Oscars Hot Takes
Awards season finally came to a close Sunday night with the 90th annual Academy Awards. Host Jimmy Kimmel did a great job keeping things fast and loose while still addressing some of the many issues at the forefront of Hollywood and across the country right now, like the #MeToo movement. And speaking of fast, he encouraged folks to keep their acceptance speeches brief with a little incentive: a Jet Ski and trip to Lake Havasu, Ariz., to the winner with the shortest speech. Phantom Thread costume designer Mark Bridges walked away with an Oscar and that Price Is Right-worthy prize package when his speech clocked in at around 30 seconds. And the show still ran over by almost an hour!
Once again, Kimmel surprised a bunch of normies who had no idea they’d be meeting Oscar nominees or appearing on TV (so… is that a dream come true or real-life nightmare?). A theater full of folks thinking they were getting an advance screening of A Wrinkle in Time was ambushed by Kimmel, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Margot Robbie, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lupita Nyong’o and others. There were hot dog guns. Here’s some other stuff that happened!
• History was made. Four-time nominee James Ivory nabbed his first Oscar, Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me By Your Name. At age 89, he’s the oldest winner in Academy history. As a man who wore film star and fellow nominee Timothée Chalamet’s face on his shirt, he’s also the most fashionable winner in Academy history. Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay for Get Out, becoming the first black director to win the award and third person overall to receive nominations in writing, directing and best picture categories for his directorial debut. He shot the poignant horror film in just 23 days on a $4.5 million budget. You go, Jordan Peele!
• …And none for Greta Gerwig. The indie darling’s nostalgic coming-of-age comedy, Lady Bird, was shut out, alongside The Post and Mudbound.
• It was ladies night. Frances McDormand called on all nominated women to stand in the audience, saying that they all had stories to tell and people better put their money where their mouths are by financing women-led projects. Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra shared a Time’s Up moment. Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster replaced Casey Affleck as Best Actress presenters (and killed it). Rita Moreno, who won Best Supporting Actress in 1962 for West Side Story, presented in the same damn dress she wore that year! #GOALS
• Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway got a second chance to announce Best Picture and didn’t F it up this time! Still, when director Guillermo del Toro accepted the Oscar for The Shape of Water, he immediately double-checked the envelope. The fish-man love story nabbed four of its 13 nominations, the most of the night.
For such a politically charged time (cue the “Stick to acting!” cries), there wasn’t a whole lot of feather-ruffling. Unless you’re Mike Pence. Nods to social causes, like support for Dreamers, seamlessly wove in and out of the light and entertaining program. And overall the wins were pretty predictable, with Gary Oldman (Best Actor, Darkest Hour), Frances McDormand (Best Actress, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Sam Rockwell (Best Supporting Actor, Three Billboards) and Allison Janney (Best Supporting Actress, I, Tonya) winning top acting awards. A fine, fun night. Looking ahead, we’re here for #HaddishRuloph2019. After loling throughout Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph’s presenting bit, we hope they’re pegged to host the next big show.
Clone Zone
Barbra Streisand is a legend. She’s an EGOT (winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). She’s brought to life iconic characters throughout her 60-year career. She’s a queen who cannot be stopped. She cloned her dead dog. Streisand recently revealed to Variety that her dogs Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett are actually clones of her 14-year-old Coton du Tulear (oh she fancy) Samantha, who passed last year. I’m actually more weirded out by the sweet old lady names she gives her pups than the whole cloning thing. Sign me up!
Good-Guy Glover
Girl Scouts are super business-savvy these days. We’ve all read about young cookie sellers setting up shop outside marijuana dispensaries — genius. One like-minded mini entrepreneur from Atlanta, Charity Joy Harrison, advertised Girl Scout cookies in a now-viral video based on Donald Glover’s song “Redbone.” She got to meet Glover on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, so naturally he made a tasty purchase — for himself and the entire studio audience. Harrison hit her quota and then some with Glover’s 113-box buy. He may be a successful rapper, actor, creator/star of Atlanta and young Lando, but that’s a chunk of change! Have you peeped the price on those bad boys lately? That’s like a $1,000 check right there.
Brooklyn Barbecue
Southerners and lovers of food alike are up in arms after a Munchies story on the Brooklyn barbecue scene, which apparently exists. The only problem? That shit doesn’t even look good. The main photo for the story is a sad looking plate of grub from Fette Sau’s BBQ with sauceless beef brisket, a couple of dry-ass store-bought rolls and two sour pickles. People with taste buds were quick to retort with some pics of some real Southern comfort food, but the problems don’t stop with it looking unappetizing. These hipster “barbecue” joints are also expensive AF. That same pitiful plate of brisket costs $29 per pound, before adding sides. Add to that waiting in long lines for a seat at a restaurant that frequently sells out of dishes and you have a pretty stellar example of how white people ruin everything.
Contact T.C. Britton: letters@citybeat.com
This article appears in Mar 7-14, 2018.