Elephant at the Oscars: Great Movies, Terrible Moment
The good, the bad and my 32 photos from inside
You Take the Good
At a moment when it felt like things couldn’t get any worse, Oscar found and nominated 10 terrific films for best picture.
And what’s more, the nominees crossed a wide spectrum — from giant commercial success (Sinners) to obscure arthouse (The Secret Agent) to streaming phenom (Frankenstein); from international (Sentimental Value) to very Hollywood studio (F1). There is not one film on the list that you can say made it for any reason other than its quality or entertainment value. For the first time, maybe in my adult lifetime, I would have been fine with any of them winning.
But for the ultimate winner, One Battle After Another, which received six awards — including three for director Paul Thomas Anderson after 11 previous tries — there was a reason this film was a juggernaut from September. It’s an exceptional tour de force from a filmmaker who has become a national treasure, featuring big, showy performances by genuine stars and exciting newcomers both.
For Hollywood, at this moment, being able to put together such a collection of work shows that all is not lost yet. We’d love to say this group points the way to the future, but let’s check back in 10 years and see how that works out.
In Conan O’Brien, the Oscars have a host who is also at or approaching national treasure status, who understands and appreciates the historic grandeur of the event, but is not intimidated by it.
I’ll leave the rest of the punditry on the winners and losers of the night elsewhere — my colleagues Katey Rich and Christopher Rosen recapped the whole thing on the Prestige Junkie podcast — but I’ll just say that all the nominees can feel very good about their part in lifting us up in this wretched time. Better yet, they should know that history — the final voter — will be very good to them all.
Kieran Culkin (pictured, fourth from right) was among the bar patrons to watch Michael B. Jordan win his historic Oscar for best actor. Jordan is only the sixth Black actor to win the award.
That. Said.
Guys, guys, guys…
…what are we doing here?
Does anyone know?
You Take the Bad
The fact that most of this night was a competition between two singular films (Sinners and One Battle After Another) made by a studio that might soon not exist is all the metaphor you need to understand where we are.
Are we fighting for the future of film, for the survival of filmmaking as a mass medium, or not?
And frankly if you believe, everything’s fine — film will be great, we don’t have to worry about that, we’ve been through speedbumps before — if that’s your sense of where we are, I’m going to have to recommend that you click to the next article; read another email. At this point, I’d have to say we’re just in two very different places, and the next few years will show which of us was right. (History, the final voter…)
But if you think that we are indeed at a perilous moment — if you agree with watchdog group Free Press, which posted a billboard on Hollywood Blvd. railing against David Ellison’s acquisition of Warner Bros., and think that we are fighting for the very future of this medium — then what the hell are we doing here?
With the survival of filmed entertainment on the line, its primary public outreach event is a three-hour-and-44-minute contest between two films that were largely released in theaters many months ago.
Where, after a six-month “season,” the suspense has been whittled down to which of just two films has a chance. And that this sector’s head is so far up its own nether regions that they think that constitutes actual suspense for anyone who isn’t being paid to follow this.
So I’m getting some serious Joe Biden 2024 vibes around this. If the stakes for the larger industry are that high, then why aren’t you acting like that? Why aren’t the Oscars and their leadership treating this battle like it’s of paramount importance? Where is the noise and outrage from all the people with a vested interest in the current gruesome awards calendar?
I said it before; I’ll say it again: In journalism, best-of lists start right after Halloween, and by mid-December, everyone is sick of them. This year’s Oscars were held on March 15. The last time the show was even in February, it was 2020. Even with a lineup of fairly popular films and winners — it’s the first time all four acting winners starred in movies that made over $100 million worldwide since 2013 — that doesn’t work. Just wait for another year of films that couldn’t crack $5 million.
What was the general mood last night inside the Dolby (apart from feelings about the nominees, which were positive)? I’d say:
Deflated and exhausted, with a surplus of gallows humor.
Plenty of who knows, and lots of whadya gonna do?
And mostly a bottomless supply of just not wanting to talk about it.
Which about sums it up.
Now, onto my photos of some of your favorite studio and streaming executives, agents and stars from the night — including Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Maya Rudolph, Mike & Pam and more.
But first, here’s a look at a young actor named Timothée Chalamet making his royal entrance:
FINALLY RICHARD a post from you about the Oscars that makes it seem like you actually LIKE the Oscars. Agreed on all fronts except I don’t know how the telecast can be shorter AND more grave AND still entertaining. My friends loved it and the voters in my family were effusive. I think the In Memoriam especially meant something to them and hit hard this year.