2016 Oscars offer little entertainment value
From left: Rachel McAdams as Sascha Pfeiffer, Michael Keaton as Walter Robinson, and Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes track down a lead in Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight”. Photo by Newsweek.
By Alexis Ancel // News Editor
Every year months of preparation, countless hours and millions of dollars go into creating the Academy Awards. Between the prestige and red carpet glam, the Oscars are not a night to miss. Well, usually.
The eighty-eighth Academy Awards began with host Chris Rock addressing racism and inequality in the film industry. While continually drawing attention back to it throughout the show was perhaps unnecessary, his opening monologue made a lasting impression following the recent controversy surrounding this year’s lack of racial diversity amongst nominees. Rock certainly wasn’t the worst host the show has ever seen (Anne Hathaway and James Franco, we’re looking at you), but he was still a far cry from the legendary hosts of years past such as Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. Quite frankly, after the painful job he did hosting in 2005, it’s surprising he even landed the gig a second time around.
With all the hype surrounding cinema’s biggest night, it’s easy to forget that the award show itself is actually somewhat of a snooze fest and 2016 was no different. Famous actors read from a teleprompter in a monotone voice and present awards to other famous actors for movies that never would have won if it were up to the general public. Where was the nomination for Mockingjay Part II? And what about Jurassic World? Best Picture ended up going to “Spotlight,” despite the fact that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” totaled over $2 billion at the box office, more than the combined total of every movie nominated for the category. Something doesn’t quite add up.
Even still, at least the red carpet was as dazzling as ever. Emily Blunt showed off her baby bump wearing Prada and Sofia Vergara appeared utterly ageless as always in a navy blue Marchesa gown. The adorable Alicia Vikander also turned heads in bright yellow Louis Vitton looking like an elegant Disney princess.
Unlike music award shows like the Grammys and the VMA’s, the Oscars lack the advantage of having dozens of performers slotted to fill screen time. Acceptance speeches can only hold viewers’ attention for so long, so every year the host tries new things attempting to make the show memorable. This year, Rock brought in members of his daughter’s Girl Scouts to sell cookies to the audience; a sweet idea, but still not one that quite topped Ellen Degeneres’ pizza delivery two years ago.
There was, however, one bright light in the show that will certainly go down in award show history: Leonardo DiCaprio’s long awaited Oscar win for Best Actor for his role in “The Revenant.” And as if it was even possible to love the man more, he used the acceptance speech he’s probably been perfecting for over 20 years to address climate change and environmental issues. DiCaprio said, “Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.” Other first time Oscar winners include Brie Larson, star of the movie “Room” for Best Actress and Sam Smith for Best Original Song with “Writing’s On the Wall,” who followed this victory with a performance of the song. Lady Gaga also delivered a powerful performance of “Til It Happens to You,” an anthem of support for sexual assault survivors. Between Gaga, Rock and DiCaprio, the 2016 Oscars may very well have been the most expensive philanthropic and social justice movement in history.
Overall, the whole night was a generally dull affair. Twitter remained fully functional, Adele Dazeem was a no show and no one face planted on stage in front of millions of people. The eighty-eighth Academy Awards will be remembered as one thing only: the night the magnificent Leo DiCaprio was finally recognized as the reigning king of Hollywood that he is. It’s about time.