Through the miracle that is a TiVo with a Fast Forward button, I got through the entirety of the Academy Awards telecast in about twenty-five minutes. Nothing I'm reading online today has me thinking maybe I missed something important.
I did put the brakes on and stop briefly for a few of the acceptance speeches in the categories that don't usually get much notice. I did think Brad Pitt was pretty darn good in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But what I always think about at these ceremonies is that when you see someone win for Best Editing or Best Sound Mixing, you're probably seeing the high point of that person's entire life…and a life-changing moment at that.
Brad Pitt's world probably didn't change that much last night. It's kind of like when they bring millionaire celebrities onto game shows and let them play for charity. Winning doesn't matter that much to them.
Actually, I'm not qualified to say whether Pitt's was the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role because I didn't see all the others. I did watch A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and didn't think Tom Hanks quite disappeared into the role enough to be convincing as a man who wasn't a natural performer. I felt the same way about him playing Walt Disney. Pitt may well have been the best choice.
I'm also not qualified to say how good or bad the ceremony itself was, having opted out more than 75% of it. Not having a main host seems to cut down on the morning-after judgements that the show sucked because people don't have a specific host to beat up on.
Needless to say, a lot of folks are upset at omissions in the "In Memoriam" reel. The big "How could they possibly leave him/her out?" reactions seem to be about Tim Conway, Luke Perry, Cameron Boyce, Jan-Michael Vincent, Carol Lynley, Michael J. Pollard and Sid Haig. My position here is that while I would have liked to see some of those folks included, I think the overlooking of people who weren't actors is the greater injustice. Have you seen anyone today express shock at the non-inclusion of a cinematographer or a writer or a producer? I didn't think so.
Here's a link to a photo gallery of the 163 people who could have been in the montage. If you enjoy kvetching about this, I'm sure you can find others to be outraged about.