"Parasite" Night

Relatively speaking Parasite is a film that few American moviegoers have seen or likely have any interest in doing soamp160 Given this sudden surge of attention that will change somewhat when it lands on a cable network or streaming serviceamp160 My goddaughter whose opinion on movies and television shows I value above most others assures me that this amp8220gemamp8221 of a movie deserved every bit of praise it received at the awardsamp160 Weamp8217ll seeamp160 I still canamp8217t believe anything topped 1917 which I believe to be a masterpiece or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which I know to have been a hot Tinseltown faveamp160 Indeed given the dynamics of divorce in Los Angeles I had thought Netflixamp8217s Marriage Story might be a surprise spoilerThere was much good cheer within the Dolby Theatre on Sunday night in part because four popular performers Brad Pitt Laura Dern Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger received the expected recognition for their work in four popular films Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Marriage Story Joker and Judy respectivelyamp160 Zellwegeramp8217s speech like her performance and the film herself served as a tribute to the legendary Judy Garland a true movie iconamp160 Parasite cowriter and director Boon Jong Ho pictured below beautifully honored legendary director Martin Scorsese during one of his many acceptance speeches as Scorsese sat in the audience looking genuinely movedamp160 Dernamp8217s heartfelt comments about her parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd were similarly stirringamp160 And of course there was all that support for Parasite which kept the energy up throughout the nightBut as a television event still spoken of as one of the grandest and most important of the year amp8211 something just didnamp8217t click though it continues to work well as an uncluttered showcase for those advertisers who go with the Academy Awards rather than the Super Bowl to debut new commercialsamp160 Don39t get me wrong I love the Academy Awardsamp160 I haven39t missed watching one since high schoolamp160amp160I have even attended a few in personamp160This one was good but being oldtimey I want my Oscarcast to be greatWhat kept it from achieving that statusamp160 Perhaps it was the absence of a true host a once coveted honor that social media trolls seem to have so egregiously compromised it may be that we never again have a star brave and bold enough to do the honors amp8211 though Steve Martin and Chris Rock did a fine job with a dual monologue at the top that was not intended to be thought of as such even if it wasamp160 Why couldn39t they have stuck around a bit longerThe show while very busy was not at all engaging perhaps because it felt detached from the history of the very industry it is intended to celebrate at least as it is defined by movie fans amp160The impact of this became clear during the music segment featuring tooquick clips from great musical movie moments of recent vintage which was certainly nostalgic and entertaining and should have run longeramp160 Except for the presentation of the Best Picture award by the now legendary Jane Fonda who should have been paired with another legend quotoldquot Hollywood was largely brushed off and with it much of the audienceIn my opinion the worst brush off was the treatment of the late Doris Dayamp160 Given her unprecedented accomplishments as the first and only woman to stand as the No 1 movie star at the boxoffice for several consecutive years in the amp821660s why wasnamp8217t her passing given a little more attention than a amp8220blinkandyoumissitamp8221 inclusion in the In Memoriam segmentamp160 At the least Billie Eilish or Lady Gaga or someone could have performed one of her songs perhaps during that very segment itselfIt may have been a surprise that Parasite won Best Picture but it is no surpriseamp160that figures released on Monday indicate this was the lowestrated Academy Awards telecast in history with big dives in total viewers and adults 1849 the primary moviegoing audienceamp160 Itamp8217s not for lack of support from a very long preOscars special to a similarly extended postawards telecast to nextday coverage on Good Morning America andamp160Live with Kelly and Ryan plus endless hours of chatter on E and coverage on every newscast and infotainment program the frenzy was inescapable almost eclipsing the event itselfIn addition to those consumed by love for Parasite Iamp8217m certain that Eminem fans are still talking about last nightamp8217s showamp160 But beyond a few sweet speeches and an epic commentaryamp160about life by Phoenix that I actually enjoyed listening to the rest is already slipping awayamp160 Remember when people chatted for weeks after the awards about crazy moments riotous monologues touching tributes and grand musical performancesamp160 That was Oscar done rightClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of 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"Parasite" Night

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Ed Martin

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"Parasite" Night

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