Sunday’s Academy Awards show had a lot of deficits. The ratings were the lowest ever, and there were a lot of TV actors who had nothing to do with movies. Billy Porter? Mindy Kaling? Hello? Janelle Monae even opened the show with a total non sequitir performance.
Then there were the Disney tie ins: Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus promoting their bad Disney/Fox movie, “Downhill,” coming this Friday was one. Lin Manuel Miranda and Anthony Ramos plugging Disney’s “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” to pay off the $75 million being ponied up by the Mouse House. Yikes.
But for once the Oscars did get the In Memoriam right. They didn’t “snub” anyone. The only omission was Michael J. Pollard. Otherwise, they got everyone in. My only complaint is that I knew so many of the wonderful, irreplaceable people who passed away in 2019, from DA Pennebaker to Robert Forster, and Sylvia Miles.
Billie Eilish singing “Yesterday” harmed no one. There’s a lot of pressure on this 18 year old. But she pulled it off with aplomb.
