Oscars 2016: 15 Best and Worst Moments
The elephant in the room? Consider it addressed. The jokes and apologies referencing the #OscarsSoWhite controversy were so numerous that they distracted from the fact that there were 24 awards to hand out, many of them to surprised and emotional winners. Still, there were some moments that, for good or ill, viewers won't soon forget.
1. The Monologue
Rock wasted no time before diving into the controversy, referring to the Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the show, Rock said that was like him boycotting Rihanna's panties: "I wasn't invited." Rock correctly noted that the lack of diversity at the Oscars was symptomatic of the way things work throughout Hollywood. His funniest line may have been his description of Hollywood as not overtly racist but "sorority racist." As in, "We like you, Rhonda, but you're not Kappa."
2. The Pre-taped Bits
Rock kept hammering the theme with pre-recorded bits. The best of these was one that showed how hard it was to squeeze black performers into this year's nominated films, a montage that spliced Angela Bassett, who deserves better.
3. Stacey Dash
In another joke at the Academy's expense, Rock introduced the "Stacey Dash points for being game enough to show up after all the backlash she got for dismissing both the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and Black History Month as reverse racism. But if you hadn't been following the issue closely, you wouldn't have known why Dash's mere presence was supposed to be funny, and neither performer did anything to sell the gag, which fell painfully flat.
4. 'Merkin'
Presenting for Best Make-Up, Jared Leto probably introduced millions of viewers to the term, asking them to Google it if they didn't know what it means. Later, he saved them the trouble by tweeting this NSFW picture of one. You're welcome, world.
5. Girl Scout Cookies
Rock did have one welcome running gag that, thankfully, was utterly non-controversial. It involved him going out into the audience with a troop of Los Angeles Girl Scouts to sell cookies on behalf of his daughters back on the East Coast. By the end of the show, he claimed to have hit up the millionaires in the audience for more than $65,000. That's an awful lot of Thin Mints.
6. Droids
There were gimmicky appearances by such non-human presenters as the Minions and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" didn't win any of the five it was nominated for.
7. Diverse Winners
Fittingly, several of the winners wanted to claim the mantle of diversity, as if to make up for the all-white slate of acting nominees. Mad Max: Fury Road" production design crew.
8. 'Mad Max' mania
It didn't win Best Picture or Director, but "Mad Max: Fury Road" raced off with six awards, sweeping most of the technical categories. And the mostly Aussie winners were a hoot, from the rowdy pair of sound editors (did they get bleeped, or was that just a broadcast glitch) to costumer Jenny Beavan, who's not Australian but who wore a leather outfit that wouldn't have looked out of place in the movie.
9. The Crawl
This innovation, a ticker running the names of all the little people the winners want to thank, could have proved a headache-inducing distraction, but it was actually pretty easy to ignore. Indeed, the winners themselves seemed to ignore it and thank laundry lists of ers anyway. If the purpose of the crawl was to shorten the speeches so that winners wouldn't have to be played off by the orchestra, it failed.
10. Louis C.K.
For all the scripted patter of the presenters, it was the "Louie" comic who offered the intro that was funniest and most poignant. It was for Documentary Short, whose nominees Saving Face"), but she did say that "Girl in the River" had prompted the prime minister of Pakistan to change the law in order to prevent honor killings, so her film really has made a difference.
11. In Memoriam
This year's montage of the dead was accompanied by a lovely acoustic performance of the Beatles' "Blackbird" performed by Uggie the Dog did not.
12. Lady Gaga
It really looked like the fix was in for Lady Gaga's Best Song nominee, "Til It Happens to You." It was introduced by no less august a personage than Vice President Joe Biden, who offered a public service plea to be vigilant against college campus sexual assault (the topic of both Gaga's song and the documentary it comes from). The singer delivered an imioned rendition of the ballad, ed on stage by what was apparently a group of actual campus rape survivors, all of them with inspirational slogans scrawled on their arms. It seemed that Gaga's co-composer, Diane Warren, was finally about to win an Oscar after seven previous unsuccessful nominations. But no, the prize went to Smith for his James Bond theme, "Writing's on the Wall." Next time, we bet Gaga calls on the president instead.
13. Ennio Morricone
It wasn't a good night for sentimental favorites, whether it was Warren or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," won an Oscar the old fashioned way. He was moved to tears by his victory, and after his translator helped him to the stage, he spoke movingly, in Italian, but with obvious emotion that, like his music, transcended language barriers.
14. Ali G
Presenter Star Wars"... Darth Vader. A little Ali G goes a long way, and thankfully, Baron Cohen wrapped before he wore out his welcome.
15. The Upsets
There were quite a few of these -- all the short film winners, Best Song, The Greatest Show on Earth" 63 years ago. "Revenant" had most of the awards momentum, and "Big Short" had won the Producers Guild prize (which accurately predicted the Oscar for the last eight years), but this proved to be a year with an often unpredictable three-way race that went down to the wire. The #OscarsSoWhite controversy may have made all the noise, but it was the race among three strong movies that made the Oscars exciting and suspenseful, all the way to the bitter end.
