“That was the greatest night in the history of television, ” said presenter Chris Rock after Will Smith stormed the stage and slapped him on live TV. Rock was presenting the award for Best Documentary and made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, “I can’t wait to see you in G.I. Jane 2,” referring to the film in which Demi Moore played a buzz cut soldier. Stunned silence ensued in the theater and at home as the censors muted the profanity, but Will Smith was an easy lip read, “keep my wife’s name out of your f—mouth!” Pinkett Smith has been public about her hair loss condition (alopecia). A short while later, Smith accepted the Best Actor award with a tearful, apologetic speech, “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father (Richard)…but love will make you do crazy things.”
Ok, what else happened. Coda won all three awards it was nominated for – Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and the top prize of the night, Best Picture. Coda is exclusively on Apple TV+, becoming the first streaming movie to win Best Picture (yes, beating Netflix to that first). Dune won six awards in the audio-visual and editing realm. Jessica Chastain was the Best Actress in conjunction with the makeup and hairstyling award that turned her into Tammy Faye Bakker. Ariana DeBose finished her sweep of the Supporting Actress awards as Anita in West Side Story. And Kenneth Branaugh won his first ever Oscar for writing Belfast after 8 previous nominations.
The show itself was an improvement over recent years for several reasons: no masks; hugs and kisses instead of social distancing, a return to the traditional order of the awards, and the trio of hosts. Amy, Wanda, and Regina were funny and in sync. They made fun of the obscure movies favored by the Academy. Wanda Sykes: “I’ve watched The Power of the Dog three times and I’m halfway through it.” And Amy Schumer addressing “the elephant in the room,” upon returning to the stage after “the slap seen around the world, “I’ve been getting out of that Spiderman costume, did I miss anything? There’s like a different vibe in here.”
Shortening the program and boosting the ratings were major goals for the Academy. How’d they do? They took out the eight awards from the live ceremony, but added musical acts, film anniversaries, and a fan-favorite award. Once again, the show failed to contain itself to its three-hour time slot running about 3:35, 15 minutes longer than last year. Five million more people watched than last year. Yay! Unfortunately, last year’s 10.5 million viewers was an all-time low by a substantial margin. So, last night comes in at the second lowest ever.
It came down to Coda and The Power of the Dog. Coda’s win embodies the shift in how and where we watch movies (streaming over theater), and the major studios increasing emphasis on popular escapism, as opposed to artsy, adult-oriented fare. The Academy needs to find a place for both, and maybe last night’s theme Movie Lovers Unite signaled a turn in that direction, despite the slap-down that shattered that sentiment. But that’s something else the telecast has going for it. You never know what’s going to happen on live TV.
Here are the winners (Oh, I got 18/20, missing the Original Screenplay and Supporting Actor):
- Best Picture: Coda
- Director: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
- Lead Actor: Will Smith, King Richard
- Lead Actress: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
- Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur, Coda
- Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
- Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branaugh, Belfast
- Adapted Screenplay: Coda
- Documentary Feature: Summer of Soul
- Animated Feature: Encanto
- Cinematography: Dune
- Visual Effects: Dune
- Film Editing: Dune
- International Film: Drive My Car
- Costume Design: Cruella
- Makeup and Hairstyling: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
- Production Design: Dune
- Sound: Dune
- Score: Dune
- Original Song: “No Time to Die” – Billie Eilish
Trivia: Who has won the most acting Academy Awards?
Answer: Katharine Hepburn (Morning Glory, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter, and On Golden Pond)