The 94th Academy Awards

Has it been a year since the last Oscar presentation? Wow, time certainly flies by incredibly fast. Well, since the ratings for last year's 93rd Academy Awards were grim at best, the worst in Academy history, my assumption is that AMPAS decided, after a few years, to invite not just one host but three as well. Assuming that all three hosts were or could be effective, ideally this would be a crowd pleaser. However as AMPAS can do so well, they blundered that idea also. The Academy really needs an overhaul to reinvent themselves, since there hasn't really been a well thought presentation, other than being strained, for years. For the three hour presentation, there was supposed to be a host for each of the hours, but they ultimately intertwined into each other causing more confusion. Their beginning monologue combined all three, and most of that was politics or sexist jabs. There were a few funny moments within the monologue, but the comments simply overshadowed the comedic lines. They came across amazingly stiff, like stick figures as though they probably would've rather been anywhere else. As I precluded, Wanda Sykes was the savings grace of the three--the others being Regina Hall and Amy Schumer. As I've said in many past critiques, where is Billy Crystal when you need him? If one had any doubt that this was live, the thought was squelched when presenter, Chris Rock was colcocked by Will Smith because of an off-colored comment about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair style. Surely Rock shouldn't have said anything, but Smith certainly didn't need to do what he did which made everything that much more awkward. That will certainly make Academy history. And this happened before Smith won his Academy Award for best actor for "King Richard", for only to get up and say that he is striving to be more loving which we all need to aspire to. It's ironic and sad that this speech was post his smacking Rock. The one glowing part of the awards was when AMPAS decided to showcase the nominated original songs within the confines of the presentation instead of during the Red Carpet. And the way the Memoriam was handled was classy and unique more than they usually are. So much of the humor seemed forced, however there were rays of sunshine, especially when Sykes was on. AMPAS? Next year, get one host, but make sure that it is a very exhaustive choosing for that effective, funny host. Look, you have a whole year in which to accomplish this. This shouldn't be rocket science. Anyway, here is the exhaustive list of all the winners:

Best Picture: "CODA"

Best Actor: Will Smith - "King Richard"

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"

Best Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur - "CODA"

Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose - "West Side Story"

Best Directing: Jane Campion - "The Power of the Dog"

Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh - "Belfast"

Best Adapted Screenplay: Sian Heder - "CODA"

Best Cinematography: Greig Fraser - "Dune"

Best Film Editing: Joe Walker - "Dune"

Best Production Design: Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos - "Dune"

Best Costume Design: Jenny Beavan - "Cruella"

Best Sound: Mac Ruth, Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, Ron Bartlett - "Dune"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Stephanie Ingram, Linda Dowds, Justin Raleigh - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"

Best Original Score: Hans Zimmer - "Dune"

Best Original Song: Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell - "No Time to Die"

Best Visual Effects: Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, Gerd Nefzer - "Dune"

Best Documentary Feature: "Summer of Soul" (...Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised")

Best Documentary Short Subject: "The Queen of Basketball"

Best Animated Feature: "Encanto"

Best Animated Short: "The Windshield Wiper"

Best International/Foreign Film: "Drive My Car"

Best Live Action Short: "The Long Goodbye" 

Honorary Award for Life Achievement: Elaine May, Samuel L. Jackson, Liv Ullman

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Danny Glover

Some of the films that were made to be released on the streaming channels, i.e. Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Disney + and the like were films that I wasn't able to see since they did not have a theatrical release, such as "CODA" being released on Apple. It looks intriguing enough for me to hopefully purchase the film and view it and then critique it on my blog. This award presentation was certainly better than last year, however not by much. AMPAS has a long way to go for improvement. Lastly, this presentation was a good 25 minutes longer than last year--this being 3hr. 43min. Again, even though the politics weren't as prevalent during the different acceptance speeches, there were still a fair amount of them which really need to end. This is not the time nor place to spout off one's political views no matter what side of the aisle one resides. The one touching moment was when Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli came out to present the award for best picture, and with Minnelli having contracted encephalitis, a condition which can cause seizures, movement disorders and sensitivity to light and sound, it was simply charming how Lady Gaga was guiding her through the presentation. All in all, this certainly wasn't terrible, however, even though this was an improvement of last year, AMPAS has got to do something if they want to see the Academy Awards to continue on. We'll see next year...

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                           Rated: NR                                            3hrs. 43mins.