The Sunday Mail
THE 90th edition of the Academy Awards were a few weeks back and it could not have been a better show – even if they had 10 extra months to prepare.
The show had it all: well-deserved wins, hints of scandal, the expected pot-shots at Donald Trump, and great jokes.
Deserved gongs went to Gary Oldman (Best Actor), Guillermo del Toro (Best Director), Kobe Bryant (Best Animated Short Film), and Allison Janney (Best Supporting Actress).
The 2017 hit “Get Out” scored big with writer Jordan Peele walking away with an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while “The Shape of Water” scooped four Oscars for Directing, Production Design, Original Score and Best Picture.
There was a hint of scandal as the Twitter-verse went into overdrive in revolt over future NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant’s historic Oscar win for his animated film “Basketball”.
This stemmed from the 39-year-old’s 2003 rape charge, in which the former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel employee.
The case was dropped after Bryant’s accuser refused to testify, but the Internet never forgets.
Bryant’s Oscar win is viewed in bad taste given the whole “MeToo Movement” and fight for equal rights.
US president Donald Trump – the gift that keeps on giving – made his presence felt with a Monday morning tweet directed at his little war with Oscar’s host Jimmy Kimmel.
Overall, it was a great show and the low ratings, which Trump referred to in his tweet, was merely a testimony of the times.
Kimmel did a stand up job; his delivery on point and his jokes pure gold.
I get that the “MeToo Movement” is an important subject and should be treated as such, but the fight is getting dirty and the general fear is that Hollywood will forget its fans and instead play politics.
And the trolls on social media, shame on you! Kobe was never convicted. When did the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences start playing God or judge?
