As most of our readers know, I host an Oscars party at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse each year. While it makes it impossible to be engaged on social media, I do get the instant reaction from a couple of hundred people live as we watch the show together. From what I could tell, last night’s broadcast was a success. I thought it went great, ran smoothly and quickly, and had only a few hiccups, one naked John Cena, and one disagreeable Al Pacino.
Here are a few of the highlights from last night’s Oscars, including some of the best acceptance speeches. My personal favorite belonged to Emma Stone who won Best Actress for Poor Things, and seemed genuinely surprised and unprepared to speak. It’s her second Oscar win in five nominations, and at her young age she could be on a Meryl Streep-surpassing run.
On the deeply emotional side, there was Da’Vine Joy Randolph who won Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers and was in tears long before she ever reached the stage. She then spoke about the glasses she wore in the film and revealed something none of us ever could’ve known, but adds to why this moment is so big for her.
Jonathan Glazer, whose The Zone of Interest won two Oscars for Best International Feature and Best Sound, used his time on stage to talk about the Israel-Gaza conflict, while the directors of Oscar-winning short 20 Days in Mariupol said they would trade their win if it meant never having to make the film about the war in Ukraine.
The highlight of the night for me was Jimmy Kimmel throwing a knockout blow to Donald Trump, after the former White House occupant criticized him on social media. Kimmel read Trump’s tweet and responded with the kind of deadly response that should serve as a reminder to never come after comedians with a live mic and a captive audience. It’s just stupid, and Trump is definitely stupid.
Also included is the In Memoriam, John Cena being a nude idiot (he wasn’t actually naked), Ryan Gosling’s epic performance of “I’m Just Ken”, and more.
