The 94th Academy Awards Was… Certainly Not Boring
Tonight, the 94th Academy Awards ceremony was held live from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. The winners played out largely as expected, but the ceremony was a wild ride that featured a lot of musical performances, classic cast reunions, shameless attempts to appeal to the masses, and a jaw-dropping altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock that will certainly go down as one of the most bizarre and memorable moments in Oscar history.
Reflections on the Winners
Before I delve into the utterly wild telecast, let me first discuss the winners.
After a late surge that started when it won the top Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award (for Best Ensemble), CODA won all 3 of the Oscars it was nominated for — Best Adapted Screenplay (for Sian Heder, who also directed), Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur (who became the first deaf man to win an Oscar), and Best Picture. The win was extraordinary for several reasons including that it is the least nominated film to win the top award since 1932, its the first film to premiere on a streaming service to win an Oscar, it had its world premiere over 14 months ago, and its only the third film directed by a woman ever to win Best Picture. The coming-of-age comedy-drama about the only hearing member of a culturally deaf family is an emotionally powerful and deeply heartfelt…
