Random Leftover Thoughts from Oscar Night...
Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 8:00AM by Nathaniel R
Yes, I'm trying to stave off the annual Post Oscar Depression. It's a real thing even if the medical community doesn't yet recognize it. So herewith some random final screengrabs from Oscar night and accompanying thoughts on topics we haven't totally covered yet over the past 3 days of Oscar reactions, recapping, post-mortem. (I promise we'll quit with Oscar 2016 by tonight and move on to other topics for those of you who've already moved on)
Did you gasp with how flowy Scarlett Johansson's gown was as she presented. I mean, did they have a wind machine on her or does she just walk really fast?
Speaking of Scarjo, she seemed unfazed when Jungle Book won Visual FX and the camera was on her but she was far more animated while Denzel Washington was being chatted up from the stage. When it it going to be Scarlett's turn to win some damn prizes? She's such a major talent and getting better all the time. Perhaps the right combo of role and film and year just hasn't presented itself yet.
I'm glad that someone (by which I mean Isabelle Huppert) enjoyed the joke about no one seeing Elle because I did not (we bitched about this on the podcast). This screengrab made me wonder though what Terrence Howard (love him checking Huppert's reaction out, here) and Brie Larson (also giggly about the joke) thought of Elle. Nothing would make me happier than to know which acting branch members gave Huppert the nomination via their #1 placements on ballots. (I mean Jessica Chastain obviously but who else worships Huppert?)
Keith Urban is low maintenance obedient. Jimmy Kimmel tells him to close his eyes and imagine treats and he totally does. Nicole pretends to close her eyes and then just flicks them right back open. Does she also shake her Christmas gifts to determine contents? Maybe she doesn't like surprises?
Leslie Mann and John Cho, who were such good funny presenters when they shared the Sci-Tech winners, were very excited about the candy coming down. As was I. I don't know why since I wasn't eating it. This is the moment I realized that Dominic Cooper had shown up (even if he's not sitting with his girlfriend -- why are they so shy about publicity together?) and that Rosemarie De Witt, who has a small part in La La Land, was also in attendance.
But back to Leslie Mann & John Cho. Rewatching the show I can safely say they were the funniest presenters (Kate McKinnon's comedy a runner up) -- so charming and funny that we need them co-starring in a comedy real soon, okay, Hollywood?
And I think Viola & Denzel & their spouses will totally back me up on this as they were here for that presentation.
The candy falling from the sky followed by donuts and cookies paid unexpectedly great dividends with reaction shots. May we also have a reteaming of the Hidden Figures cast with a Nicole Kidman cameo? Loved that seating arrangement.
Speaking of Candy, this was the most clever dish at my Oscar party. Jason brought in gummy brains on a pink pillbox hat in honor of Jackie? In poor taste, purposefully, but poor taste in that John Waters kind of fun way perfect for Oscar parties that made everyone giggle.
More tales from my party. I can't remember if I told you - I probably did, at least on instagram? -- but when Lin-Manuel Miranda came out to do his new Moana rap, Christopher (my furry house guest) sat on the remote and abruptly changed the channel to screams from the room.
A minute later into the song he did it again after which we had to hide the remote.
Christopher very much enjoyed the party but not the Oscars. He is still pissed that Lion, his favorite, lost. His favorite hiding spot (though he doesn't hide much as an attention hogging non-shy cat) is behind or on top of the DVD right by the screeners.
Remember that moment when Matt Damon "tripped" Jimmy Kimmel and they glared at each other? On second viewing, the audience cackling is much funnier -- they are really into it. Especially seat mates and copresenters Shirley Maclaine and Charlize Theron who are all but screaming with laughter.
Guess you had to be there?
In Sunday Night's performance the role of Everyone Around the World Watching Viola Davis Win the Oscar will be played by Russell Hornsby.
Admit it you teared up, at least inside, too!
How cute was it when Meryl tried to hide from the cameras behind her ever patient hubby Don Gummer (think of how often he's had to sit for hours in uncomfortable suits while his wife was celebrated. We're talking thousands of hours! If anyone would like to do a montage of Meryl & Don from the 1980s through now sitting in their Oscar seats I bet it would provoke just buckets of tears from their stability... and also the realization of how much older we all are every time Meryl is given a trophy.
We also learned that Don feeds his wife. She wiggled her fingers in anticipation as he handed her Junior Mints to nibble.
We considered doing a whole piece on star reactions to their clips but there weren't enough really amusing ones this year to make it worth the time. But consider these three screen caps, post performance clip:
It's safe to say that the number one most effective and most endearing way to deal with awards show nerves, and the anxiety that comes from sitting in a room in which you're being lauded and forced to watch your own work in bite-sized often oddly chosen form in front of all of your peers, is to have a really grounding loved one right next to you. After your clip you can turn to and share a warm conspiratorial smile. They know you. They probably know how you really felt on set that week or about that whole performance. They love you off screen, too.
I know not everyone was happy about Casey Affleck winning but as someone who firmly believes in separating art from artists (I mean, I can't keep up with all their personal lives, can you?, plus I don't even want to in most cases) and someone who thinks the performance is pretty great (not Best of the year, but almost) I was okay with the win, even though I would have far preferred Viggo's first or Denzel's third. But this hug moved me.
There aren't that many sets of Oscar winning siblings in the world and most of them aren't as close as the Brothers Affleck (with their lifelong friend Matt Damon, captured applauding them accidentally off to the side -- scratch that. There's no way the Oscar directors/cameraman didn't position themselves to not have Damon in the shot). There's Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland (who were famously not fond of each other), there's Warren & Shirley (who aren't that connected in pop culture to the point where people are often surprised to learn they're brother and sister -- yes, even now that they're ancient. Every time I mention it, as with this tweet
In hubbub over EnvelopeGate, let us not forget the cuteness of Shirley MacLaine waving to her little brother from the audience! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/ox5kSXWZPn
— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) February 27, 2017
I can safely expect someone to explain:
They're brother and sister ?!?!?"
as its happened every time I've ever mentioned it whether it's the 80s, the 90s, the Aughts or this week!
One of the reasons it's great when any Oscar night spreads the wealth is that you get to see more than just one team in closeups. As a longtime fan of Denis Villeneuve, I was thrilled that he was thanked from the stage for Arrival's one win. (Look to the left: They sat the real Saroo Brierley behind him... not sure where they were seated but it seems kind of far back)
Even though the men of Moonlight got a lot of exposure and probably career boosts this year, we still didn't get to see enough of Trevante Rhodes and Andre Holland on Oscar night so here they are clapping for a Moonlight win, I forget which.
Even though it was hard to process Moonlight's win on the night of the Oscars, given the fiasco in presentation (which we've amply covered), it's settling in how beautiful and historic the choice was, isn't it? The cast was quite understandably overwhelmed. I mean look at this perfecct cap of Jharrel Jerome (who plays the teenage Kevin) hugging Alex R Hibbert (who plays the littlest Chiron)!
Finis.
Please do share all of your random leftover thoughts that you don't know quite what to do with it. Post Oscar Malaise can wait until tomorrow to arrive!
Reader Comments (58)
@NATHANIAL R, I totally agree (by the way, I apologise for a typo in my previous post - I meant to say 'Are these awards supposed to honour individual achievement and excellence in art, or are they supposed to honour virtue and moral character? If it is the former, as I believe is the intention, I'm afraid we must separate the art from the artist...').
It seems quite clear to me that you are completely sincere and staunch in your concern with respect to the deplorable way women are often treated within the film industry, among other walks of life, and I see no inconsistency whatsoever with respect to your comments regarding the reasons why Donald Trump's history of sexual assault makes him unfit to hold the position of President (among many other reasons), whereas an artist, for example, Woody Allen or Casey Affleck, can still be honoured for their respective work (if most certainly not their personal merits as human-beings).
Allen and Affleck's respective works and performances, as artists, are not automatically invalidated on account of their private lives (I think the situation is complicated where we're discussing stand-up comedians and memoirists, whose work is predominantly dependant on their personal life and personality, but many of Allen's best works as a filmmaker, are philosophical ruminations that transcend his personal life, and Affleck is an actor who interprets other artists' work through performance). But an individual's personal character and integrity, is arguably quite fundamental to their ability to perform the role of a democratically representative politician, particularly a head-of-state, and Trump's record of demeaning women means he is arguably unfit to act on behalf of at least 50% of the US population.
All that said, I do sympathise with survivors of sexual assault and harassment, and I can entirely understand why many might feel offended by Affleck's win. In the broad scheme of things, Casey Affleck's win does appear to send out a negative message to many women, that men can still be honoured and celebrated even after being publicly called-out for assaulting and harassing women, and in a year in which Trump was inaugurated and Planned Parenthood is increasingly under threat, that may be an even more bitter pill to swallow.
But I do maintain, that if artistic awards are to mean anything, all extraneous matters and issues, beyond the quality of the given piece of art, in this instance an acting performance, should be set-aside. I strongly suspect that Casey Affleck, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, and Mel Gibson, will never be considered for any type of humanitarian award (and I personally would not have considered Polanski for the Camerimage Lifetime Achievement award he won in 2007), but that should never invalidate their significant achievements as artists.
There is no such thing as an objective 'best' with regard to art. No one is obligated to recognize a performance as an objective 'best' - and to claim that they're doing so is purely disingenuous. We all have implicit biases. And our conception of 'best' is colored by these biases - regardless of our attempt to divorce them from consideration. As such, Affleck's performance is now and has always been a subjective choice. Own that choice.
And I think it does the conversation a disservice to continually straw-man the few of us who found the Affleck choice objectionable. No one here (that I've read) has advocated burning the man at the stake for these allegations. We do, however, think he shouldn't be receiving accolades, particularly when he spent the entire campaign silent on the subject (I hear he couldn't legally speak on the matter - yeah - how convenient).
In any event, I appreciate the dialogue being had here (and the blog in general - big fan), but we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
KBJr - I appreciate the non-attacking tone! Agreed that these things are subjective, judging art. Of course they are. But i would reiterate that you're very much in the majority (not "the few" as you say)... at least here on the blog if not in the Academy ;)
I didn't mean to open a can of worms or offend anyone by posting a photo of Casey being hugged by his brother -- in fact, I've mostly been silent about Casey Affleck this season so I regret stepping in it now -- particularly because I don't have strongs feelings about his career so it wasn't worth the grief and I have no urge to "defend him" (though I will always defend separating art from artists because life is just impossible to enjoy if you can't separate things people make from people themselves, especially since we can't truly know other people who are complete strangers to us).
but thanks everyone for the conversation.
I think the bigger issue for me is that Casey Affleck didn't just gain a statue, he gained more clout in the industry. Something that gives him more power to potentially abuse subordinates. That power imbalance is only going to be greater now, and I hate that he was given that gift, vs say a critics groups saying they liked his performance. It is the industry deciding he is important, which will always feel like it is condoning that abusive power imbalance. And I still watched Manchester by the Sea, because as you said, many many people went into making it. And I would say he was good in it. But I don't think he deserves to gain more respectablity and power as he has already exploited that position.
Oh! And there is a difference from disliking someone's homophobia/misogyny/ racism, which admittedly we all experience in any field and I'm sure exist plenty in the film industry, and someone actually committing assault and harassment, I am sure you would agree. That said, I also feel for you and can't believe your civil right and so many others are in jeopardy thanks to the manic and his team of cretins! I so get needing a cinematic escape. But for me, and my personal experiences Affleck had a disturbing reflection of trump, the tape, and people deciding it didn't matter.
I was about to write something alone these lines. Given the five options this year, if I were an Academy member, I would have ruled Garfield out and been approving of the other four performances, purely artistically. And since there's no such thing as "best," I would have voted for the one a) whose film I liked most, or b) whose body of work I liked most, or c) whose personality I liked most, or d) whose politics I liked most, or any combination of the above.
This year, it would have been Denzel.
Nat, thanks very much for your response. I feel that your explanation about Trump solidified my impression that you don't really believe in art vs artist either -- like most people, you simply have different criteria, but the criteria matters to you nonetheless -- how much power does this artist hold? What sway do they have inside or outside of art? Is their behavior recurring and well-documented? What's the balance between the lives they've impacted versus the quality of the art they've created? In a behavior-blind world, Trump's (purely hypothetical, nonexistent) art and Casey Affleck's art would be judged on the same level. But as you've pointed out, they wouldn't because they hold such tremendously different positions in the world. That a distinction has to be made between the two shows that the sum of the artist's art is more than just the art. I know that using Trump is a pretty drastic and anomalous example, but I just wanted to show that a limit does exist for everyone. I have mine, and you have yours. It's fine. I can't get riled up about yours -- but I think it does behoove you to understand why so many of your readers, particularly women and sexual violence survivors, cannot afford a more generous limit than yours. And that your particular stance does not emanate from a morally superior position simply because it commits to a stance of neutrality. Please understand that most of us aren't typing this from a need for rage-frothing petty drama, and that we have put as much thought into the positions we support over the years as you have. You've commented frequently on what you feel is the Internet's increasing penchant for reactionary politics and mob thought over the years, but I think it's the reverse. I think people are learning to listen to different marginalized groups, amplify their voices, reconsider their own stances, and speak up with less fear.
Thanks again to you and the rest of the TFE team for making it one of my favorite websites and comment sections for film.
"And since there's no such thing as "best," I would have voted for the one a) whose film I liked most, or b) whose body of work I liked most, or c) whose personality I liked most, or d) whose politics I liked most, or any combination of the above."
Rightly or wrongly, personality and politics do not come into it for me.
Unless I've seen the films in question, I do tend to root for the most ideologically-sound choice (which would not, in this case be Casey Affleck, although seeing as Denzel has already got two Oscars under his belt, I'd probably have been inclined to support one of the other three nominees). But ultimately I trust and hope that AMPAS votes purely on the basis of the quality of performances on display, irrespective of extraneous matters. Roman Polanski and Woody Allen may indeed be abhorrent individuals, but I'm not going to dismiss the quality of their filmographies, because both filmmakers have produced some incredible pieces of cinema, and on a purely artistic basis, I'd be inclined to rate many of their films amongst the very best, if not the best, of their respective years.
Also, at what stage do you dismiss a filmmaker's work? I was a fan of Woody Allen before the whole Soon-Yi Previn scandal emerged, and certainly a long while before Dylan Farrow accused him of sexually molesting her, so I cannot in all honesty pretend that say The Purple Rose of Cairo or Crimes and Misdemeanours are anything but the same classic pieces of cinema they were when I first saw them (circa early 1990s). Likewise, I can't pretend to detest Casey Affleck's work in The Assassination of Jesse James... or Gone Baby Gone, even if my personal opinion of the actor has significantly changed since I first heard of the sexual assault charges made against him.