Well, I wasn't wrong. La La Land *did win* Best Picture, for about a minute at least, until the correct winner, Moonlight, was announced by La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz, who graciously conceded defeat. Up until that point, the alternative version of my predictions from my pre-show Viewer's Guide was taking shape. Officially, I predicted 10 wins for La La Land, including Best Picture, but I made it a point to mention that that win total could reach as low as 7. Before the Best Picture winner was announced, La La Land had received 6 Oscars, all of which I correctly predicted: Best Score, Best Song, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Actress, and Best Director. But then I wrote this: "I keep going back and forth on if Editing and Production Design should be locks. If it loses one of those, plus 2 of the other non-lock categories, then its win total could go down to 7..."
Well, those alternative predictions were dead-on. I started getting worried about La La Land's Best Picture certainty when it lost both Sound categories, Sound Editing to Arrival(its only win of the night) and Sound Mixing to Hacksaw Ridge, which finally meant that 21-time nominee Kevin O'Connell could call himself an Oscar winner(I'd like to think I gave him some good luck including the "You're telling me there's a chance" clip from Dumb & Dumber in the Viewer's Guide).
Then there was the loss for Best Editing, also to Hacksaw Ridge, which opened up the race even more. In the past, this category tended to go hand-in-hand with the Best Picture winner, with the last Best Picture musical, Chicago, even winning the award, but not anymore. This is the 4th consecutive year where the Best Editing winner doesn't match the Best Picture winner. So even then I thought La La Land was still on its way to a Best Picture win. But because of those losses, there was some more intrigue than I expected when it came time to hand out the major awards.
Everything was going as scheduled, and all was right with the world, and my predictions, as one by one Kenneth Lonergan won Original Screenplay for Manchester by the Sea, Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney won Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight, its 2nd and what appeared to be final win of the night, Damien Chazelle won Best Director for La La Land, becoming the youngest winner in the category's history, Casey Affleck won Best Actor for Manchester by the Sea, its 2nd and final win of the night(great outcome!), and Emma Stone won Best Actress for La La Land.
But then, when everything seemed to be wrapped up perfectly, kind of like when one candidate had a 4-point lead in every swing state the night before the election, or when one team was ahead 28-3 with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl, the unimaginable happened. For reasons that I won't get into here, and after that colossal screw-up that made Hollywood legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway(watch Bonnie and Clyde, it's good) seem like fools, Moonlight was declared the Best Picture winner. Director Barry Jenkins did his best to deliver a memorable acceptance speech, but he was clearly overshadowed by the wackiness on stage. Jimmy Kimmel also did his best to save the situation, blaming Steve Harvey for the blunder, and also disinviting himself from ever hosting the show again. Although it didn't come in traditional fashion, this was clearly one of those "Unforgettable Oscars Moments" I was talking about in the final note of my Viewer's Guide.
Other "Unforgettable Moments", in the more traditional sense, included ...
- The 100% genuine acceptance speech(รก la Matt and Ben 19 years ago) by Best Original Song winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul(not so much Justin Hurwitz, who had also just won for Best Original Score). Justin was up first, recognizing the importance his public school education had on his love of culture and the arts(btw, perfect cut away to Lin-Manuel Miranda in the audience by the producers there, who was actually an 8th grade teacher during the time he was writing his first musical, In the Heights), and Benj followed that with the Best (traditional) Moment of the Night! dedicating his win "to all the kids who sing in the rain, and all the moms who let them", just as the orchestra started to play him off, and, in another great move by the producers, we got a reaction shot of who I assume is Benj's mom giving him a standing ovation, which made the moment feel even more majestic, as if it were scripted for a movie.
Well, those alternative predictions were dead-on. I started getting worried about La La Land's Best Picture certainty when it lost both Sound categories, Sound Editing to Arrival(its only win of the night) and Sound Mixing to Hacksaw Ridge, which finally meant that 21-time nominee Kevin O'Connell could call himself an Oscar winner(I'd like to think I gave him some good luck including the "You're telling me there's a chance" clip from Dumb & Dumber in the Viewer's Guide).
*Kevin O'Connell giving his acceptance speech, which was one of the best moments of the night
Then there was the loss for Best Editing, also to Hacksaw Ridge, which opened up the race even more. In the past, this category tended to go hand-in-hand with the Best Picture winner, with the last Best Picture musical, Chicago, even winning the award, but not anymore. This is the 4th consecutive year where the Best Editing winner doesn't match the Best Picture winner. So even then I thought La La Land was still on its way to a Best Picture win. But because of those losses, there was some more intrigue than I expected when it came time to hand out the major awards.
Everything was going as scheduled, and all was right with the world, and my predictions, as one by one Kenneth Lonergan won Original Screenplay for Manchester by the Sea, Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney won Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight, its 2nd and what appeared to be final win of the night, Damien Chazelle won Best Director for La La Land, becoming the youngest winner in the category's history, Casey Affleck won Best Actor for Manchester by the Sea, its 2nd and final win of the night(great outcome!), and Emma Stone won Best Actress for La La Land.
*Best Actor and Best Actress winners Casey Affleck and Emma Stone, alongside Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress winners Mahershala Ali and Viola Davis(all gave great speeches)
Other "Unforgettable Moments", in the more traditional sense, included ...
- The 100% genuine acceptance speech(รก la Matt and Ben 19 years ago) by Best Original Song winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul(not so much Justin Hurwitz, who had also just won for Best Original Score). Justin was up first, recognizing the importance his public school education had on his love of culture and the arts(btw, perfect cut away to Lin-Manuel Miranda in the audience by the producers there, who was actually an 8th grade teacher during the time he was writing his first musical, In the Heights), and Benj followed that with the Best (traditional) Moment of the Night! dedicating his win "to all the kids who sing in the rain, and all the moms who let them", just as the orchestra started to play him off, and, in another great move by the producers, we got a reaction shot of who I assume is Benj's mom giving him a standing ovation, which made the moment feel even more majestic, as if it were scripted for a movie.
*No matter how cynical you may be, you can't fake the emotions felt by Justin Paul and Benj Pasek in this picture
- The whole segment of the tourists unknowingly entering the Oscars ceremony, and their shocked reactions as they saw the A+ Listers in the first row. I honestly think I would die, or at least faint, if I were in that situation. Engaged couple Gary and Vicky from Chicago almost stole the whole show, even getting married by Denzel Washington(as Kimmel said, "That's Denzel, so it's legal"). I loved when Kimmel pointed out to Gary: "It seems you're ignoring all the white celebrities", to which Gary replied: "Yes, I am.". Before he left, Gary also got to pose for a selfie with Mahershala Ali and his brand new Oscar statuette.
*Kimmel's "Ellen selfie" moment, but better
- One more Kimmel moment, or a compilation of moments, which was one of the things I was most looking forward to last night(as I mentioned in the Viewer's Guide), was his full-on roast of Matt Damon, his (#alternativefacts) most hated enemy. I love Matt Damon(he's one of my favorite actors), so I'll never get tired of seeing this. Right from the opening monologue the jokes started("When I first met Matt, I was the fat one"), with Kimmel knocking Matt for his Box Office bomb, The Great Wall, which "went on to lose $80 million dollars".
Then came the #alternativetribute(loved the real ones, which featured Charlize Theron honoring Shirley MacLaine, Seth Rogen honoring Michael J. Fox, with DeLorean and future Nikes included, and Javier Bardem honoring Meryl Streep) to Damon's 2011 film We Bought a Zoo(a guilty pleasure, I'll admit), where Kimmel piled on with one great line after another: "He makes two words feel like three words" , "You can see how hard he's working. It's so effortful for him" , "He has almost no discernible talent".
Then came the #alternativetribute(loved the real ones, which featured Charlize Theron honoring Shirley MacLaine, Seth Rogen honoring Michael J. Fox, with DeLorean and future Nikes included, and Javier Bardem honoring Meryl Streep) to Damon's 2011 film We Bought a Zoo(a guilty pleasure, I'll admit), where Kimmel piled on with one great line after another: "He makes two words feel like three words" , "You can see how hard he's working. It's so effortful for him" , "He has almost no discernible talent".
That was immediately followed by Kimmel, now conducting down in the orchestra pit, playing off Damon as he tried to present the Best Original Screenplay award alongside Ben Affleck(One more great move by the producers, first, because of the callback to their win in the category 19 years ago, and second, because Damon got to announce and hand off the award to Kenneth Lonergan, the writer/director he handpicked for Manchester by the Sea). And finally, before the Best Picture award was to be presented, Kimmel got in one final burn: "My favorite part of the night is here. A chance to see Matt Damon lose an Academy Award."
I loved all of this, and, surprisingly, I enjoyed Kimmel as host very much. He kept a jovial tone throughout the night, staying on his toes for those improvised moments that are always present in a live broadcast, including his great "you didn't watch it did you?" follow-up when his Moonlight *happy endings* joke didn't land during the opening monologue. Then there was the final, will-never-be-seen-again #alternativewinner moment, which no host, prior to last night, would ever have imagined being possible. But hey, this is the Oscars, where it appears that anything is possible.
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