Moonlight Glows at the Oscars

Well that was absolute madness. Even if that snafu hadn't happened and the correct winner was announced, it would have been the biggest surprise in Best Picture history. La La Land seemed like the surest of sure bets in a loooong time, so to see it win six and then lose to Moonlight was shocking. But of course, it had to happen in the most unpredictable way. I think the accidental anointment of La La Land and the eventual revoking of its status as such has to go down as one of the biggest moments in Oscar history, full stop. To screw up any award during the night would be unfortunate, but to mix up Best Picture, and to mix it up between these two films is just insane. Huge respect to Jordan Horowitz for the way he handled the moment when he realized the Oscar he was holding wasn't meant for him. I think the world of Oscar watchers are still processing this moment, and we may be for a long time to come.

But regardless of the mix-up, Moonlight winning has to signal a lot for future Oscar years. Picture and Director no longer feel tethered together, with only one film in five years winning both. The preferential ballot seems to be benefiting the film that is least disliked of the front runners. So a film like La La Land that has passionate fans but also a lot of detractors has less of a shot at winning than a generally well liked film like Moonlight that is going to end up at the number 2 spot on more ballots. And that 2012-2015 streak of unpredictable Best Picture categories? Well it remains alive and well, so much so that I don't think I'm going to feel comfortable calling a Best Picture front runner again for a long time.

Moonlight really is such a unique Best Picture. It's small, moderately artsy, and it's about people and themes we rarely (if ever) see in a Best Picture winner. While I really think it would have behooved the Academy to try and reward a crowd-pleaser again after years of ignoring them, I also can't deny that this was a bold statement. I worry that Moonlight won't be able to carry the heft of an award this big, that now people will watch it with the wrong expectations and it will be regarded poorly by casual viewers in the years to come. La La Land probably could have withstood that kind of scrutiny due to the size and scope of the film, but then maybe it was time to really go for something a little more daring this year.

Random Thoughts:

• I went 12/24 this year, by far the worst I have ever done. Part of it was the lack of a La La Land sweep, but I also failed to get 2 of the 3 shorts right. That was my biggest disappointment after going 3 for 3 on them the previous two years.
• Jimmy Kimmel was... fine. I like him in theory, but he felt so bland this year. The candy from the rafters, the Lion/Lion King bit, and especially the running Star Tours bit all fell flat for me. I did love the payoff on the actors on actors series throughout the night with him musing about the amazing performance of Matt Damon in We Bought a Zoo.
• Nice to see them spread the wealth around this year among the three front runners. Kenneth Lonergan, Barry Jenkins, and Damien Chazelle were all able to walk away with Oscars. A nice change from two years ago when Innaritu, Linklater, and Anderson were up against each other in every category and Inarritu walked away with everything.
• Speaking of Chazelle, he is officially the youngest Best Director ever, and the first person to win who is younger than me. That feels weird. Hopefully he can continue to make interesting, great films in the future, I'd love to think he is at the start of a long and strong career.

Like I said, I'm still processing how all this went down. I'm curious to see if next year can even hope to compete with the unpredictability that was this Oscar season. Hopefully it can match it without resorting to any big mix-ups.