It’s not even about the movies.
When contestation about the Oscars arises , it typically center on the motion-picture show nominated for the award . And , sure , there ’s a little bit of that this yr as we head into the last stretch of what has beenaverylong award time of year . Online , for instance , people are argue about whetherCODAdeserves to be a Best Picture front - blue runner . But the most controversial ingredient of the 2022 Oscars has been the ceremony itself .
Last year ’s telecast , which was retread to be an intimate COVID - geological era affair , was the nadir of Oscar viewership , scoringall - sentence - low ratings . This year , there ’s intelligibly an attempt to restore the awards to their former aureole . After three years with no server , Amy Schumer , Wanda Sykes , and Regina Hall will preside . The event is render to the lucullan Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard , but some of the changes have inspired more scepticism than inflammation .
In an crusade to juice its audience , Academy officials , ABC , and manufacturer Will Packer have made a series of decisions that have confounded both viewers and the people being honored . head up into Sunday night , the question remains : Is this going to be a hilarious disaster ? Or will all the change prove doubters awry ?
Maitane Romagosa/Thrillist
Categories presented before the broadcast
Thedecisionthat has baffled and frustrated the most Oscar loyalists was the one to present eight awards — among them Best Editing , a category historically see as a Best Picture predecessor — before the live program begins . These mostly below - the - seam accolades will be handed out during the red - carpet arrivals , with the speeches somehow contain into the event later . Other accolade evince , like the Grammys and the Tonys , do something exchangeable , but the Grammys have approximately a million awards to pass on out and the Tonys need to make room for performances from nominated casts . With the Oscars , the point is — or at least should be — the trade of making movies . ( Never mind the fact that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was launch in the late twenties as a way to bust North by notorious studio head Louis B. Mayer . )
The pick hascontinued to backlash . Jessica Chastain told theNext Best Picturepodcast that she will skip the red carpet if she can be in the building when her war paint and hairstyling squad is up for their work onThe eye of Tammy Faye , a mark that even some of the large - name stars will choose solidarity over the glare . harmonise toVariety , healthy guild membersa are go to dissent by show up with their guild badge upside down . Meanwhile , the Chief Executive of the Cinema Audio Society tell the publication that the solidarity might gallop beyond just those category with citizenry consent their trophy upside down . " This weekend , the Oscars may be turn over upside down as we may see winners from all class accept their Oscars upside down in a tacit show of solidarity with the eight affected class , " he tell . " We are all filmmakers of adequate importance . "
The Twitter award
So what are they shafting the categories above for ? We have some clue . There will be a carrying out ofEncanto ’s " We Do n’t Talk About Bruno,“which isnot , in fact , the nominate song from the Disney smasher . There will be testimonial to James Bond andThe Godfather . And there will be the presentation of theOscars Fan Favoriteand the Oscars Cheer Moment , also vote on via Twitter . This ill - propose programme is meant to stoke engagement plans to give some stage time to the movie most celebrated via hashtag oronline vote .
It seemed like a bad idea from the beginning , which was confirmed when the Academy announced the 10 films in contention for the in question honor . While there were some expected appearances from the likes ofSpider - Man : No Way Home , the loge - office winner of last year , there were other signs that buff armies had hijacked the voting . This resulted in " nominations " for the little - seen Johnny Depp biopicMinamataand Camila Cabello ’s atrociously reviewedCinderellajukebox musical . IfSpider - Manwins , the production squad will have have just what they wanted : an chance to heap kudos on a juggernaut that some ( read : Jimmy Kimmel ) sentiment should havebeen nominated for Best Picture .
Inanothernod to the so - called king of social media , theAcademy has invited a bunch of influencersto make Reels in a partnership with Instagram parent caller Meta .
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen winning Editing last year for ‘Sound of Metal.'|Todd Wawrychuk/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images
The invite list
A new round of supercilium - raising took office the Monday before the observance when producers unveiled the late list of presenter . Along with movie genius Tiffany Haddish and former nominee Bill Murray and Elliot Page , the batting order admit not one , but three extreme - sports headliner : skateboarder Tony Hawk , snowboarder Shaun White , and surfer Kelly Slater . No specter to them , but what are they doing there ? Hawk , at least , had a good return on Twitter : " If being in every Jackass movie , xXx , Police Academy 4 and Sharknado 5 does n’t condition me to present at the Oscars , then your taste in moving picture involve readjusting . " Which , middling . Still , the accumulation of athletes does still evoke the question : Who does the Academy and ABC want to appeal to ?
total to the altercation , this conferrer newsworthiness came a day afterWest Side StorystarRachel Zegler postedon Instagram that she would not beattendingand would be recreate on " from her couch " unless some " last minute miracle occurs . " While the office is arguably more complicated than Zegler simply not fix an invite — she acknowledged she ’s in yield onDisney ’s new Snow White flick in London — it still seemed moderately blinding that a Gen X skateboard image would be there and not the breakout star from one of the Best Picture candidate . After a sidereal day of Twitter angriness over Zegler ’s would - be absence , she wasasked to present .
That does n’t change the fact that , in all likelihood , few people who were n’t already contrive to watch the Oscars will be lured by a Tony Hawk appearance . The magnetic core audience for this eventisa collection of moving picture nerds who care about editing and sound pattern and require to cheer on one of the most lucent young actress to make out along in late years . They are enthusiasts who have seenDrive My CarandSpider - Man : No Way Homeand mean the latter was fun but the former is the more significant cinematic accomplishment . All of the Oscars ' design seem like an attempt to hand a chemical group that was never go to care anyway .
Twitter/@TheAcademy
Rachel Zegler at the Critics Choice Awards.|Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association
