Hi Everyone! Surprise Monday appearance by me today, but I had a lot of thoughts about the Oscars that I wanted to share. From favorite to least favorite moments and of course best dressed, there was a lot going on last night.

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Favorite Moments

1. Chris Rock kicked the show off right, with a monologue that was funny, boundary pushing, and topical at the same time.  Rock has never been one who worries about making his audience uncomfortable with his comedy, and those skills came into use while hosting the 88th Annual Academy Awards. You can watch Chris Rock’s full monologue here.
2. Three of last night’s ‘Best Original Song’ nominees were performed during the show, but none more powerfully than Lady Gaga’s performance of ‘Til it Happens to You’. From “The Hunting Ground”, a documentary that chronicles the rise of sexual assault on college campuses, the song was written by both Lady Gaga and master songstress Diane Warren. Gaga’s performance was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden, who provided a call to action to put a stop to sexual violence.  The most moving moment, however, was the final moments of the song, when survivors of sexual assault gathered on the stage with mantras written on their forearms such as “Not Your Fault’ and ‘Survivor’. Gaga joins them as their arms are raised, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. You can watch the full performance here.
3. On a lighter note, Jacob Tremblay, whose talents I experienced when watching Room this weekend, has been quite the darling of the award’s show circuit. My favorite moment was last night, when presenting the award for ‘Best Live Action Short’ with fellow newcomer Abraham Attah. With both presenters being shorter than the mic, Chris Rock brought them boxes to stand on.  Without missing a beat, Tremblay says, “Thanks Chris, I loved you in Madagascar”. Adorable.

Least Favorite Moments

1. Although I thought Chris Rock was very funny last night, some of his jokes fell flat.  The one that didn’t land for me was bringing out Stacey Dash, of Clueless, who has spoken out against Black History Month, as the director of the Academy’s new minority outreach program. The Weeknd thought it was awkward too.

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2. Last night’s telecast presented a number of changes from previous years. The winners provided a list of people they wanted to thank to the producers, who then projected that list on a scrolling chyron while they were giving their speech.  This was supposed to reduce the times the speeches took, but based on the length of last night’s show, I wouldn’t say it was successful.  Not only that, but those in the audience couldn’t see the chyron, so the winners still mentioned everyone important that they wanted to thank.Another change that was made was the order of award presentation.  The awards were presented in the order of which a movie is made, i.e. writing awards were given out first, while awards for full products were handed out last.  The problem with this is that all of the awards that aren’t traditionally cared about by the general public were front loaded to the beginning of the telecast, making it a pain to get to the big ones. Luckily, we had a few acting awards sprinkled in the beginning of the show, such as Best Supporting Actress and Actor, to get us through.
3. Speaking of the Best Supporting Actor award, this was my biggest disappointment of the night.  I’ll say up front that I haven’t seen Bridge of Spies, and I’m sure that Mark Rylance gives a quality performance.  That being sad, man was I bummed to not see Sylvester Stallone take home an award for playing the role that made him famous 40 years ago. As someone who runs past the Rocky statue three times a week, I was rooting for a local movie to take home some gold.  Plus, they would’ve probably shown Michael B. Jordan in the audience, and that is never a bad thing.

Best Dressed

1. 
   Saoirse Ronan’s custom Calvin Klein dress was something I would love to wear.  The emerald green color looked amazing on her, and the cut was both edgy and tasteful. I loved her loose messy curls, to complement the fitted shape of the dress.
2. Brie Larson’s Gucci dress wasn’t the flashiest, but I thought it suited her personality. It wasn’t one of the dresses that you wanted to see up close and from every angle, but the color was beautiful, she looked comfortable, and most importantly, she looked like herself.
3. Cate Blanchett was my favorite dress of the night. From what I’ve seen this morning, her Armani Prive dress has received mixed reviews.  Not many people can pull off the avant garde details such as feathered shoulders and the floral applique. The colors really complemented her skintone, and she looked like a real life ice queen, (not the mean kind, more like Elsa).

Thanks People.com for the photos!

What did you guys think of the show? Any favorite moments or favorite looks? Let me know in the comments!!
xxEm