I hope that Jimmy Kimmel and Oscar producers are appropriately ashamed for all of the filler bulls–t they had throughout the Oscar telecast, because given the chaos of the final moments, we really didn’t need to be doing this until 12:20 am. The show could have and should have lasted a breezy two hours. It was the worst. I covered the Best Picture screw-up separately here. Here’s a recap/highlight post for what I thought were the most interesting or noteable moments. You can see the full list of 2017 Oscar winners here.
Justin Timberlake is The Worst. Timberlake was soaking up the red carpet like a true famewhore on a sugar high. He wouldn’t even allow his wife to pose solo for fashion photos (no great loss, but still). Then Timberlake got to OPEN THE OSCARS. With his terrible “Can’t Stop the Feeling” song and it went on way too long. It went on and on and on and it was awkward and awful and I don’t know what Oscar producers were thinking.
Jimmy Kimmel goes political. Kimmel made this argument: “The country is divided right now… I want to say something to unite us. I can’t do that, there’s only one ‘Braveheart’ in this room, and he’s not going to unite us either. I’m not the man to unite this country… [everyone needs to] have a positive considerate conversation, not as liberal or conservative, tonight in the spirit of bringing people together.” I do not support this notion, that I would have to take responsibility equally for the state of this country under Emperor Baby Fists. If Kimmel was directing that comment at all of the white guys, sure, I’ll go along with that.
Kimmel honored Meryl Streep. He kept making jokes about how Meryl is “highly overrated,” which was a reference to Trump’s tweets about her following the Golden Globes. Kimmel asked Meryl to stand up and everyone gave her a standing ovation. Then Kimmel jokes, “Nice dress, by the way. Is that an Ivanka?”
Suicide Squad is an Oscar winning film now. It won Best Hair and Makeup. RLY?
Candy Drop. This was cool! Jimmy Kimmel arranged for candy to drop from the sky and everyone was SO happy to get some candy bars. It wasn’t quite as big as Ellen DeGeneres getting everyone pizza, but it was still awesome.
Lin-Manuel Miranda performs for a second. He got robbed! He didn’t win the Best Song Oscar, but hey… at least Justin Timberlake didn’t win. And I think Lin had a great time, so there.
Watch @Lin_Manuel and @auliicravalho deliver a heartfelt performance from the #Oscars stage. Presented by @ATT. pic.twitter.com/TsXM1xaIPn
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 27, 2017
Oscar Mean Tweets. This is…eh.
The Salesman won Best Foreign Language Film. The Salesman is an Iranian film whose director, Asghar Farhadi, boycotted the Oscars because of Emperor Baby Fists. A statement was read on his behalf and it was a great statement.
Statement read on behalf of foreign language film winner Asghar Farhadi denounces "inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US" pic.twitter.com/GxulPE7E5L
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 27, 2017
Gael Garcia Bernal talks about the Wall. His short speech was extraordinary.
Gael García Bernal: "As a Mexican, as a Latin-American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I am against any form of wall." #Oscars pic.twitter.com/KyeZn6E3sr
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 27, 2017
The bit where “regular people” invade the Oscars. For what it’s worth, the celebrities seemed pretty unfazed. And to be fair, most of the regular people kept their sh-t together better than I would have been able to if I was in front of Mahershala Ali. But the bit made me sort of uncomfortable. Except for Gary, who only wanted to meet the black celebrities. Gary is an American Hero.
Bridges of Madison County. Apparently, Javier Bardem loves Bridges of Madison County and that fact was enough to get the movie trending for much of Oscar night.
Sunny Pawar got to do a bit with Kimmel.
#Oscars SO, THIS JUST HAPPENED. #CircleofLife pic.twitter.com/scO9cQTrhx
— Pret-a-Reporter (@pretareporter) February 27, 2017
And finally, Kimmel tweet-trolled Donald Trump. He tweeted these when he grew disturbed that Trump hadn’t tweeted about the Oscars yet. This was actually hysterical. This was the best bit, alongside the candy drop.
Hey @realDonaldTrump u up?
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) February 27, 2017
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) February 27, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I giggled at #MerylsaysHi. Also, I don’t know if it’s just me but I found his bit with Damon so annoying. I mean it was okay during his monologue but it just dragged on and on.
I loved the Damon bit, esp, The Great Wall diss. If he had only added mansplaining it would have been perfect.
I loved it too! I laughed at the “Here are Ben Affleck and guest” bit when they came out as presenters.
I think Jimmy did an amazing job as host! He was topical and edgy without being mean and he really seemed to enjoy hosting (until the ending but hey, that wasn’t his fault).
The Matt Damon/Chinese ponytail movie bit had me in tears.
I was very underwhelmed. He should have gotten way way more political, he was not all that funny and if I was one od the “civilians” being put on live TV I’d have killed him.
He was better than Ellen, but then Ellen was one od the worst hosts ever, so that’s not an achievement.
I didn’t like Timberlake’s song, but I didn’t like the Moana song either. They were both fluffy and quite boring.
I disagree – this is a Hollywood awards show, after all. It’s about the year’s best actors and films, lighthearted celebration – it should absolutely not be about political statements.
Yes it’s a Hollywood awards show but it’s not lighthearted. It’s one of the few awards that still makes people stop and consider your work. On the contrary, it’s serious business and always will be.
I disagree that Kimmel should have gotten more political. I think he was appropriately political. This is the Oscars and should focus mainly on the movies and people who made the movies.
Personally, I could care less about some actors’ political opinions. Everyone is entitled to his or her own views. I don’t think an Awards Show entitles them to foist their opinions on the public, whether or not you argree with their position.
Well, those people were on a star-sight-seeing tour bus. What better story can you have when someone asks “Oh, how was your trip to LA?” Sure, they all looked like tourists and maybe weren’t camera-ready, but that’s what they are.
I disagree that he should be more political. Everyone expects political. He went with funny, which was his purpose. He was just political enough. I actually liked that we didn’t have a bunch of political speeches last night. The few that were offered were on point and topical. No one went “Meryl” and totally hijacked the proceedings.
I thought Ellen was great but I only remember when she hosted back in 2006/7, the year Jennifer Hudson won.
He was just boring. There were a few good moments but that’s it.
I’m so impressed with Auli’i Cravalho, she’s just 16 years old. I was definitely not that poised and mature as a teenager (I’m still not lol).
Her voice is amazing and she is so beautiful!!! But what was the thing with the Olympic fire behind her? They copied Rio or it’s ok to use it?
Yup. And she didn’t even falter when one of the flags hit her on the head.
She did a great job and didn’t falter when she got hit. And both of her looks were simply gorgeous. I definitely was not that poised at 16.
Lin and Moana were robbed frankly. I was so annoyed
I was pretty disappointed this year, if I’m honest. Emma Stone definitely did not deserve that award; I’m sorry but it’s true. The Oscars weren’t even a big deal in my country (Australia), literally everyone wrote it off before it started. Hollywood, you need to get your shit together!
I don’t understand the hate for Justin Timberlake’s song. It wasn’t great, but the others were a snoozefest.
Suicide Squad: UGH. I hate that Suicide Squad is an Oscar winner now. I wish the award had gone to Star Trek, but I guess Suicide Squad had the MOST hair and makeup so it won.
I love Mean Tweets. That really is the only Jimmy Kimmel bit I like.
That tourist bit was terrible.
I hope Trump tweets something about the Oscars, just for the laughs.
Trixie, I agree. The makeup in Star Trek was incredible and definitely better than anything Suicide Squad had.
I thought Jimmy did a fine job. I laughed out loud throughout the show and was not cringing until the end with the best picture f-up. Even the tourist bit was funny.
He was awful. I was cringing at the tour bus bit. In recent years though, all the hosts have been awful. I have to think that maybe it’s because the academy has their damn hands all over it and won’t let the comedians do their thing.
Jimmy did a good job at not being offensive to certain people. He made certain people feel comfortable and safe. He had his moments where he was genuinely funny though.
I actually laughed at him dragging Matt Damon all night long. I realize Matt was in on the jokes, but it was still funny. The best one is when Matt and Ben were on stage presenting for best original screenplay (?). Ben could not keep himself from laughing; it was cute.
They won the Academy Award for original screenplay for Good Will Hunting.
Maybe its down to my Youtube chat show binges but I’m so over the Kimmel Damin feux feud. It was once a funny gag but they’ve beat it to death now, I wish they’d just stop. I suppose people who havent watched their countless segments together thrashing this out think this is fresh humor though.
Before, the show began, he was giving an interview about the concept of the song and how it had to reflect the movie, and make people want to dance and blah blah…. And i thought : it was the trolls movie, wtf are you talking about? Man, that this poor woman has to up with him every single day…
If they ever divorce, I hope she gets a lot of money because she deserves it
Overall he did a pretty good job, but the show was WAY too long. Could have cut lots of the extra bits, especially the tourist thing, which took forever. First candy drop was cute, the next round was too much. The Matt Damon gag jumped the shark 2 years ago, time to move on.
His monologue was pretty good, he set the right tone for the show.
Kimmel’s teasing of people’s (non-anglo) names was nagl.
And, although it’s certainly not the most pressing issue of the day, but has the lovely Gael Garcia Bernal dyed his hair? IIRC his hair was quite noticeably speckled with grey recently but in the red carpet pics his hair has a strange Paul McCartney-esque glow about it with no grey. Could have been the lighting.
Jimmy had one more time on my clock for One more f**king Mahershala’s Name Joke, gtfoh we gonna spend an award shading the Administration but also making Foreign people’s and names that are not Suzy Jokes??!
Also Gary is the Hero we all needed
I wasn’t hear for that bit either. You have white people naming their kids Apple but no jokes on that. Mahershala’s name is traditional and was not hear for white jokes about it.
Gary is the true winner. So funny
Just off the top off my head, Quvenzhane Wallis, Barkhad Abdi and even Lupita Nyongos surname have been the butt of these types of jokes at award ceremonies. Its never a white person or even a latino one because it has to be a true outsider to be “funny”.
Yep totally over it
Um, lots of people made fun of the name Apple. And Inspektor Pilot. and Kal-El. And Blanket. And Harley Quinn (Smith) and Moon Unit, if we’re looking for throwbacks. I remember Demi Moore getting a bunch of shit for Rumor and Scout.
The name jokes are dumb, but “they never do it to white people” is incorrect.
Gary Allen Cole forever! I will always remember his full name. He is in the top 3 moments of the whole ceremony.
I did not realize the stuff with Mahershala’s name was a running gag. We tuned in late and I was like, “Did no one practice this with him? Did he not get a card with the name spelled phonetically so he could practice by himself?” He was really irking me with that. That it was a *joke* is worse. Someone needs to slap him and whoever came up with that in the writers’ room.
I lost all respect for Jimmy after the name bit. It makes me so mad when people make fun of other people’s names.
I’m from Chicago and we had Obama representing Chicago for 8 years in the White House and now we got Gary representing Chicago at the Oscars. #Gary4Eva
Came here for my lilliputian sexicano boyfriend, Gael. He looked great and his voice is sexy too. I Was worried he already lost the hot after watching him looking like a tired Jon Stewart in You are Killing Me Susana. I was relieved he looked foine. It was odd seeing him paired with Hailee Steinfeld. I knew he was going to say something about the proposed wall and I was right. He masterfully segued his political statement without being too forceful. Let me segue too by saying I didn’t really enjoy Neruda that much, the other Larrain semi-fic. Not a bad film, btw. Let me just say I like Jackie more.
I thought Kimmel did a decent job and I didn’t mind JT opening with his song, but I have to agree about the excessive fillers. That whole part with the regular people was too long and I didn’t understand the point, it almost looked like a desperate attempt of the “stars” to look approachable.
It did get tiring after a while that all his jokes were about Trump, he kept pushing it and pushing it, when none of the winners even mentioned it. In fact, the lack of political speeches (except from a few presenters), was very surprising. It was like Jimmy kept trying to encourage the actors to be more controversial but they just wanted to use their moment to give thanks and not to repeat the same thing over and over (especially not when they voted for Casey Affleck).
I think the tourist bit would have been amazing to take part in…..unless you were a celeb. I could imagine some of them may have been uncomfortable with that gag. Afterall, they don’t know how these people are going to act around them. And Jimmy pressured Jennifer Aniston to give her sunglasses away.
Overall, I think Jimmy did pretty good. I agree with someone else that he was perfect amount of political. Wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty but also knew when to focus on the movies/actors which is what the show is about. I thought the best bits were him ragging on Damon the whole show.
Starting off the show with “Cant Stop the Feeling” was hilarious only because having a room mostly full of actors and not musicians (like the grammys) made them very awkward when it came to singing/dancing along. 99% looked confused.
The mix up was crazy. First off, I feel bad for the cast and crew of La La Land. That totally sucks and is super embarrassing to be told you won, get on stage and then find out you didn’t win afterall. But also, watching it live….I thought something bad had happened. Like a security breach. Cause you see someone running behind and then a moment or so later someone with a headset coming out on stage.
What was really brilliant was NOT making this an awards show about Emperor Zero. He probably fumed watching it (which I’m sure he did) as the show went on and on and there was hardly any talk about him personally. Nice job Oscars!!
I liked Jimmy. I liked the tour bus bit. And I loved his Matt Damon feud.
It worked for me and I would like to see him host again.
Agree with you @jenns
@Kaiser – great job on the tweets through the broadcast
ACADEMY – cut all the tech presentations and just have the best actor, film, music, etc. or better yet have those start at 7 PM and begin airing the rest at 8:30 like the Tonys used to do.
Wanted to say best Oscars in ages, could not look away. Hysterically funny for all the wrong reasons. Though Kimmel did well.
Maybe next year a mini marshmallow cannon.
That’s super dismissive of the amazing work the artists in the technical categories do. Without costume designers, production designers, cinematographers, sound mixers etc there would be no movie. And coming from someone who has worked in the film industry, I guarantee you those people work much harder and for longer hours than the cast, for none of the glory. This is their time to shine. I don’t care if I don’t know any of them, I’m always happy to see them get their moment of recognition for their fantastic work.
The whole Matt Damon thing has gotten so old and stale. Let it go and try to do something that is actually funny
I enjoyed the Oscars this year, aside from the best actor win. And Mel and his child bride were too creepy, although Twitter came to my rescue on that front (I also loved Nick Kroll and John M’s bit about him at the spirit awards).
I thought it was the dullest hosting job in recent memory. Just blah, with a lot of annoying bits that didn’t work – the candy, the tour bus, the Damon thing, among others.
But, to be fair, it could have been worse – if Fallon was hosting, that is.
The tour bus bit was soooo lame. Not one of those people were surprised about where they were, or what was going on, and the idea that Hollywood thought these “dumb hicks” couldn’t tell they were in the Oscars lobby — and also, that duh, 10,000 of their friends and relatives weren’t texting them the instant that bus was shown, LONG before they entered — is just so insulting and rude. Plus, don’t tell me they weren’t specially picked, as that bus wouldn’t run with so few people on a normal weekend day (it wouldn’t be profitable if it did), but they needed to keep the number small for the bit.
The celebs were good sports, and so were the “regular folks” when it came to that, but it was just a bad idea all around, as was the candy drop because, yes, Jimmy, popcorn IS what people eat at the movies; how did no one note that to death when you came up with the dumb idea?
Some of mean tweets was also a bit too mean for the Oscars, and others were just dumb, even with the celebs who really tried to be game.
The only joke I actually liked was the Matt Damon bit, and much more because of Damon, than Kimmel. Though I did really want Damon to give his friend Ben a Batfleck zinger when he dissed, ‘We Bought a Zoo.’
Speaking of Damon, like his “regular person” wife has always been beautiful, but is it just me or does she seem to get more attractive each and every year (almost, sorry Matt, in inverse proportion to her hubby)? She really looked amazing last night; outshining many of the actual celebs, so go, 40-year-old, mom-of-4-who-used-to-be-a-bartender-and-is-now-married-to-a-movie star.
Some women who are stunning when younger actually don’t age as amazingly as you think they will. Some women who are just average pretty in their youth really age well and come into their own in their 40s.
Lucy is the latter, to me. She looks fantastic. She has had some filler, but it really did work on her, very tastefully done.
I thought this year’s Oscar’s were more entertaining. It was a good show for the most part.
Justin performance was great. The audience seemed to really enjoy it. The best performance of the night. I love that song.
Ugh why didn’t Moana win??!! T_T
Lin Manuel, Auli’i, Dwayne….. Just Precious! You win in my heart!
The hating Matt Damon joke is a long standing gag from Jimmy’s talk show where he ends the show saying “And we ran out of time for Matt Damon.” Not sure how it started but basically he pretends to hate Matt Damon’s guts when in real life they are actually pretty good friends. Remember back when Jimmy was with Sarah Silverman and she made the “I’m F**king Matt Damon” video and Jimmy retaliated by making one with Ben Affleck? It’s definitely a tired joke but most people watching the Oscars probably don’t watch Jimmy Kimmel and are unaware of their long-standing fake feud.
I was okay with most of stuff Jimmy did, except for the random tourists entering the auditorium mid-ceremony. It went on too long and was just too cringe-inducing. I was suffering way too much second hand embarrassment to enjoy that bit. And honestly, I’m glad he wasn’t too political. I see the political stuff every day on my social media feeds and on the news. I’m not saying we should curtail it but I don’t need it in my face 24/7. I’m not really looking for heavy political drama at the Oscars. It’s an awards ceremony, not a rally.