Oscar Night's Top Five Presenters
Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at 8:30AM by Camila Henriques
One of the challenges of a hostless Oscar ceremony is having a presenter list capable of holding the show together. For film fanatics even that isn't enough. We crave the legendary movie stars as presenters (fewer and fewer each year) and moments like Julie Andrews following Lady Gaga’s tribute to “The Sound of Music” back in 2015 or Olivia de Havilland introducing the Family Album back in 2003. Those two still give us chills. Unfortunately, the Academy Awards this year were lacking in the legendary star department. Nevertheless, the show had truly memorable bits, and a couple of future host possibilities that the Board of Governors should take note of. With that in mind, here’s a top 5 presenters/duos list for the 92nd Oscars:
Honorable mentions: Steve Martin and Chris Rock reminding us that hey, there’s still former hosts the Academy could call, Salma Hayek holding the best Oscar in the house (Oscar Isaac, that is), and Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves giving us Something’s Gotta Give nostalgia...
5. Taika Waititi
The Jojo Rabbit helmer made history as the first Māori (and second indigenous person) to win a competitive Oscar, so it would be only fitting to have him introduce the winners of the Governors Awards. One of this year’s honorees was the first Native American man to win a lifetime achievement Oscar, Wes Studi (Geena Davis, David Lynch and Lina Wertmüller were also awarded little gold men for their career or humanitarian achievements). As he took the stage, Waititi reminded us that Hollywood was built over native lands, as Studi looked up from the audience.
4. James Corden & Rebel Wilson
I’m not the biggest fan of either, but their self awareness and willingness to be the butt of the joke made for one of the funniest moments last night. C’mon, the stars of Cats dressed up as cats and presenting best visual effects, of all awards?
3. Gal, Brie, and Sigourney
In the year that Black Widow herself (Scarlett Johansson) received two acting nods, we looked back to the time Sigourney Weaver was similarly honoured (and, like Scarjo, went home empty handed). Having Lt. Ellen Ripley onstage and passing the torch to two women who undoubtedly grew up with her as an action hero was not only a very emotional moment, but a fierce one. We are all superheroes indeed.
2. Jane Fonda
It’s unfortunately quite rare to have a woman presenting best picture all by herself (Julia Roberts broke a 28 year-old drought just last year!), and the iconic Fonda, a two time winner and bonafide movie legend, was overdue for that task. The fact that this finally happened this year and that we saw her marching the Oscar stage with her now iconic “prison coat” in hands was already an iconic Oscar moment itself. Then she announced Parasite as the winner and bam!, it’s one for the history books.
1.Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig:
Ugh, can these two host this thing already?!? It’s no secret that the “Saturday Night Live” girls slay this kind of thing (see also: Amy & Tina at the Globes), so we all knew we were in for some laughs as these two stepped onstage. To semi quote that Lego Movie song, everything was awesome: the outfits, the acting auditions (which should also be read as hosting auditions, Academy) and the fashion-themed pop hits medley they performed easily became one of the great moments of the evening.
Which presenters were your favourites?
more 92nd Academy Awards coverage
embroidered fashion statements (literally)
new Oscar trivia
the winner & immediate afterthoughts
Reader Comments (32)
The comedian presenters were all great!
There was also the Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus bit about Cinematographers and Film Editors. Funny as hell!
Yeah, I thought Louis-Dreyfus and Ferrell were the funniest.
Olivia Colman, a close second.
I liked Spike Lee because his slight smile when he opened the envelope was a sign that Bong won! There is a great photo of them on the cover of the LA Times from yesterday. (Also, it felt a bit like the producers claiming he was the rightful Best Director winner from last year. It took me a few minutes to even recall the actual winner.)
I loved seeing Sigourney. She looked great.
Didn't watch but lol at the cats
Fonda drives me nuts. She needs to just go away.
Olivia Colman was #1 by a distance - so funny without even trying. Love her. Dreyfus and Ferrell were #2 - very funny bit but I wish their movie was better.
Personally didn't care for the Brie, Gal and Sigourney trio - it was a more than a little bit of an insult to Sigourney to equate Ellen Ripley with either of their characters. You don't need to be a superhero to be a compelling, strong, genre-busting, stereotype-destroying character. And she did it in the 70s.
I thought Fonda's delivery was perfect. Rudolph and Wiig give me the impression that they are one critical hit away from massive recognition. The talent is abundant. I was helpless to the charms of Weaver/Larson/Gadot. And I am very entertained by the Cats stars redemption tour. That said, even though the movie turned out bafflingly bad, it was still a monumental effort and it does feel cheap and ungrateful to shit on it, if you were part of it and cached the big check.
You were watching a different show than I was
Spike Lee, Jane Fonda - both set-up the upsets by pausing before announcing Bong Joon Ho and Parasite.
My favorite part of the Oscars is never the new stars, but the legends. And this show did it exactly right by having them present the categories. It was great fun seeing Spike present director. And watching Jane slowly walk out, with that fabulous new hair, was epic. From her line reading, the jacket, and even her pause. Having her there made the historic moment even better.
AdamL, I agree. Plus, "all women are superheroes" is childish, silly and T-shirt slogan "wokeness". Like an instagram post- just as obvious, just as shallow.
He stay you get Julia to announce and the universe will send you Green Book. You get the next level iconic superstar Jane Fonda to do it and the Universe gives you Parasite!
Also Sigourney’s double noms make Scarlett’s look like razzie nominees. They ain’t bad, but the difference is huge.
Jane Fonda. Sigh. She was so metaphorical.
Loved all of the above, and can I just say that my heroines from the 70's movie era are holding up extremely well. Cheers for Diane Keaton (great coat), Sigourney Weaver, and Jane Fonda.
Olivia Colman is always charming. Which is fortunate since she has been a fixture at awards shows for 2 years now.
What about Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Farrell? They provided the other successful extended moment of schtick for the evening. They were hilarious.
Maya and Kristen were great. Let's not forget the ever entertaining Olivia Colman. She was terrific! And we definitely need more legends.
Liked Olivia Colman, but it would've been nice for her to acknowledge Glenn. Just a small nod to the previous year's upset, like Warren and Faye did when they came back in 2018.
Taika Waititi is not the first Indigenous person to win a competitive Oscar.... Buffy Ste Marie won Best Original Song for “Up Where We Belong” in 1983.
Sigourney Icon.
Pretty sure the Academy has asked Rudolph, Wiig, Poehler and Fey to host numerous times. Maya Rudolph for example had no real reason to be invited to present last year or this year. And yet here she is. You have to assume they’ve been after them for years now. You can at least say Wiig was there for Wonder Woman. But I guess everybody is just saying NO to the Academy when it comes to hosting.
Jane Fonda, Olivia Coleman and Sigourney Weaver (I wish she had been alone though) . I liked Tom Hanks's bit but he didn't present.
I like Julia Louis-Dreyfus as much as the next person but this isn't the Emmys dammit! As always I missed the genuine Movie Stars instead of the people who had some new project to bring to mind by their presence. When I was a kid the Oscars were a cavalcade of stars and even if they weren't presenting the audience was stacked with famous faces, no more.
I realize it would be impossible to Olivia de Havilland to make the journey now to be there but there are dozens of former winners they could have participate. Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field, Sidney Poitier, Eva Marie Saint, Christopher Plummer, Rita Moreno, Ellen Burstyn and Glenda Jackson to name a few, most of whom are still actively working.
I thought Corden and Wilson's "bit" throwing the Cats VFX under the bus instead of the direction, writing, and their own atrocious acting (they were far and away the worst among many abysmal performances) was tasteless. The VFX team did a wonderful job - they didn't choose the absolutely nightmarish direction they were given.
I thought the Weaver/Gadot/Larson combination was inspired enough. I mean yes, the situations are not exactly the same, but these are still great action heroines and it was nice to acknowledge that in an interesting (read: new) combination that makes great sense.
What I don't like about is that the academy obviously tried to create a MOMENT by having the first female conductor followed by the first female original score winner. I guess I just don't like the producers trying so hard to shove narratives down our throats. And what if Thomas Newman has won? Now you made him a bad guy with no real need. I personally would prefer it if the trio presented something more action movies adjacent, like the sound categories or editing, maybe?
I laughed a lot at the Wiig/Rudolph skits (because they are very hilarious people), but was anyone else reminded of Joey Tribbiani's wedding toast? Am I watching too much Friends reruns? It is kind of why I preferred JLD/Ferrell as well, those both of those jokes (misidentifying a job description, editors cutting out parts) also felt familiar. But the metaness of the "earpieces" was good enough to carry through.
It wasn't the greatest presenters list ever but still miles above last year's atrocity.
Mafer -- i actually doubt that they have. The Academy is ridiculously stodgy with who they will consider to host. They're always looking for comics who are household names, headliners and mega-sellers (usually with a late night network talk show or a big movie career). As much as I love those four women they wouldn't fit that bill as more ensemble players... though they'd obviously be great at the job!
Sean -- i thought there presentation was funny but they did sour me on their gag when they threw the VFX people under the bus as they both were phoning in those performances and not funny at all (in the movie i mean).
Fonda looked like a Madame Toussou relic.
I liked the Sigourney, Brie, and Gal moment. Sigourney looked genuinely touched by Brie and Gal's tribute to her, I hope she gets an Honorary award soon.
Not a huge fan of James Corden or Rebel Wilson either but I did laugh when they started batting around the mic stand.
I have to admit that since many years ago i don't watch the show but i love the women of SNL so they easily will be my favorite part in any show.
I have noticed that when one of them makes a presentation with a man, it does not seem as fun as when they are only women.
Olivia Colman hands down!
Jane Fonda... is she still single?
I apologize in advance for my shallowness on this subject, but protesting our support of our then-South Vietnamese allies, or any allies we are supporting by force of arms, was and is unacceptable. Sorry, Jane, but would you please go away.
Amen Sean Diego. Thought it was really poor form to be denigrating their own VFX artists, who I understand work under terrible conditions anyway.