About Last Night:

Given I did so many post about the Oscars before the ceremony aired, I thought I'd better post a few highlights after watching the show.  By now, most of you have seen the show, or at least the images and commentary that followed.  If you're not fed up with the coverage yet, here are my visual highs. 

First off, for the first time in a few years, I stayed up to watch the entire thing. I thought Jimmy Kimmel did an outstanding job, especially his 'in the moment' burn response to the orange idiot's social media post. That being said, no had me laughing harder last night than John Mulaney and his introducing the award for best sound.  Mulaney is one of my favorite comedians, and when Kimmel decides to leave his role as host, I hope the producers instantly get Mulaney on the phone.

Ryan Gosling in black on the red carpet, showing a wee bit of chest cleavage had my  blood flowing before the ceremony even began.  He looked fantastic, and was already demonstrating he knew the assignment, and like his role in Barbie, was having fun and not taking himself too seriously.

When he changed into pink for his 'I'm Just Ken' number, all bets were off.  From the minute he started singing, you could feel the energy.  His vocal was good, but not great, but didn't have to be, Gosling commanded the room and almost everyone in it.  

It was also great seeing so many audience members quickly share their phone versions of his number.  I saw many versions including one focused only on Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, and another focused on Martin Scorsese.  If there was one downside, it did overshadow fellow Barbie nominee Billie Eilish, who had performed earlier.  I'm guessing Billie didn't mind, given she and her brother Finneas O'Connell went on to win the award.

Cord Jefferson

I've not yet seen American Fiction, but planned on it due to my love of and respect for Jeffrey Wright's work.  Listing to writer Cord Jefferson during his acceptance speech, only had me want to hurry up the time schedule.  I loved everything he had to say about big budget moves, and I'm sure I'm not the only blog writer who thought it might be time to pull out those scripts sitting my bottom desk drawer. 

One of the most powerful moments of the night came from director Mstyslav Chernov, (above with Cillian Murphy) for his win for best documentary. 20 Days in Mariupol.  The filmmakers covered a  team of Ukrainian journalists from The Associated Press trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol at the on set of the war.  It was extra meaningful being it was Ukraine's first Oscar win.

Given this is FH, I can't do an Oscar moments recap without including John Cena introducing the award for Costume Design wearing only a large card.  In addition to Cena's emasculate manscaping, what stood out to me was how Cena committed to the bit.  I enjoyed him, (and his incredible naked ass) in Trainwreck, but he really is turning into a great comedic actor.

What made Cena's moment so great, as well as other moments from the show, was the almost instant behind the scenes content that followed.  If you were on social media, the show barely went to commercial after the bit, when images and videos of Cena backstage, and then changing into the fabric he later wore, were posted on-line.  It really added a level of enjoyment and information, and let us know instantly that no, of course he wasn't completely naked on the Oscar stage.

But...if you want actually naked on the Oscar stage, below are some shots of Robert Oppel, the photographer and gallery owner who streaked across the stage during the 1974 ceremonies.