The most memorable exchange on the movie industry’s biggest night wasn’t the kind that anyone expected or wanted. Before winning his Oscar for King Richard, Smith seemed upset by a joke Chris Rock told about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who marched onto the stage and slapped him in the face. Rock looked genuinely stunned while Smith returned to his seat and yelled words that were paged to Rock.
Smith wiped away tears during his acceptance speech, citing that the character he played, Richard Williams, was protective of his family, and then, without specifically mentioning Rock or what happened, said, “I want to thank you apologize to the academy. I want to apologize to all of my fellow contestants.” He added, “Love will make you do crazy things.”
The tension for best picture between two streaming nominees, perceived as front runners, lasted all night. CODA’s Sian Heder won for Best Adapted Screenplay, but The Power of the Dog’s Jane Campion, the first woman to be twice nominated for Best Director, later became the third woman to win that award. (Heder was overlooked in this vote.)
Based on the results of other accolades leading up to the Oscars, this was already seen as a landmark year for streaming services, which, led by Netflix, have steadily shattered industry resistance to seeing them as full-fledged competitors with major studio releases.
However, for all its hard work, Netflix didn’t catch the bouquet as voters embraced Apple’s more uplifting story about the hearing child of deaf parents. Including this year’s contenders The Power of the Dog and Don’t Look Up, seven Netflix films have now been nominated for Best Picture, but so far none have won.
The global pandemic, which temporarily forced the entire entertainment industry into streaming mode, has helped accelerate streaming adoption, with last year’s winner “Nomadland” being relegated to a rival streamer, Hulu.
Alongside Smith, Jessica Chastain snagged her first Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye as Tammy Faye Bakker, which also won awards for makeup and hairstyling.
In her acceptance, Chastain spoke of “discriminatory and bigoted laws sweeping our country” against the LGBTQ+ community and cited Bakker’s compassion for these groups portrayed in the film.
With a third of the Oscars awarded before the live broadcast officially began, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bet viewers would watch the 94th Annual Academy Awards to entertain themselves as much as to find out who won what.
The academy, which presents the awards, has implemented a controversial plan to give out awards in eight categories before the main show and then insert those selections into the show. Despite this decision, the show still ran for more than 3 ½ hours.
The other big winner of the night was the sci-fi epic Dune. The Warner Bros. film, which dominated the technical categories, won six Academy Awards for sound, film editing, production design, cinematography, visual effects and Hans Zimmer’s musical score. It was the prolific composer’s second win out of a dozen nominations, the first for “The Lion King” in 1995. (CNN and Warner Bros. are both part of WarnerMedia.) television show, which opened with Beyoncé performing the nominated song from “King Richard” performed in front of the venue before handing it over to hosts Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, who gently toasted some of the nominees (“House of Gucci” was dubbed “House of Random Accents”) and aimed at Floridas “Don’t Say Gay” bill and promised, “We’re going to have a gay night.” Sykes later quipped Texas about its voter registration laws.
Disney’s “Encanto” won the award for best animated film. Though the film did reasonably well in theaters, it (and its music) seemed to take off particularly well after making its debut on the studio’s streaming service, Disney+, symbolic of a year marked as a coming-out party of streaming prices was viewed.
The supporting actress and actor made up perhaps the least exciting selections of the night but were among the most emotional, with Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur winning for Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story and CODA, respectively. Kotsur is only the second deaf actor to be honored, after his co-star Marlee Matlin, who won the award for 1987’s Children of a Lesser God.
After thanking Spielberg and co-star Rita Moreno (who originally played the role), DeBose spoke about being a queer Afro-Latina woman and quoted the film as telling those who might be wondering, how they fit in: “There is indeed a place for us.”
Questlove tearfully accepted an Oscar for its documentary Summer of Soul, and Japan’s Drive My Car won Best International Film, with the three-hour drama also earning a Best Picture nomination.
Kenneth Branagh, an eight-time nominee in multiple categories, received his first Oscar for writing, directing and producing “Belfast,” the deeply personal look at his home country.
Although the Grammys and Tonys use a similar format for deferred awards, many Academy members have complained about the perceived disdain for these nominees. Still, there was a sense of urgency to streamline presentation after the Oscars fell to record lows last year, as did many major awards shows.
The switch saved just a bit of time, which was spent on lavish musical numbers — including a colorful rendition of “Encanto’s” song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” — comedy bits like Schumer falling from the rafters disguised as a spider is – man, and presenting “fan favorites” as unscientific upvoted via Twitter.
The show also included its share of nostalgia, including a 60′ James Bond film homage, which drew a standing ovation from director Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
The latest Bond film No Time To Die received Best Song for Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, one of the few awards given to a blockbuster at the box office as the industry increasingly splits between popular and prestigious fare.