Just In case You Were Wondering . . . .

 

Oscars Decency? It Pretty Much Expired Long Ago!

Every dreadful thing that could be said about last night's Oscar telecast has probably already been said. 

From what we hear, the Oscar winning Best Picture is a sleazy tour of the world of sex workers where every other word in the script is the F word. And last night's Oscar host, Conan O'Brien sort of boasted about this. 

The director of the film, Sean Baker  actually won an astounding four Oscars in one night and tied a record set by Walt Disney who won for four separate films in 1953. Baker edits, directs and writes most of his films and has also served as producer and cinematographer for some. Wearing all of these hats paid off and led him to make history last night.

Baker, a New Jersey native, says "sex workers" have always held a fascination for him and this current film follows the story of a prostitute who becomes involved with a Russian oligarch. Baker says he hopes the raunchy movie is "helping remove the stigma that's been applied to [sex work], that's always been applied to this livelihood." 

In 1953 Walt Disney won Oscars for Best Documentary Feature Film, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Cartoon Short Subject and Best Short Subject (two reel). Through his entire career Walt Disney won 26 Academy Awards. No one has ever won more!

So, from Walt Disney's squeaky clean family films in the wholesome 1950s to this -- an Oscar celebration of degradation and the underbelly of life in the sex-for-hire 21st century. The film is replete with profanity, sex scenes, various sexual positions and violence. Offensive language includes “f*ck” and its variations, as well as “sh*t,” “c*nt,” "p*ssy", "bitch", "hooker" and "whore". Homophobic slurs are used several times. The phrase “f*ggot a*s bitch” is repeatedly used as an insult towards one character. The movie received an R rating "for strong sexual content throughout, graphic nudity, pervasive language, and drug use." One more thing: so far it is the least watched and lowest grossing film to ever win a Best Picture Oscar. 

We wonder if Walt Disney (who passed away in 1966) ever imagined he'd be in such company. We seriously doubt it.

The Talent We Lost: Watch Oscars' In Memoriam

One of the most beautiful and meaningful Oscar memorial segments ever. The performance by Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli was absolutely breathtaking!

President Trump's Take On The Oscars

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Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be. Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC “talent,” George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous. Also a really bad politically correct show tonight, and for years - Disjointed, boring, and very unfair. Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

2024 Oscar Nominations: The Complete List!

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction

Anatomy of a Fall

Barbie

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

The Zone of Interest

BEST DIRECTOR

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, Nyad

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall

Carey Mulligan, Maestro

Emma Stone, Poor Things

BEST ACTOR 

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Colman Domingo, Rustin

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

America Ferrera, Barbie

Jodie Foster, Nyad

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall

David Hemingson, The Holdovers

Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro

Samy Burch, May December

Celine Song, Past Lives

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie

Tony McNamara, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Io Capitano, Italy

Perfect Days, Japan

Society of the Snow, Spain

The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany

The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boy and the Heron

Elemental

Nimona

Robot Dreams

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Bobi Wine: The People’s President

The Eternal Memory

“Four Daughters”

To Kill a Tiger

20 Days in Mariupol

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

El Conde

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

BEST EDITING

Anatomy of a Fall

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

Napoleon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP 

Golda

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Society of the Snow

BEST SOUND

The Creator

Maestro

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One

Oppenheimer

The Zone of Interest

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Creator

Godzilla Minus One

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One

Napoleon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

Napoleon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“What Was I Made For?”, 

Billie Eilish and Finneas, Barbie

“I’m Just Ken,” 

Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, Barbie

“The Fire Inside,” 

Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot

“It Never Went Away,” 

Jon Batiste, American Symphony

“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People,” 

Osage Tribal Singers, 

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

American Fiction

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

The After

Invincible

Knight of Fortune

Red, White and Blue

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Letter to a Pig

Ninety-Five Senses

Our Uniform

Pachyderme

War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The ABCs of Book Banning

The Barber of Little Rock

Island in Between

The Last Repair Shop

Nai Nai & Wai Po

The Oscars: The Beginning Of The End?

 

The American Dream? Oh, Yeah - It's Still Alive!

 

But, Wait . . . They Forgot THESE Stars!

 

The Movies: Remembering Those Who Passed On

What The Hell Happened To The Oscars?

Did you even know that the 95th Annual Academy Awards will be handed out tonight in Hollywood? Did you?

Yes, it's Oscar Night -- the biggest night for the movies and what once was an annual ritual that kept much of the nation riveted. 

No kidding! I even remember that as a kid I was able to stay up a bit later to watch at least part of the show to see some of my favorite characters from the movies. Later, I remember my co-workers in the office being drowsy the next day because they all stayed up too late watching the Oscars. People stayed with the seemingly endless program past midnight if need be. The audience was huge. And it wasn't just America. This was a worldwide phenomenon.

Who can forget blockbuster Oscar-winning movies like The Godfather I and II, Rocky, Patton, The Sound of Music, Ben-Hur, The Apartment, Casablanca, Gone With The Wind, The Deer Hunter and so many others. These films are now considered classics. Contrast that with some of the films that have won in recent years: Nomadland, Parasite, The Shape of Water, Bidrman, Crash. Did you see any of these movies? Would you count any of them as a classic? Do you even remember them? 

And it's not just the movies themselves that seem to have gone astray. It's Hollywood, the movie business, the so-called stars (such as the are) and the actual Oscar event. It all out of wack. It all seems to have come undone. What happened? How did this once iconic pillar of pop culture render itself virtually meaningless? Here are some of the answers to that question:

1) The end of the studio system. The studios controlled and maintained a thriving, valuable industry. The studio moguls knew what worked. They knew how to craft an outstanding product; how to market that product; how to create and protect stars and how to nurture the industry. 

2) Greed and Ego. The thirst for money and notoriety drove agents, stars, directors and producers to demand more and more: more power, more influence, more creative control and bigger and bigger pieces of the pie. Over time this weakened the big studios and brought them to their knees. Once all-powerful super agents were able to put together packaged products the studios were no longer needed. But, more often than not, the new players lacked the savvy and goo instincts of the gang that created the movies in the first place.

3) TV and streaming. First it was TV. Then it was cable, the internet and streaming. This saturation of entertainment made it ordinary. You can now find movies (or today's facsimile thereof) instantly in the pam of your hand, on an iPad or on a huge screen in your own private home theater. Too many choices, too available. In a word, devalued. And this has led to the next thing . . .

4) The ordinariness of stardom. Today's "stars" are too common and too ubiquitous. We know too much about them. We see them at home in their undies (or even less) on social media day in and day out. Often we see them at their worst.  And the tabloids never tire of pointing out that "stars are just like us." There's no mystique anymore. It's all maddeningly mundane.

5) And then the final blow: Politics and wokeism. We're tired of the doctrinaire politics and dogmatic wokeism of the motion picture Academy and the whole crowd. We weary of being talked at -- being lectured. We see through the rampant hypocrisy and we find it dismissive and condescending. 

A recent poll found that most people could not even mention more than one, two or three of this year's Oscar nominees. Of course they knew Top Gun, Maverick. Many also knew Elvis and Avatar, The Way of Water. Note that two of these are based on already successful films. Beyond that -- nada. People couldn't name the others. And here's the worst thing: it's a pretty safe bet that one of the films that people couldn't name (and haven't seen) will win tonight.

Is it any wonder the TV audience for tonight's show will likely once again hit a new low? 

Oscar Nominations 2023: Complete List!

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Best Director 

Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 

Todd Field (“Tár”) 

Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 

Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)

Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 

Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson

“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Best Original Screenplay

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

“Tár,” Written by Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

Best Cinematography 

“All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji

“Elvis,” Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins

“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Best Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

“Tár,” Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

Best Original Song 

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose  

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne 

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Best Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Best Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon

Best Costume Design 

“Babylon,” Mary Zophres

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter

“Elvis,” Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

“The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux

“The Fabelmans,” John Williams

Best Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor