The Oscar Luncheon was a hit - everyone glad to be back in the room
Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 7:00PM by Nathaniel R
tick tick BOOM reunion at the Oscar luncheon
For those of you who are not "extremely online" as they say, we thought we'd share some photos and point you to some fine accounts of the Oscar luncheon since they'll be new to you. We are neither cool enough nor local enough to be invited to this Los Angeles event (TFE is a NYC site... though a couple of our contributors are in LA) but thankfully some journalists are! The event took place yesterday and the reports have been trickling in ever since...
Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis from EW's photo gallery
One of the most interesting bits of "buzz" from multiple sources is that the nominee in attendance who received the biggest round of applause was not any of the presumed frontrunners but Aunjanue Ellis from King Richard. We also know that four key players from Power of the Dog did not attend: Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons (who were at work on their next movies) and both Jane Campion and Cinematography Ari Wegner (who both tested positive for COVID).
Diane Warren getting cheeky with an Oscar statue
Kyle Buchanan has a wonderful piece about the luncheon which begins with a killer lede about the son of one of Best Animated Short nominees, so head on over if you haven't read it. There are many photos, too. Deadline's Pete Hammond also attended and shares details of ceremony producer's Will Packer's welcome speech and a fun tidbit about Diane Warren who is a always fun at events:
Thirteen-time Best Song nominee Diane Warren, up again this year for “Somehow You Do,” came up to meet Branagh, whose Belfast sports a competing song by Van Morrison in her category. “I know you aren’t going to vote for me but I am so glad to meet you anyway,” she laughed. This whole lunch has that kind of feeling. No one seems to be rivals on this day.
Lunana's director and his wife at the luncheon. Photo from IndieWire
Anne Thompson's was also there and mentions the thing everyone was talking about -- the decision to jettison 8 craft categories from the show and give them out while the stars are still walking the red carpet. Most people seem to be taking a 'wait and see' approach to give the Academy a chance to work this out though no one is "happy" about it. She also verifies the twitter buzz that there was a lot of love in the room for the CODA team.
EW has a photo gallery you should check out, too.
We haven't seen much online coverage of the fashions at the luncheon but Tom & Lorenzo discussed both Kristen Stewart and Ariana DeBose's outfits.
Kodi Smit-McPhee also won praise for his cloud-adorned suit and was dutifully asked about Sam Elliott's recent diss of The Power of the Dog for its "allusions to homosexuality"
Kodi Smit-McPhee's response to Sam Elliott's criticism of #ThePowerOfTheDog? "Nothing. 'Cause I'm a mature being and I'm passionate about what I do. And I don't really give energy to anything outside of that." https://t.co/Ga9t3fqQgc pic.twitter.com/csAaXI25N0
— Variety (@Variety) March 8, 2022
Beautifully unbothered. Which we also hope is what The Power of the Dog team is feeling as it heads towards final Oscar balloting. We think it's going to win but people do get bored of discussing one film for months so there's always a chance that these long long loooong versions of the Oscar season end up throwing presumed winners of course.
Steven Spielberg posing with one of the puppets from the Chilean animated short "Bestia" -- photo source
Thankfully Steven Spielberg, the world's most legendary living film director, was definitely bothered by the Academy's decision to cut craft categories from the ceremony. In an interview the day before the luncheon he went off about it, stating:
“I disagree with the decision made by the executive committee. I feel very strongly that this is perhaps the most collaborative medium in the world. All of us make movies together, we become a family where one craft is just as indispensable as the next,” the 19-time Oscar nominee and Thalberg Award winner told me. “I feel that at the Academy Awards there is no above the line, there is no below the line. All of us are on the same line bringing the best of us to tell the best stories we possibly can. And that means for me we should all have a seat at the supper table together live at 5.”
One of the most beautiful things about the luncheon, that you hear from every source, is how there's no hierarchy. Everyone chats with everyone. Sound designers sit with actors and directors with Makeup people. If you're a nominee, you're a nominee period. The same should be true, and previously was true, about Oscar night.
Reader Comments (14)
I'm glad there is no acrimony or rivalries at the luncheon and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Bless you Spielberg for your statement. Whoever made this decision to separate the categories should be embarrassed and hopefully not put in charge of anything like this again.
Post-covid feelings are hard to express, and then reports of in-person Oscar Luncheons come along.
Love Kodi's clouds! That's gotta boost a couple of votes lol.
Sucks that Kirsten couldn't attend, but happy that she's already filming something else. :-)
I've already accepted that she isn't winning anyhow.
Do we think Ellis has a path? If she does, she'll need to win BAFTA, which feels possible given the lukewarm reception to West Side Story in the UK.
DeBose has never felt like a secure frontrunner to me. Maybe it's just wishful thinking (I much prefer Ellis to DeBose)
Would be awesome to see Chastain and Ellis win on the same night, adding to the trend for "The Help" ladies. The SAG miss is a big detractor though.
Stewart absolutely rocks. She would be the coolest winner since Angelina.
Good for you Kodi! Sam Elliott is just a jealous old fart that's upset because men don't find him attractive enough.
Spielberg is dead-on. In fact, if they won't present all the categories. Then why show up?
Did they take an Oscar luncheon class photo this year? Based on a casual review of other websites, I never saw a photo, or saw any discussion about it.
COVID doesn't seem like much of an explanation here. Attendees could talk to each other up close, but they can't all sit together?
@Shmeebs: I'm not sold on Supporting Actress being a two-woman race. I could totally see Aunjanue Ellis taking this, maybe along with Will Smith, or maybe without him.
Well said Mr McPhee,his earring is crying out for it's own twitter feed so it can respond to Elliott's comments by simply looking like everything.
Brevity -- they did. But, due to COVID they took it in sections of like a dozen people at a time and they're going to combine the photos in photoshop... which is why we didn't see the photo instantly as we usually do.
Chastain brought Steve Pieters as her date. I didn't think it was possible for me to love her more...
Kodi and Spielberg LOVE!
@Schmeebs: I loved Ellis in King Richard but I don't know if she has a path to win. I think Supporting Actress is really strong this year (the sole exception being Dench, who is good in Belfast but not doing anything particularly noteworthy) -- I feel Ellis, DeBose, & Dunst esp would all be deserving winners.
I tried to find the traditional group photo online without success. Did they decide to skip it due to pandemic concerns? I really love that every year. My FB is empty now...
Also, I need a Chastain and Cruz together shot now...
For the longest time I thought that Ellis was in 5t place, and that Dench was the spoiler that might sneak in a win if Dunst and DeBose split votes (She would be the oldest winner in her category and only the 3rd person to win twice in her category- that's two times to make history!) but maybe Ellis has the best shot to upset.
Never mind, I missed the above posts about the group photo. Thanks!