Will this year's ceremony add to the list of best Oscars' moments? |
Hollywood's biggest night used to be so much bigger, but I digress.
These days the debates are as much of an annual tradition as awards season itself: the conversations about the extravagant ceremonies' relevance, the red carpets' highlights — and lowlights — and, of course, just how long the shows seem to run. (This year's Oscars host, Jimmy Kimmel, has joked,
"I want to run the show right up to 'Good Morning America.'") But amid
all that nitpicking, some of what is lost, I believe, is that every once
in a while we all enjoy a little glitz and glamour.
That leads us to this week's Pop Life, which will be brief as we are here for a good time, not a long time. I'm not getting played off my own newsletter, which is of course devoted to all things Academy Awards this week. |
|
|
There have been so many Oscars moments over the years that are seared in our collective memory.
You
wouldn't have time to read about all the ones running through my head,
but here are three that will always bring me some feels:
|
Halle Berry becomes the first Black woman to win best actress
Berry's acceptance speech
after winning out in the best actress category in 2002 for her
incredible performance in "Monster's Ball" still makes me emotional.
Not only did she look stunning — full disclosure: my dear friend, the
stylist Phillip Bloch, dressed her in that ravishing Elie Saab gown —
but she tearfully leaned into the history of the moment. "This moment is so much bigger than me," she said. "This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll."
It was moving, poignant and well overdue.
|
Ellen DeGeneres gets a snap with some of Hollywood's biggest stars This one was a bit that more than garnered a giggle.
During her stint as host of the 2014 Oscars, DeGeneres made social media magic when she ran into the audience to get a selfie with some of the biggest stars present — and promptly tweeted it out to the world.
It was played for laughs, but definitely also a moment of pure joy.
|
The infamous best picture snafu Who
could ever forget the moment when "La La Land" was announced as best
picture in 2017, only for it to be revealed minutes later that it was actually "Moonlight" that had won out?
I
was helping to cover the awards that night — let's just say it was a
wild ride for us all. There was delight for "La La Land" followed by
much confusion as to what was going on and then delight all over again for the "Moonlight" crew.
Talk about a wave of emotions!
|
|
|
Just
like there was no way I wasn't mentioning that "Moonlight" moment,
there was no way you were going to make it through this newsletter
without mention of "the slap."
Now that everyone, including Chris Rock,
has had their say about last year's incident, all that I will add is
that it brought the worst kind of attention to the Academy Awards.
I have lots of theories about the pain behind the slap and its
aftermath, but that's a take I choose to keep to myself. I will just say
I wish everyone involved the best — and hope the crisis team formed in the wake to deal with similar incidents has nothing to do this year but sit back and enjoy the show.
|
|
|
"The 95th Annual Academy Awards"
Naturally, this is the part where I say tune in to the Oscars, airing
live on ABC from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on Sunday night
beginning at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. What did you like about today's newsletter? What did we miss? Pop in to poplife@cnn.com and say hello! |
|
|
|
