Host, schmost. Despite the (literal) months of controversy surrounding Kevin Hart and the Academy’s eventual decision to forgo an emcee this year, Adam Lambert and Queen absolutely rocked the broadcast’s opening minutes. Would a traditional host have delivered a guitar solo and pyrotechnics? We think not.
Even more entertaining than Queen’s “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions” performance? Watching A-list celebrities channel their inner rockstars from the front rows of the Dolby Theatre. When you can turn a stoic dude like Javier Bardem into a head-banging concertgoer, you’re doing something right.
Funny ladies Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were all too quick to remind us that they were not serving as official hosts of this year’s ceremony. But after delivering a rapid-fire quasi-monologue — including jokes about Black Panther, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and that Lady Gaga wail in “Shallow” — we so wish these women could have filled Kevin Hart’s vacancy.
He may not have been wearing Captain America attire, but Chris Evans was nothing short of a superhero at Sunday’s ceremony. As Regina King made her way to the stage to accept the award for Best Supporting Actress, Evans offered her his arm to ensure she wouldn’t trip on her gown. That sigh you just heard? It’s the sound of an entire country swooning at once.
Accepting an Oscar on live television, in front of millions of people, is no doubt an emotional and stressful affair. But we were frankly a bit flabbergasted when Vice‘s makeup and hairstyling team took the stage, seemingly puzzled about whom to thank (or who would deliver the thank-yous!), resulting in an awkward recitation of mumbled names. Maestro, that’s your cue!
The best-dressed pair at the Oscars didn’t appear on the red carpet, but on the Dolby Theatre stage. While presenting the award for Best Costume Design, Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry showed up in garb from The Favourite/Mary Queen of Scots and Mary Poppins Returns/Black Panther, respectively — and their delightfully timed banter left us wanting a buddy comedy starring the pair. (As for those bunnies on McCarthy’s get-up? Well, we don’t want to spoil The Favourite for you.)
To borrow an oft-used phrase from Jennifer Hudson’s former American Idol judge Randy Jackson, Hudson could sing the phonebook — and we’d pay for tickets to that concert! Still, to borrow a different Jackson phrase, JHud’s performance of “I’ll Fight” (from the documentary RBG) was a little pitchy, dawg, namely that tricky glory note at the song’s climax.
Both halves of Key & Peele were in attendance at this year’s Oscars. One of them is already an Academy Award winner. The other? Was forced into a Mary Poppins gimmick involving an umbrella and high-tension wires. (As if the Friends From College cancellation didn’t already sting enough!)
Look, we’re not saying we want another revival of 1990s pop culture. But after Mike Myers and Dana Carvey briefly slipped back into their Wayne’s World characters while introducing Bohemian Rhapsody‘s sizzle reel, we’re not not saying that.
“I can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar!” effused Rayka Zehtabchi, director of the award-winning documentary short Period. End of Sentence., immediately endearing herself to everyone in the Dolby Theatre. (And everyone at home on the couch, too.)
Isn’t it crazy how there can be 100 people in a room, and 99 don’t believe in you, but one person does? (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.) In all seriousness, though, our hearts were thoroughly melted by this sweet, intimate smile that Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga exchanged after their performance of “Shallow.” Even more adorable? Cooper wiping sweat off his brow after taking his bow, even though Jackson Maine would never.
Spike Lee’s first Oscar was a long time coming, and the BlacKkKlansman director got several decades’ worth of kudos from the audience after his film won Best Adapted Screenplay. Before leaving the stage, Lee encouraged viewers to “do the right thing” and choose love over hate, a nod to his 1990 Oscar-nominated flick Do the Right Thing. “You knew I had to get that in there!” he admitted, while the Dolby crowd came to its feet.
Can Olivia Colman please deliver all acceptance speeches from here on out, always and forever, even for awards she doesn’t win? After snagging the Oscar for Best Actress for her work in The Favourite, Colman was simultaneously heartfelt and very, very funny during her stream-of-consciousness moment at the microphone. Just seconds after tearing up while thanking her husband, Colman fangirled over Lady Gaga — and just like that, Colman’s speech became our favorite (sorry, favourite!) of the night.
