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?
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