The fact that you wrote all that in character is what I love about you wonderful weirdos <3
Katie Rife
katierife
Katie Rife was senior writer of The A.V. Club from 2019-2022 and News Editor from 2015-2019. She co-hosted the A.V. Club's film podcast Film Club.
Had to work the earnest farewells in somewhere!
***A COMMUNIQUE FOR THE POSTERS KNOWN AS THE COMMENTARIAT*** Read more
It was intended! Ty for noticing.
Shit’s weird, man. I have a lot more to say but I shouldn’t.
I have to think that’s what happened. The Academy banked on Boseman, Anthony Hopkins didn’t expect to win so he just sent a headshot, and everyone gets to share that numb, flat “huh” feeling together. If nothing else, it does seem to indicate that the results really are secret right up until that envelope is opened on… Read more
It’s interesting that this year’s Oscars skipped the clips for the acting categories in particular. You can sometimes spot which scene in an especially awards-thirsty movie is the “Oscars clip,” which makes me wonder if that particular balloon was being popped intentionally.
Announcing Best Picture before the acting awards really took the air out of the ceremony, and ending this year on an “and the Academy accepts the award on his behalf” made it even more anticlimactic.
Frances McDormand isn’t wrong about the karaoke bar. This is her third Oscar win, and she doesn’t seem to put that much importance on any of them, so appropriate that she kept it short and jokey. She already howled, what else is there to add?
I’ve gone on the record many times naming Nomadland as my No. 1 film of 2020, so to see it win Best Picture feels—to make it about me—like a validation. I also expected it, frankly; this film has been unstoppable ever since it premiered at Venice last September.
Me neither!
Another interesting format change is that normally, the Best Picture clips would be spread out throughout the evening, Here, we’re getting them all at once.
Jinx, Dowd! This might be the biggest shakeup of the entire evening!
wait...what?????
Oh, that’s possible, Dowd. I hadn’t thought of that. I figured we were getting pretty close to the top of the hour, so they were moving things along.
Even the In Memoriam is efficient this year.
As far as manufactured delight goes, I’ll take Glenn Close spouting facts about go-go music.
Well, I’m going to make it even more about you, and say that I am looking forward to seeing Summer Of Soul after reading your Sundance coverage.
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This is a good category to include clips—it really does help to have a multimedia element for a music category, and plenty of viewers (like me and Dowd) will tune in to the main broadcast but not the pre-show, to which the performances of this year’s Best Original Song nominees were relegated this year. (I assume that…
He’s really trying his best to get everyone’s names right.