestra is in the sky! Interesting. I dig it. (Rather literally defying gravity.)
- Conan coming out of Demi. Good one.
- Missed a joke from Conan because my son is asking me questions. Worth it.
- The thing at the back of the stage looks like a Marvel superhero's breast plate.
- Yes, my son was still sitting there for Conan's orgasm joke. Just one of the reasons the opening monologue could have been 40% shorter.
- Okay, I am officially dying now. We're 22 minutes in and there has not been an award announced yet.
- 24:50 - "Without further delay, let's get started." Well, nope. The time-wasting song is the last nail in my coffin.
- Edward Norton's wrinkles have wrinkles.
- "Going long disorder" is apparently contagious. Robert Downey Jr. and Kieran Culkin have contracted it.
- Andrew Garfield fawning over Goldie Hawn continues the feeling of excess. I don't know if I can continue mentioning all these things.
- Is Nick Offerman the Oscars announcer?
- The woman who won the best animated short is adorable. But why is her co-director reading the thing she's already said? There really are no controls on the length of this show.
- I like the idea of giving extensive praise to people like the costume designers, but not the reality of it.
- (I just dared look it up while potentially risking exposing myself to the spoilers. Yes it's Nick Offerman.)
- (And another lengthy bit with Conan has made this abundantly clear.)
- Until now I did not know what Sean Baker looked like. Thanks, Sean, for giving a professional speech and trying to bring this unwieldy beast back on track.
- The June Squibb Bill Skarsgard bit was funny.
- Well my #1 of 2024 gets at least one Oscar. Indeed, my viewing on Friday confirmed for me how good the makeup was in The Substance. And, I guess, the hair, or sometimes, lack thereof.
- Halle Berry is not 60 years old. She is not. (It's true. She's only 58.) But is now really the time for a random Bond tribute? And what does Margaret Qualley have to do with it?
- Oh no, the Bond tribute is going into its second song. I really should not have waited 20 minutes after getting home from tennis to start watching.
- If Baker also wins as director, that'll be some kind of record. Different tone from his first speech but still under budget (quick and funny).
- Da'Vine Joy is giving Robert Downey a lesson on how this should have been done.
- Glad Emilia Perez (my #4) did not get shut out. Saldana was great in it and I loved her heartfelt acceptance speech.
- Ben Stiller, star of past Oscar bits (remember when he was dressed as a Na'vi?), pulls off a good one here.
- Mick Jagger is more alive than I thought he'd be.
- "El Mal" wins. Take that, everyone who thought the music in Emilia Perez was bad. (And nice shoutout to the presenter in their acceptance speech. Probably thought of that on the way up to the stage.)
- My stream of the Oscars, which crapped out during one of the ad breaks, is starting to skip the ads for some reason. Thank goodness for small miracles.
- Now that the show has picked up its pace, I don't mind the musical sand worm as much as I did the first time.
- Nice to get the best of both Palestine and Israel in one acceptance speech. Samuel L. loved it when the Israeli delivered a broadside to the Trump administration.
- Good bit with the firefighters. Worked. Is this show saving itself? Just a little?
- The third sound winner ate nothing but orchestra. Thanks for the number about wasting time, Conan.
- Is Gal Gadot really tall or is Rachel Zeigler really short?
- The late announcement of these technical awards makes it seem like Dune is gathering momentum. It is not. (Scarier realization: It's not actually that late in the show.)
- What is "Ovation Hollywood"?
- Ana de Armas pronounced "robot" like "robutt," which is how Dr. Zoidberg says it on Futurama. (Also, this means I was officially shut out on the "random guess" categories of live action short, documentary short and animated short.)
- Best conceived "in memoriam" in a while.
- Does Lol Crowley get sick of people asking him if he's laughing out loud?
- Okay, Conan's zing of Trump via Anora finally has me on his side.
- I had started to hear that Timothee Chalamet was going to win best actor, but went against that and picked Adrien Brody. And that happened. And while I never really thought of Brody as someone who would win two Oscars, he deserved it. Great thoughtful speech, too -- a bit long. So winning twice earns you extra time?
- Christopher Nolan CBF to show up and present best director.
- Yep, this post is getting a picture of Sean Baker. I certainly know what he looks like now.
- Oh no. Demi didn't win. Biggest upset of the evening so far?
- Nice to see Billy Crystal on stage after he lost his house in Pacific Palisades, the one where he had lived since the 1970s. And Meg Ryan looked better than I feared.
- As was obvious by this point, Anora wins.
Well that's it everybody. It's after 1 a.m. even though the show finished around 3 p.m. my time. And now I must sleep.
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