Oscars

Oscars Wrap-Up

Posted on by Matt Hambidge

Well if the Oscars proved one thing this year, it’s that they can run a successful show without a host. Leading up to the 91st edition of Hollywood’s biggest night there was lots of talk about how this would affect the show. Anyone following the news no doubt saw constant references to the 1989, the last year the ceremony went host-less. That year, of course, (in)famously featured this opening act.

No surprise there that the show bombed that year. But thankfully there was no such problem this year, as Queen and Adam Lambert got the night off to a great start.

But the show went on just fine without an emcee. It felt like it allowed for the focus to be more on the films (radical move, I know) rather than on forced bits in between award presentations. But perhaps the biggest takeaway (for me, at least) was that we finally had no dumb “let’s involve the crowd and/or fans” moment. Those have been the single worst thing about recent Oscars, and I could not be happier that there was none of that nonsense this year. I loved the format and I’m hoping the ratings reflect the improved show.

I won’t be going over all the winners here, so if you need a refresher, go here for a complete winner list. I’ll just be covering different notable moments from the night, in no real particular order.

Best Director Betting Odds

This was a surprising storyline that seemingly popped up out of nowhere. If you aren’t a gambler, this likely slipped past your radar. This article by Darren Rovell from The Action Network details it. Alfonso Cuarón had long been thought to be the heavy favorite to take home the prize for Best Director. Depending on what site you looked at, he was typically around -1500 or -2000. For those unfamiliar with betting odds, -2000 means you would have to bet $2000 to win $100. Yorgos Lanthimos had been well behind, typically sitting at around 45/1 or so. But on Sunday many sports books saw heavy action on Lanthimos, leading many to wonder about a potential information leak. The action was so heavy that many sites dropped Lanthimos’ odds to 5/1.

But as any seasoned gambler knows (or anyone who has even minimal gambling experience), these rumors are all but impossible to trust. An out of the blue “hot gambling tip”? If it sounds too sketchy, it’s because it is. Regardless of where the information came from, or if there was even an ounce of truth to it or not, Cuarón won for Best Director, as expected. Nevertheless, it added some unexpected intrigue to the night’s proceedings. Hopefully none of you lost any money chasing the upset.

Keegan-Michael Key

That’s all, nothing more.

Song Performances

“Shallow”

This was arguably the most anticipated moment of the night; or at least the most anticipated non-award moment. And it did not disappoint. It was easily a highlight of the night. Notably, “Shallow” was the only nominated song to be performed by the artists who performed it in the movie.

“The Look”

Bradley Cooper has been with model Irina Shayk since 2015, but Lady Gaga recently split from her fiancé. That fact, couple with this look and their fantastic chemistry will almost surely result in no shortage of rumors surrounding their relationship.

*Live look at Irina Shayk during this performance*

“All the Stars”

“All the Stars” was notably the only Best Original Song nominee to not be performed. But it was with good reason. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, artists Kendrick Lamar and SZA were invited to perform. But Lamar is currently out of the country and he did not feel he would have enough to plan a worthy performance. Producers of the show felt that Lamar and SZA were ingrained in the identity of the song, so much so that they did not want anyone else to perform it.

“The Place Where Lost Things Go”

Bette Midler performed the Mary Poppins Returns song in Emily Blunt’s place, as Blunt did not attend the Oscars. As much as everyone would have undoubtedly enjoyed seeing Blunt, you can’t really blame her for not coming. Neither she nor husband John Krasinski were nominated this year. Krasinski’s movie A Quiet Place was nominated for Sound Editing, but lost to Bohemian Rhapsody.

“I’ll Fight”

Eh. Maybe if I had seen RBG I would have liked it more.

“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings”

Nope. Not even going to post this one. One of the more inexplicable nominations. There were so many more deserving songs than this. Take any song from A Star is Born (except for the obviously intentionally bad ones), “Can You Imagine That?” from Mary Poppins Returns or “Home,” “Sunflower,” or “What’s Up Danger?” from Into the Spider-Verse.

Black Panther Makes History

Even though the Marvel box-office behemoth lost out on Best Picture, it still managed to cement itself in Oscars history. Wins for both Best Costume Design and Best Production Design were the first ever wins for African-American women in both categories – Ruth E. Carter for Costume Design and  Hannah Beachler (sharing with Jay Hart) for Production Design.

Ludwig Goransson won the film’s third award of the night, for Best Original Score.

Trevor Noah

A great example of why no host is needed. Give us small, brief moments like this throughout the night. There doesn’t necessarily have to be someone running the show, if you will. Just get a bunch of funny people and let them be funny for 30 seconds.

Olivia Colman

Without checking her filmography I don’t think I could name another movie she’s been in, though I definitely intend to change that. But this speech is everything.

Green Book wins Best Picture

Well, this should be interesting. In the vacuum of being a movie, I thought Green Book was great, though it certainly was not without its share of controversy, which many thought would be enough to derail its chances here. But Roma was potentially hurting from the fact that no foreign film has won Best Picture before, plus there’s the backlash (Maybe the wrong word? But you get the point.) from being a Netflix film. Bohemian Rhapsody had its own controversies to deal with. And of course there’s the preferential voting system used to determine the Best Picture winner. Now, I thought that might open it up to BlacKkKlansman, The Favourite, or even Black Panther to sneak in and take the prize. It will be very interesting to see how this ages over the coming years.

Fashion Time!

Time to get my in-depth* expert** input on some of the night’s best and worst looks.

*most likely zero depth
**not even close

Best Dressed

Amandla Stenberg

Brian Tyree Henry

Constance Wu

Emilia Clarke
Mother of Dragons bringing the heat, as expected.

James McAvoy
Can’t go wrong with the classic black look.

Laura Harrier

Michelle Yeoh
Looking classy af. But would you expect anything else from her? No, the answer is no.

Regina King
KILLING the game here.

Spike Lee
Out for the hat, but LOVING the color choice.

Amy Adams
Um, can you say #perfect?

Tina Fey

Worst Dressed

Billy Porter
I saw a lot of love for this outfit on social media, but I think this is the worst look of the night.

Linda Cardellini
Love her. Hate this.

Laura Marano

Rachel Weisz

Maya Rudolph

Pharrell Williams
Camo suit is a bold move by itself. But then you go and throw shorts into the mix? Nope.

How My Predictions Turned Out

I did not make predictions on either Documentary category nor the Live Action/Animated Shorts, as I did not see any of those, leaving 20 categories to predict. And, well, I didn’t do great, finishing 11/20. But that goes to show you how unpredictable the Oscars can be. Or maybe “hard to predict” is a better way to phrase it. However, my gambling picks turned out slightly better. While I only hit on 4/10 bets, it still resulted in an overall profit. The bets I made were:

  • Production Design: Black Panther at +200
  • Original Score: Black Panther at +250
  • Lead Actress: Olivia Colman at +350
  • Best Picture: Green Book at +360 (also bet Black Panther at +3000; sigh, if only…)

And that puts a wrap on this year’s Oscars. Until next year.

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