Movie Nation

I like the idea of an Oscars that isn’t hurried. They were still “playing people off” at the 95th Academy Awards, and some needed it. But most did not.

Let people finish their thoughts. The laundry list speeches are still around, but come on. We come for the weeping and the narcissism.

They brought back all the categories. And gave Jimmy Kimmel the sort of indulgence and license they used to give Billy Crystal. A few laughs, more than a few cringes.

That was in keeping with Disney slapping its brand all over a telecast that didn’t feature Disney winners. I heard a rumor that non animated “Little Mermaid” is coming soon. You?

Tacky.

The Oscars ran long but so what? You go to bed and check out YouTube the next AM and see and hear what you missed. 3:42 is still short by Super Bowl standards.

The show made for some great television. Lady Gaga stripped down, emoting and belting and getting attention for not shocking, a Bollywood dance number, Salma and Antonio, winning pairings all up and down the line.

And tearful speeches from the sentimental favorites who won in almost every category.

Angela Bassett and Brendan Gleeson and Colin and Ms Deadwyler had better get Oscar worthy offerings in the near future. If there’s any justice in this annual popularity contest, they will.

That’s more than a few Oscars for this marquee picture from Netflix. A career peak for composer Volker Bertelman, a gracious speech.

Is there a “trend” pointing towards a Best Picture upset? Maybe.

A lovely, ominous and weighty score. But this should have been the one Oscar “Babylon” should have taken. That’s a propulsive, unforgettable, jazz age epic sound.

It opens March 31, and it could easily go either way.

But it’s got Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Jay Pharoah, Dan Fogler, Peyton List, Lyndsey Fonseca and was made by the Nepo Baby son of the company founder. And they wouldn’t be showing it this early if they didn’t think Donna Summer/KISS fans would be chomping at the bit over an entertaining account of how this upstart record label made them famous.

Here’s a win for Apple!

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” based on a children’s book, a best seller, it was my favorite among the nominees that I saw.

The fact that it’s on Apple TV means it was the most widely seen competitor in this category.

Warm, sentimental, simple and sweet.

Brits give the wittiest acceptance speeches.

There was a whispering campaign underway a few weeks back that this was actually your Best Picture dark horse. But we’ll have to see about that.

Gorgeous film, unfortunate timing, coming so soon after the Oscar-winning epic “1917.”

But certainly the most widely seen Best International Feature in this field. Score another Big Win for Netflix. Magnificent film in its own right.

Ruth Carter thanks her mother and praises the production for increasing representation and altering the world looks and the way we look at it.

She just lost her mother, at 101. Sweet speech.

I mean, come on. That’s a transformation.

No, you shouldn’t play winners off. The show is unhurried, Kimmel wasted a bit too much time on the opening. Let it run as long as it runs. It’s the youtube snippets of Big Moments that’ll put it in the black.

James Friend wins for the most striking real world photography in the Oscar field this year. Not a good speech, not his thing. But the work speaks for itself.

“Fire of Love” was a lot of people’s favorite. Mine too, probably. Very “Grizzly Man.”

But “Navalny” was the most topical film in this field, although others were just as important, thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the fact that Putin has this film’s subject, Alexi Navalny, in prison on trumped up charges, was poisoned on orders from Russia’s Nazi runt.

And the acceptance speech for the Oscar winning live action short short “An Irish Goodbye” made time for an emotional kick, too. Well done.

It seemed like Angela Bassett’s Oscar to lose. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was one of the more middling films to earn nominations, but she’s regal in it.

Wonder if Jamie Lee’s lovely, loopy SAG acceptance speech and other Awards Season moments altered that trajectory? She has refused to take herself too seriously, and milked every appearance like it was Comic Con and they were coronating her. Again.

“WE just won an Oscar,” to an entire team. “To all of the people who have supported my genre films over the years, WE JUST WON AN OSCAR TOGETHER!”

Beautiful moment for Jamie Lee Curtis, scream queen, ’80s sex symbol and “Trading Places” heroine, as teary as Mr. Quan’s.

Now, somebody call Angela Bassett for a role that will get her nominated next year. She’s way past due.