The 94th Academy Awards - The Aftermath

I realized this morning, after sleeping on it, that I had not said much about the most controversial thing that happened last night, arguably the most controversial thing ever to happen at the Oscars -- or at any awards show perhaps.

I'm referring, of course, to Will Smith not liking the joke Chris Rock had just made about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her shaved head. Apparently, Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia and as a result had to shave her hair off.

Whether Rock was aware of this fact or not, he made a joke about her playing the G.I. Joe 2 lead, a crass reference to the role played by Demi Moore years ago, for which she famously shaved her gorgeous black mane.

Regardless of the appropriateness of such a joke, which was clearly in bad taste, Smith barging onstage and hitting Rock was completely out of line. He continued berating him once he made his way back to his seat, coarsely swearing at him. Rock, for his part, looked genuinely shocked by Smith's actions, but decided to move on and carried out his duties as presenter of an award in a professional manner.

Smith clearly crossed a line here, one that should NEVER, EVER be crossed, and that is embracing violence to deal with a situation you disagree with or find annoying. Violence is never justified, especially at an awards show that is meant to recognize excellence, or against a comedian whose job it is to make fun of situations whether the audience finds it laughable or not.

If Smith had kept his composure, like his wife proudly did, and later simply commented on how he found Rock's joke offensive, given his wife's condition, the press would have turned on Rock like sharks, and he would have been vilified. Smith, had he chosen to follow such a course of action, would also have been able to fully enjoy the triumphant moment he finally clenched an Academy Award.

Instead, Smith is now the villain and Rock the victim, and rightly so. Some have argued that Smith simply defended his wife, but we all know that the offense was just a joke, hardly warranting resorting to violence. Others have argued that Smith set a really bad and dangerous precedent here, because what's preventing someone else who doesn't like a joke from a comedian from going up to him or her and hitting them or, worse, shooting them? This is America after all.

Rock has declined to press charges when interviewed by the police, but apparently the Academy's governing body will convene to discuss the issue and potentially take action against Smith. Some even voiced revoking the award he won only minutes after the incident. Though unlikely, I would welcome such an unprecedented move, given the gravity of Smith's actions.

Still, hopefully some severe repercussions will befall Smith, because while Rock's joke might have been rude, Smith's response was inexcusable and unforgivable.

Smith was clearly flustered during his acceptance speech, which likely got thrown off course as well, and did attempt to apologize for what had just happened, but it was too late. He tried to joke about whether the Academy would invite him back, clearly hoping that would be the case, but he never mentioned Rock by name or apologized to him directly, at least so far.

My guess is he'll have to forgo basking in his moment of glory and instead hunker down for a long while, until this all dies down. Then the rehabilitation process will begin, because really, Hollywood can't afford to lose one of its most bankable stars.

Giving in to his temper, a great star and performer ruined the night for everybody, besmirched both his name and his upcoming foretold win, and set a very bad example that all too many will be certainly tempted to follow in the future.

What a shame.

The 94th Academy Awards - The Winners

Another Oscar ceremony under my belt, this one, for the first time, watched at 5 p.m., the time the Oscars usually start in Los Angeles, from our new home in Tucson, Arizona. I have to say I really enjoyed the earlier start, which allows me to post this before I turn in for the night instead of the day after.

The ceremony was good, in spite of the Academy's decision to present a few awards prior to the live telecast, record them, and then work them into the show. It was a cheap move that set a bad precedent and diminished the selected categories, and in the end made no difference since the ceremony ran grossly overtime, by almost 45 minutes!!

Hopefully the Academy won't repeat this again next year. It's just not right for the affected categories.

The show was hosted by three women who all did a good job. They were funny, correctly critical, and professional. When they showed the DJ at the beginning my jaw dropped at the thought of the Oscars not using a full orchestra as customary, but towards the end they managed to show it, below stage, so I guess the DJ only had partial duties.

That, together with the online voting winners' clips and the various presenters who have zero to do with the movies (Shawn Mendes, P Diddy, Shaun White, Kelly Slater, et cetera . . .) where clearly a shameless attempt to bring in younger eyeballs. Whether the gambit was successful in prying them away from Tik Tok for almost 4 hours I'll leave to the ratings, but to me it kind of felt like they were trying too hard.

Fortunately, the nominated songs were sung live again, after we all missed them last year when they were presented before the actual ceremony. Lesson learned.

The songs were all pretty good too, but I'm glad my favorite, "No Time to Die," won, making Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas Oscar winners!

Ariana DeBose was not my favorite to win Supporting Actress (that would be Aunjanue Ellis), but she was definitely deserving, and gave a great speech. The other three actors who took home an Oscar tonight, instead, were all my favorites: Troy Kotsur (Supporting), and Lead Actors Will Smith and Jessica Chastain.

Smith and Chastain both gave very touching and powerful speeches (actually Kotsur did too), with Smith trying to clean up the dustup he caused a few minutes earlier when he barged on stage to slap lightning out of Chris Rock's ass. That was a moment that will be replayed non-stop for days and will end up in the annals of the Academy, guaranteed.

I was definitely NOT a fan of the winners for Animated Feature (Encanto) and International Feature (Drive My Car). Encanto especially was probably the weakest of the nominees (I still haven't seen Luca, but the other three were ALL far better than the winner. Drive My Car also I found unsatisfactory to say the least. I just finished Flee, which is far superior, and even The Worst Person in the World was better.

And since I'm talking about Encanto, that performance of its hit (pleeeeaaaase) song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" was, frankly, a low point. The song is way overrated, and had nothing to do with the show. Okay, maybe little kids love it, but I can assure the Academy that they were not a big part of the audience, and the performance only made the ceremony longer.

I really liked Kevin Costner's speech introducing the Best Director prize, which thankfully went to the most deserving of the five nominees, Jane Campion, the only woman ever to receive a second Best Director nomination -- figures, right?

The In Memoriam segment was accompanied by a lively and varied choral performance, much unlike the usual very sad song that sets the tone, and while the several tributes to some of the passed were nice, it was actually harder to read the names of those no longer with us. The segment should be a tribute to those who are gone, not a showcase to the many talented singers on stage.

My two favorite movies to win this year were The Power of the Dog and CODA, so I'm happy with the win. I'm sure Netflix, which has been trying for years to take home the Best Picture statuette, was furious that a competing streamer who just entered the field last year, snatched the prize from under its nose, once again. Still, the movie is beautiful.

I also absolutely LOVED Dune, but it was unlikely to take top honors, and still managed to take home the biggest haul of the night, sweeping almost every technical category, along with the Best Score Oscar for Hans Zimmer, who crafted another wonderful soundtrack for the ages (I love his work).

Well, that does it for me. All in all, a good and fun ceremony and a brand new slate of Oscar winners for the history books. Here are the winners:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

CODA

Belfast
Don't Look Up
Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ)
Dune: Part One
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Will Smith, King Richard

Andrew Garfield, tick, tick...BOOM!
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Kristen Stewart, Spencer
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos
Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Judi Dench, Belfast
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog

Best Achievement in Directing

Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ)
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Best Original Screenplay

Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

Adam McKay, David Sirota, Don't Look Up
Zach Baylin, King Richard
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World (Verdens verste menneske)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Sian Heder, CODA

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe, Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ)
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth, Dune: Part One
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Best Animated Feature Film

Encanto

Flee (Flugt)

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Mitchells vs the Machines

Best International Feature Film

Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ)

Flee (Flugt)

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

The Hand of God (È Stata la Mano di Dio)

The Worst Person in the World (Verdens verste menneske)

Best Documentary Feature

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Ascension

Attica

Flee (Flugt)

Writing with Fire

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

Hans Zimmer, Dune: Part One

Nicholas Britell, Don't Look Up

Germaine Franco, Encanto

Alberto Iglesias, Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas)

Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell, No Time to Die, "No Time to Die"

Van Morrison, Belfast, "Down to Joy"

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Encanto, "Dos Oruguitas"

Diane Warren, Four Good Days, "Somehow You Do"

Beyoncé, Dixson, King Richard, "Be Alive"

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Dune: Part One (original title)

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

The Tragedy of Macbeth

West Side Story

Best Achievement in Film Editing

Dune: Part One

Don't Look Up

King Richard

The Power of the Dog

tick, tick...BOOM!

Best Achievement in Production Design

Dune: Part One

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

The Tragedy of Macbeth

West Side Story

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Cruella

Cyrano

Dune: Part One

Nightmare Alley

West Side Story

Best Sound

Dune: Part One

Belfast

No Time to Die

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Coming 2 America

Cruella

Dune: Part One

House of Gucci

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Dune: Part One

Free Guy

No Time to Die

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Best Documentary Short Subject

The Queen of Basketball

Audible

Lead Me Home

Three Songs for Benazir

When We Were Bullies

Best Animated Short Film

The Windshield Wiper

Affairs of the Art

Beast (Bestia)

Boxballet

Robin Robin

Best Live Action Short Film

The Long Goodbye

Ala Kachuu - Take and Run

On My Mind

Please Hold

The Dress (Sukienka)