Watching this video (embedded after the jump) is so worth your time. Why does anyone want the Oscars to be short? Even 48 minutes just to celebrate the nominees taking a photo is too short!
00:27 Why isn't Laura Dern president of the Academy. Save us, Laura! Things have gone so haywire and the rumor is you yourself put the kabosh on the "popular film Oscar" idea so we know you have common sense.
01:15 "...A narrative that does not propagate myths but dispel them." Hmmm, whatever/whoever/what political party / propaganda channel could she ever be talking about? Hee.
02:00 I imagine these decorative bells on her dress making beautiful tiny ringing noises, too faint for the mic, when she moves, like she herself is giving wings to many angels by the second. She's one of them...
00:27 Why isn't Laura Dern president of the Academy. Save us, Laura! Things have gone so haywire and the rumor is you yourself put the kabosh on the "popular film Oscar" idea so we know you have common sense.
01:15 "...A narrative that does not propagate myths but dispel them." Hmmm, whatever/whoever/what political party / propaganda channel could she ever be talking about? Hee.
02:00 I imagine these decorative bells on her dress making beautiful tiny ringing noises, too faint for the mic, when she moves, like she herself is giving wings to many angels by the second. She's one of them...
02:39 "Shall we do this? Let's do this!" Laura can feel the love and excitement in the room, and she's going with it. Suddenly less scripted.
02:57 Spike Lee with his three nominations is first. The room is very excited. Amy Adams and Ruth E Carter and John Myhre follow and the RBG directors follow. One of the joys watching this is you can immediately tell who already knows each other, who has seen each other around but only acquaintance wise, and how excited everyone is to be there. We forget sometimes that LA is a one industry town. They're all in it together even though it's a competitive industry.
04:58 Just have to snapshot this image of Richard E Grant, Ai-Ling Lee, and Hannah Beachler because this is a big deal all three ways. Richard E Grant has been making movies for over 30 years and this is his first nomination and he's been thrilled all season (and so deserving), Beachler is the very first black person nominated for Production Design (Black Panther), and Ai-Ling Lee who most people haven't heard of yet is a rising star in the field of sound. She's been in the industry 20 years now, beginning in indies in the late 1990s. Nobody is making a big deal about this but perhaps they should: she's closing in on becoming the most nominated Asian woman of all time. She's on her fourth nomination now (two for La La Land and two for First Man , in Sound Mixing and Sound Editing) though she's yet to win. The most nominated Asian woman ever is, we believe, documentarian Freida Lee Mock (5 nominations and 1 win).
05:48 Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is a giant. wow. (Had to look it up just now. He's 6' 8")
08:17 Spike Lee and his longtime faithful composer Terence Blanchard just made eye contact / hand gestures about their tennis shoes.
10:17 As people are cheering Rami Malek, our eyes are on the genius makeup artist Pamela Goldammer, who Bradley Cooper just congratulated. She has pink hair and hopefully Marvel's Kevin Feige, far right, is realizing "oooh, we need her skills on our cinematic universe because her work on Border is out of this world spectacular". I say 'hopefully' because Kevin Feige probably doesn't watch cool Swedish movies but ya never know! (Meanwhile Lady Gaga is eavesdropping on the texts of documentarian RaMell Ross (Hale County This Morning This Evening). I mean, wouldn't you?
11:00 The reverence with which Laura Dern voices the syllables 'Glenn Close' with pauses around them? Perfection!
12:04 Nadine Labaki! And Laura Dern notifies me that I've been pronouncing Capernaum wrong for three months. Oops. Should state right here that it is annoying that the directors of Foreign Films aren't "official" nominees. Note the way they say "and the director of Lebanon's / Mexico's / Germany's / Japan's Oscar nominated..." NO. That should be official nominations for these people, Academy. You've recently added their names on the statues (which you should have done decades ago) but it's time to retroactively realize that these need to be official nominations for the director. Countries are not filmmakers.
12:56 Even the most able bodied, physically fit members of the Academy (like Christian Bale) let the ushers hold their hands to guide them up the steps to their place in the photo.
13:36 Rachel Weisz and Spike Lee are excited to see each other. Celebrities always seem so thrilled to talk to Spike Lee. With so much industry love why has it taken this long for him to be amply nominated?
Caleb Deschanel, Alfonso Cuarón (and Glenn Close) clapping for fellow cinematography nominee Lukasz Zal
14:18 Lukasz Zal (Cold War) is adorable. Who knew?
20:48 Melissa McCarthy just pretended to help usher her screenwriter Nicole Holofcener to her bleacher spot. Hee.
24:40 There are so many non-famous hotties here: Guy Nattiv (short film), Jeremy Comte (short film), Ludwig Goransson (original score).
26:37 Is that the score for The Favourite they're playing in the background as they introduce people?
27:12 Benjamin A Burtt, nominated for the sound of Black Panther. Its his first nomination. Assuming this is the son of legendary sound man Ben Burtt (who has four Oscars, two competitive and two specials, all for sound). Is he? Hollywood is such a family business town.
29:57 Jeff Whitty, Adapted Screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me?! (Notice Bruce Vilanch at a table behind him cheering. He's always hard to miss). True story: I was friends with Jeff Whitty's then-boyfriend at the time of Whitty's Tony win for Avenue Q (though I've never actually met Jeff Whitty). If he miraculously wins the Oscar he'll be halfway to an EGOT.
33:27 Nicholas Britell, Original Score. He's the nicest guy, you guys. I'm convinced he'll win an Oscar soon. Not just because he's so incredibly gifted but also because he's the sweetest guy, so it's hard to imagine anyone disliking him. (He's also a personal friend of Natalie Portman's from their college days)
36:00 There's so many people on stage now that it's impossible to see the cute exchanges between artist.
36:19 I'm predicting this dude (circled above) Trevor Jimenez is going to win Best Animated Short for "Weekends". He just won the Annie and the movie looks incredible (though I haven't seen it yet). I will be so sad not to see these prizes given out on air. STOP IT, ACADEMY, JUST STOP IT WITH YOUR "FIXES"
38:12 Nobody is talking about this, possibly because Crazy Rich Asians was so high profile and shut out, but there are a lot of Asians nominated this year in various categories. Wondering if it's actually a record or at least a tie that rare year where an Asian film had a gazillion nods (2000 via Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.)
40:54 We're now working on the seated row which means we're almost done. I wish this was a mandatory event because it's annoying that not everyone shows. I'm talking to you Emma Stone!
42:25 Bobby Pontillas (the one in the bowtie, bottom left) who is nominated for Animated Short (One Small Step) seems confused about something. He was seated, now he's standing and he keeps looking for someone he has apparently misplaced.
45:47 The Class of 2018. Now they're playing "Shallow" in the background and Laura Dern is congratulating everyone and reminding them to smile constantly as there are many photos being taken. She closes with a plug for the Academy's upcoming museum and a "thank god you're artists".
Hear hear.