March 1, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
2017 OSCAR RECAP:
‘La La Land’ — I Mean ‘Moonlight’ — Wins Best Picture
PHOTO BY CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP
Climactic Academy Awards moment ruined by monumental blunder
Barry Jenkins, foreground center, and the cast accept the award for best picture for “Moonlight” at the
Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
T
he Academy Awards ended on a
sour note when Faye Dunaway
announced that favorite “La La
Land” had won the Oscar for Best
Picture. Trouble is, she and co-present-
er Warren Beatty had been handed the
wrong envelope.
So, while “La La”’s producers were
taking turns delivering heartfelt ac-
ceptance speeches, they were abruptly
interrupted so that the audience could
be informed that Moonlight was the
real winner. Immediately, that film’s
cast and crew descended upon the stage
while the suddenly-deflated “La La” en-
tourage quietly exited via the wings.
Emcee Jimmy Kimmel confronted
Warren Beatty with “What did you
do?” But the epic flub wasn’t Warren
or Faye’s fault, since the card inside
the envelope was actually for Best Lead
Actress and read “Emma Stone – ‘La La
Land.’”
Besides Best Picture, “Moonlight”
landed awards for Best Supporting
Actor (Mahershala Ali) and Adapted
“
The
suddenly-de-
flated ‘La La’ entou-
rage quietly exited
via the wings
Screenplay. “La La” can take some con-
solation in the fact that it nabbed the
most honors overall, 6, including Best
Director (Damien Chazell), Score and
Song (“City of Stars”).
Otherwise, Hollywood’s biggest
night represented a remarkable rever-
sal of its recent lily-White preferenc-
Movies cont’d from pg 6
highlighting the efforts of minority
members of the LBGTQ community to
find a safe space to congregate in New
York City.
The Last Word (R for profanity)
Unlikely-buddies comedy about the
friendship forged between an elderly
control freak (Shirley Maclaine) and a
truth-seeking reporter (Amanda Sey-
fried) assigned to write her obituary.
Supporting cast includes Anne Heche,
Phillip Baker Hall and AnnJewel Lee
Dixon.
Lavender (Unrated) Psychological
thriller about a photographer (Abbie
Cornish) suffering from amnesia who
finds evidence in her portfolio suggest-
ing she might have murdered relatives
she never knew she had. With Jus-
tin Long, Dermot Mulroney and Lola
Flanery.
My Scientology Movie (Unrated)
Faux documentary employing actors
to recreate revealing incidents report-
ed by disenchanted members of the
Church of Scientology. Co-starring An-
drew Perez, Stacia Roybal and Conner
Stark as Tom Cruise.
Nakom (Unrated) Character-driven
drama about a promising medical stu-
dent (Jacob Ayanaba) forced to return
home to his village in Ghana to provide
for his family in the wake of his father’s
death. With Grace Ayanga, Justina Kul-
idu and Shetu Musah.
Table 19 (PG-13 for profanity, sexual-
ity, mature themes, drug use and brief
nudity) Ensemble comedy about a maid
of honor (Anna Kendrick) who finds
herself relieved of her duties and rele-
gated to a remote table full of reluctant-
ly-invited losers at the wedding recep-
tion after being dumped by the bride’s
(Rya Meyers) brother (Wyatt Russell)
With Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson and
June Squibb.
Wolves (Unrated) Dysfunctional
family drama about a high school bas-
ketball star (Taylor John Smith) whose
recruitment by Cornell is jeopardized
by his gambling- addicted and compul-
sive liar of a father (Michael Shannon).
Cast includes Carla Gugino, Chris Bau-
er and Zazie Beetz.
View movie trailers at
TheSkanner.com
es, picking the predominantly-Black
cast “Moonlight” as Best Picture, along
with African Americans Viola Davis
(Best Supporting Actress), Mahershal
Ali (“Moonlight”), Barry Jenkins (Best
Adapted Screenplay) and Ezra Edelman
(director of “O.J.: Made in America”).
Edelman, the son of legendary chil-
dren’s rights attorney, Marian Wright
Edelman, dedicated his victory to Ron
Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson as
well as to victims of police brutality. His
wasn’t the only politicized acceptance
speech, with many recipients hurling
thinly-veiled barbs at Donald Trump.
The most virulent attack on the Pres-
ident came from came from Iranian
Ashgar Farhadi, writer and director of
Best Foreign Film-winner, “The Sales-
man.” He boycotted the festivities, but
had a spokesman read a statement ex-
coriating Trump for issuing an execu-
tive order temporarily banning travel-
ers from his country and a half-dozen
other Muslim countries.
Jimmy Kimmel took a lot of indirect
potshots at the President, too, like
when he asked Meryl Streep whether
her gown was from Ivanka’s fashion
line. When the O.J. Simpson doc won,
he quipped, “ O.J., you can get an extra
slice of baloney on your sandwich to-
night.” Kimmel was very smooth deliv-
ering his funny but never mean-spir-
ited jokes, so don’t be surprised if he’s
asked to host again next year, especial-
ly given that the Oscars air on ABC, the
same network as his late-night show.
Complete List of Oscar Winners
Best Picture: “Moonlight”
Best Director: Damien Chazelle (“La La
Land”)
Best Actor: Casey Affleck (“Manchester
by the Sea”)
Best Actress: Emma Stone (“La La Land”)
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali
(“Moonlight”)
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis
(“Fences”)
Best Original Screenplay: “Manchester by
the Sea”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Moonlight”
Animated Feature: “Zootopia”
Foreign Language Film: “The Salesman”
Documentary Feature: “O.J.: Made in
America”
Cinematography: “La La Land”
Costume Design: “Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them”
Production Design: “La La Land”
Film Editing: “Hacksaw Ridge”
Makeup and Hairstyling: “Suicide Squad”
Original Score: “La La Land”
Best Song: “La La Land” (“City of Stars”)
Sound Editing: “Arrival”
Sound Mixing: “Hacksaw Ridge”
Visual Effects: “The Jungle Book”
Animated Short: “Piper”
Documentary Short: “The White Helmets”
Live-Action Short: “Sing”