The Oscars this year truly saluted the Cinema of Survival! Below are some observations and thoughts after the big show:

• Chris Rock’s monologue delivered on the high anticipations!
• Although all of his jokes did not…
• As much as I loved all of this year’s nominations, I was pretty much underwhelmed by the red carpet and the Award ceremony in general.
• The odd pairings of actors doing award show humor is always awkward but funny.
• People were upset by not enough diversity in this year’s films, but art shouldn’t be defined by the color of your skin.
• The first big upset of the evening was Mark Rylance in “Bridge of Spies” beating the sentimental favorite, Sylvester Stallone in “Creed”.  I’m still so sad! I love the Italian Stallion and thought he should have won.
• One thing that never gets old – seeing a Kate Winslet & Leonardo DiCaprio reunion. Loved seeing Kate’s reaction when Leo won!
• Highlight of the Evening: The fabulous Lady Gaga singing “Til It Happens to You” from the documentary on campus rape, “The Hunting Ground”, surrounded by sexual abuse survivors onstage.
• Another highlight – Hungarian Writer/Director Laszlo Nemes accepting the Best Foreign Language Film for the Holocaust drama, “Son of Saul”: “Even in the darkest hours of mankind, there might be a voice within us to remain human. That’s the hope of this film.”
• The sketch about Oscar nominated films recast with black actors was terrific – they crushed it!
• Louis C.K. presenting (he killed it!)…Future Academy Awards Host??!
• And now – my Best and Worst Dressed:
  • Best Dressed: Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett, Margot Robbie & Tina Fey
  • Worst Dressed: Heidi Klum, Amy Pohler
• Finally — Wow! An upset at the very end. “Spotlight” was good but in no way did it deserve Best Picture. “The Revenant” was so much more deserving for it’s grandness alone!