The Oscars

The 91st Oscars has finally arrived! And so has my first review! After being plagued by so many stupid decisions, one would have thought The Academy would do everything in their power to make this show as good as it can be. With no host, we were all wondering how the show was gonna get off to a start. We were treated to a Queen performance as the opening act. Which wasn't great. The lead singer's voice pales in comparison to Freddie. As soon as the first award was announced, we knew this was gonna be a highly politically motivated show. Littered by African American sentiments, Feminist motives, Anti-Trump agenda, etc., the show continued to disappoint at every turn. Though most of the awards given out were highly deserving, the show felt rushed right from the get go. People getting shut off during their speeches was a common sight. God! Why can't you just let them have their moment!? I couldn't help but fall asleep so many times. Mahershala Ali, Rami Malek (Though I was rooting for Bale) and Olivia Colman were the only good parts of the three and a half hour long snoozefest. Don't waste your time sitting through the entire show and just google the results instead. You wouldn't miss much.

It started off with a blast. Queen!

The hostless Oscars ceremony because some comedians have not realised the dangers of social media.

However the lack of jokes was noticeable and maybe we should have had more Queen songs.

The awards were nicely spread out this year. Bohemian Rhapsody, Black Panther, Roma, Green Book all got a slice of the pie. I did think Green Book was undeserving of the top prize, especially as one of the writer's Nick Vallelonga supported one of Trump's lies about Muslims in New Jersey and was caught with his metaphorical pants down. It also undermined the message the film was making.

The downside of the Oscars were those excruciating awful speeches. Here is a hint, the television audience does not want to know the names of everyone associated in your life. If you win the best special effects Oscar, there can be 750 people who worked on the special effects in some capacity. So when you thank and read out the names of 30 people. What about the other 730 who you have ignored?

The worse offender was Spike Lee who ironically won an Oscar for his words. I had to put my hands on my face in horror as he droned on and on. I would not be surprised if BlacKkKlansman was meant to be the Best Picture Oscar winner and someone swapped it for Green Book to save the world from another Spike Lee speech. Spike, there were three other writers of that film and they did not even manage to get a word in.

At least Lady Gaga showed how it should be done. A powerful performance of Shallow with Bradley Cooper followed by an inspiring speech.

To me, most of these films were a bit weak in regards of quality. Roma is a great film, Blackkklansman is a great film, and even Vice is pretty top notch...but the rest? Forgettable. Probably one of the weaker Oscar ceremonies and the only Oscar ceremonies I watched that stopped watching.

Okay but got boring pretty quickly.

The big issue these award shows now face is that their audience watches film on multiple platforms, in theatres, streaming, cable, free to air TV. The days of everyone going off to the cinema to watch a popular movie are gone, never to return. The impact the awards have is greatly diluted by this fact, the quality of the output is as good as ever but award shows that concentrate on one medium seem missing a lot, it's because they no longer reflect the audience. Also through Netflix it a lot less American centric, again diluting the award.

Best Picture W : Green Book M : Green Book

Best Leading Actor W : Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) M : Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

Best Leading Actress W : Olivia Colman (The Favourite) M : Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Supporting Actor W : Mahershala Ali (Green Book) M : Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Best Supporting Actress W : Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) M : Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Best Director W : Alfonso Quaron (Roma) M : Alfonso Quaron (Roma)

Best Original Screenplay W : Green Book M : Green Book

Best Adapted Screenplay W : Blackkklansman M : A Star is Born

Best Cinematography W : Roma W : Roma