Monday, February 10, 2020

And the Oscar goes to ...

I don't know. I didn't watch the Oscars last night.

I cancelled my cable television subscription last year because it was an unnecessary bill. I rarely watch televised programs except for during the NFL football season or for special events such as the Grammy's or Oscars. All of the my viewing time is spent on streaming services like the rest of the world, I imagine.

For the football season, I signed up for YouTube TV for $50 a month to ensure that I would enjoy uninterrupted viewing of what turned out to be a losing season for my team. When they didn't make the playoffs, I cancelled YouTube TV. Back to streaming only.

At Christmas, my brother-in-law bought an antennae for me so that I could capture network television. I had tried to buy one on my own, but I couldn't get many stations with the two different ones that I had purchased. I had even tried to find someone on a home project site to install a digital antennae on my roof as a friend had recommended. No one picked up the project. Back to square one. And when the brother-in-law offered to help and plugged his solution in, it seemed to work. Cool. But the reception was non-existent when I wanted to watch the Grammy's. Scrambling, I enrolled in the CBS all-access trial through Amazon Prime and watched it there. And cancelled it the next day.

The Oscars were trickier. I was able to stream the pre-game on Twitter, but in order to get ABC, I would've had to change my Hulu subscription from free, thank you Spotify, to paid. I had had it ...I gave up.

And I wonder if I really didn't just give up on the Oscars all together. I can remember when it was so important to watch. I would invite friends over and make it a night. We'd start by watching Barbara Walters, 'The World's Most Fascinating People.' That was must see ... who would be the most interesting or fascinating person this year? I imagine, Billie Eilish or Lizzo. Maybe Harry and Megan ... I'm not sure that even Barbara Walters could snag that interview. And of course Brad Pitt would be the most fascinating this year. He's shaken the bond that held him away from his adoring fans and found a place in film again.

And I suppose that with the evolution of Twitter, and more specifically Instagram, access to fashion has become pedestrian. We have access to all of the dresses all of the time. There really aren't any surprises. This year, I would have liked to have heard that the Oscars were asking the stars to re-wear like they did for BAFTA. That would have made the game more interesting ... what would they pull out of the closet. I suppose that if I would give an award to the best dressed this year, it would have to go to Jane Fonda, who has declared that she isn't buying any more clothes and re-word a dress from a few years back.

And the nominations ... with so many platforms available for viewing content, I'm not sure if the Oscars are even relevant anymore. There's too much to choose from ... why did "The Irishman" get nominated? To be honest, I haven't watched it. I feel that it would be ... fairly predictable. I liked Scorese's "Hugo" because it was different from his usual. I was surprised that Iiked "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" as much as I did. I'm not really a fan of Leonardo DeCaprio ... but he was solid. And the movie was different for Tarantino, yet in his own way, his. I could critique all of the nominees and discuss all of those that weren't nominated, but that would take pages ... and research given the number of movies that I watched last year. I suppose that the Oscar's are sort of in a slump, which may account for the lack of diversity in their choices.

Something's gotta change. The old guard and Tom Hanks sitting in the front row with his lovely wife, Rita Wilson, need to make room for different- movies, actors, access to the show through streaming services that are user friendly and a dress code that expects the nominees to walk the red carpet with a story about their outfit that isn't just 'oh, it's been made by so and so.' Be the story teller. And give Kevin Hart the chance for a do-over. The no host and presenters trying to cram 10 jokes into 45 seconds is chaotic.

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