And the Oscars went ...

No time for small talk.

 Welcome to Dave’s Oscar Recap, wherein I paraphrase what everyone else has already observed about last night’s show and pass the savings on to you. 

First, it seemed to go by pretty quickly. Right?

That’s something nobody ever observed about the Oscars. Maybe it had something to do with the earlier start, and Daylight Saving Time, and because for the previous 13 years I watched it in the Eastern time zone. There, the show always drags on toward midnight. 

Credit must also go to Al Pacino, who, with his pants pooling around his ankles, decided to dispense with the usual bon mots and the usual mention of the other best-picture nominees. That saved a few minutes right there. 

Finally, I have the sense that all those phone book-inspired thank-you speeches were fewer and shorter this year. Maybe that’s because I took to muting the TV after each winner was announced. You should try it sometime. 

A couple of exceptions:  the guy who suggested making ten $20 million movies instead of one $200 million (good point!); and the Ukrainian director who won for “20 Days in Mariupol,” saying he wished he’d not had to make the film (me too!). We don’t get enough Oscar speeches that have you looking at the screen instead of your watch.

Jimmy Kimmel showed why he keeps getting this gig. In his fourth shot at hosting, he was funny and unflappable and induced no cringes. My favorite moment was when he read the Truth Social post from a very disgruntled viewer – who of course turned out to be Trump. The former buffoon is often the butt of jokes, but this one, in front of millions of viewers, may have had him reaching for the ketchup.

I liked the way they had five former winners introduce this year’s nominees in the acting categories. You get to see how some of those past stars have aged – or not – and the individual praise is a good way to lessen the sting for the four nominees who won’t win. 

The obligatory “In Memoriam” segment was weird: a long shot that showed more of the Dolby Theater than the montage, ending with a mostly illegible slide listing just the names of lesser luminaries — like Suzanne Somers, Burt Young and Norman Lear. I always get a kick out of the outrage over every omission. 

I would now discuss the fashions, but it’s hard for a poorly dressed man like me to do that without sounding like Al Pacino. So I won’t.

Anything else noteworthy about the show this year? The Academy Awards show may not be the cultural phenomenon that it used to be even five years ago, but I’ll probably keep tuning in.