2022 Academy Awards

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The pre-show Red Carpet was pretty good. Reminded me of the old times. We used to host an Oscar party 1999-2008, inviting about 15 couples, with catered food and variety of alcoholic drinks (Vesper!), and of course, a pot for the ballot. We were young.

Opening with William‘s sisters was wonderful.

Beyonce was good (as always). The song was not great. Not my pick. This is the most talented category this year, in my view.

Amy Schumer was really good. Not just about King Richard, but also about Lucy (and Aaron Sorkin) and Don’t Look Up (and Leonardo).

Okay, I am 0/1. It was not Kirsten Dunst. (West Side Story’s Ariana Debose won for Best Supporting Actress. Steven Spielberg had a flop in the Box Office, but his community loves him.) Did Jane Campion make a fatal gaffe with her comment about the Williams’ sisters (when she won the BAFTA, which Will Smith won over Benedict Cumberbatch, or during some other award ceremony recently? Also, if you believe in momentum voting, like in Wall Street trading, CODA has a chance to be a surprise winner on some important categories.)

Sound? Good that Dune won. 1/2. Cinematography. Dune! 2/3. Visual Effects. Dune!.

60 years of Bond! Nice to see many iconic scenes (Goldfinger: Do You expect me to talk? No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die. Moonraker: See to it that some harm comes to him.) and ending with this Judy Dench and Daniel Craig back and forth:

M: Bond, I need you back.

007: I never left.

Encanto wins Best Animated Film. No surprise. My pick. I am still betting against Beyonce and Lin-Manuel Miranda for Best Song.

Top 5 audience-voted movie scenes: Matrix! (Their #5 is my #1. Flo-mo. As you know, I replicated that scene, with Keanu and me, in 1999.)

Yes, I need to go to the Academy of Motion Pictures Museum in LA.

Best Supporting Actor. Troy Kotsur. CODA! Both The Power of the Dog nominees lost. I was possibly right about CODA and Jane’s gaffe!

Best International Film. Drive my Car. (Japan.)  No surprise. My pick.

I love Reba. She delivered. Not my pick though. And We don’t talk about Bruno was decent.

Best Original Screenplay. Kenneth Branagh. Picked that.

Best Adapted Screenplay. CODA. Did not pick that a few weeks back, but after Jane‘s gaffe and recent momentum, not too surprised now. 

Wonder if CODA will beat The Power of the Dog for Best Picture.

Best Score. Dune. Picked it.

Rami Malek introduces Billie Eilish and Finneas. Bond. No Time to Die. My pick for Best Song.

Film Editing. Dune. Well done.

Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall are doing fine. Chris Rock on. Oh, oh. And yes, it was nasty. (Will Smith was not happy.) And as I mentioned in Tayur’s Eleven:

Best Documentary. I really wanted Summer of Soul to win. YES!

Godfather review. Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino.

Pulp Fiction coming up. Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson and John Travlota. Nice. Bill Murray introduced Ivan Reitman movies (Ghostbusters).

Wow. The Academy is really going for it.

Set Decoration. Dune.

Now Original Song. YES!!!! Bond! Brother and Sister team. No Time to Die.

Kevin Costner next. Best Director. Jane Campion! Phew.

Best Actor.  I had picked Benedict. Will it be Will? Or Denzel? Yup, Will Smith. (He played my co-author and student Bennet Omalu in Concussion.) Momentum had him winning. He has paid his dues over the years. 

Best Makeup. The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

Anthony Hopkins. (He was sleeping last year when he won.)

Best Actress. (Tough category. Jessica. Olivia. Penelope. Nicole. Kirsten.) My pick was Kirsten Stewart. Wow. Jessica Chastain. (I saw her live on Broadway in The Heiress.)

Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli. The final award of the evening.

Best Movie. My pick was The Power of the Dog.

Wow.

CODA.

PS. Just received a social media post this morning that CODA Writer and Director Sian Heder is CMU alumna!

 

 

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