Los 89 Premios de la Academia

A poetic story for fans of a dying industry

Remember the days a half century ago? When people stood outside in movie lines for hours toe to toe?

The movie fans stood in line to see movie premiers, Sometimes as the rain fell on them of a size larger than elephant tears.

There was Gable, Bogart, Tracy, Poitier and who can ever forget Brando? This was also the film era of Hepburn, Davis, Leigh, and what about Greta Garbo?

We stood in line in anticipation of seeing our favorite stars, Back in the 1950' and 1960's fans also watched movies at drive-ins in their cars.

There were no blue-tooth's, no Spotify, Amazon and certainly no streaming as there is now, We watched our favorite films on the big screen or only on the late, late night TV show.

We loved the taste of a refreshing coca cola and we could smell the fresh popcorn cooking on the theater stoves, It was a simpler time when people talked to each other.in person and we went to the movie theater in droves.

Movies meant so much and there was meaning in each one that movies drew the fans in hordes, But yet we always stayed at home once a year to watch the Academy Awards.

Now here we are the 89th Academy Awards must be politically correct, The women's and men's fashions are meant to shock for the greatest affect.

Innovative and heartwarming stories rarely exist; films are mostly based on a book, The winners speeches are so long now that some of these self- proclaimed stars are given the old hook.

Oh how I wish that VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K were never created, Then the 89th Oscars would be more than just gold plated.

We would once again stand in line, eat fresh popcorn and hush the strangers sitting directly behind us, Instead we don't even have to watch the 89th Academy Awards anymore since winners are announced through instant messaging which leaves us with nothing left to discuss.

This my friends is a dying industry, Voting seems to be determined in advance which no longer leaves any mystery.

So here I sit, lonely-hearted, No longer wanting to watch this years 89th Academy Awards, other than to pay tribute and recognize the stars who recently (dearly) departed.

Justin Timberlake kicked the show off with a song and Jimmy Kimmel took over hosting duties by continuing his feud with Matt Damon. Kimmel had a decent opening with a few barbs at the new president of the USA.

After the controversy last year regarding diversity, two black actors won in the best support category, one of them being a Muslim which would had made Trump happy.

Kevin O'Connell won an Oscar for best sound mixing for Hacksaw Ridge. It was his first victory in 21 attempts.

Mel Gibson got rehabilitated of sorts as his Australian shot film, Hacksaw Ridge won 2 Oscars.

Damien Chazelle became the youngest ever best director winner as La La Land won 6 Oscars or was it 7?

The final award of Best Picture saw two legends being wheeled out, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. It would be a shame that they only get known for this mix up that was not their fault. Next year the Oscars need to pick new auditors as PriceWaterhouseCoopers should be sacked.

Moonlight was the best picture winner over the slightly superior and wrongly announced La La Land but really it was not a vintage year for the Oscars but the awards were spread out which is always nice.

This ceremony had many great contenders competing. I can't say I agree with some of the wins, as I think Hacksaw Ridge should of got more love, but I'm still content with the results. That ending flub was also a pretty awkward moment that became kind of history defining. I'm sorry Moonlight, La La Land should of had that in the bag.

Cinema is much more than Filmed American Trash. The rest of the world films packed in one category! That really reflects a prejudiced American-oriented mind.

OK, so the most famous incident of "The 89th Academy Awards" was the goof with Best Picture. PriceWaterhouseCoopers is now going to be known as the company that made Faye Dunaway say the wrong thing. More important than the flub is that a movie about gay black man won Best Picture. Even having not seen it, I'd say that it was probably the more important movie.

As for the nominees, the only ones that I've seen in all categories are "Arrival", "Hell or High Water", "Manchester by the Sea", "Captain Fantastic", "Florence Foster Jenkins", "A Man Called Ove", "4.1 Miles", "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". It's good that "The Salesman" won, since it drew attention to Donald Trump's Muslim ban. As expected, a bunch of mouth-breathers on Twitter were angry that the Academy gave an Iranian movie an Oscar.

It was inevitable that the ceremony would be half awards, half swipe at Trump. Jimmy Kimmel pulled no punches. That gag with the people on the bus was probably a pleasant surprise for them. I mean, how often do you get to do that? When they announced the most famous car in movie history, I at first assumed that it would be either Herbie or Christine. I should've guessed that it was the DeLorean.

My only real complaint was that the ceremony opened with one of the songs. Isn't it more appropriate to introduce everyone first? As for the winners, I haven't seen enough of them to judge, and haven't been all that eager to see "La La Land" (named by Kimmel as the movie in which white people save jazz). Nonetheless, it's good that a Muslim (Mahershala Ali) finally got to win in an acting category, and that Viola Davis won; she's deserved an Oscar for a long time (this also makes her the first African-American to win the Triple Crown of Acting). It's good that Jackie Chan won an honorary Oscar, but I'd like to see the surviving members of Monty Python and the Beatles win honorary Oscars.

All in all, I was satisfied.