Oscars Analysis: First-Timers Lift The Show’s Spirits And Emotions In A Ceremony That Was Old School Academy Awards In A Good Way
13.03.2023 - 13:39
/ deadline.com
As far as this year’s Oscars goes, it was undoubtedly the year of the comeback.
It was a huge comeback for Best Actor and Supporting Actor winners Brendan Fraser and former child actor Ke Huy Quan, ironically co-stars in 1991’s Encino Man. who in 2023 have risen -finally – to the pinnacle of their profession.
It was a huge comeback for actresses in their 60’s, Best Actress Michelle Yeoh and Supporting Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who have trudged along in genre pictures for much of their career only to find unexpected industry respect in a quirky indie success that was shot three years ago, pre-pandemic.
It was a comeback for comedy itself in a new form that proved you don’t always have to be serious to sweep the Oscars.
It was also a comeback for the time honored tradition of a single comedian to host the Academy Awards, as well as the comeback for a third time, and first since 2018 for Jimmy Kimmel.
It was also nice to see a comeback for an Oscar show that celebrated, front and center, the return to theatres.
And finally it was a comeback for the Oscar show itself, back to its comfort zone , little angst, little controversy, good feelings, heartfelt speeches, and an old school but elegant approach to staging the ceremony with all 23 categories back live after last year’s debacle.
I am not sure how it played on television, but after a pandemic and a slap it was nice to see an Oscar show sticking pretty much to tradition. Last year was unbelievably tense. This year we all got snack boxes under our seats thanks to Kimmel, who supplied lunch boxes to everyone the last time he hosted. Smart.
The big guns from the year’s top two films weren’t there. Tom Cruise was filming in the UK , and James Cameron couldn’t attend due to