It took Richard Linklater 12 years to make “Boyhood,” and it felt like it took 13 to get through the Oscars ceremony that snubbed his movie. We made it out alive by the skin of Neil Patrick Harris’ lame jokes. Snark aside, a handful of Oscar moments did distract from the epic length of Sunday’s awards. Below, the best and worst.
BEST: The opening number. We won’t waste our breath bemoaning the cliché of A) musical numbers about the year’s nominees or B) Neil Patrick Harris singing at at awards shows, because that is useless. Instead, we’ll praise the clever opening, which got the #OscarsSoWhite and #CumberbatchGonnaLose jokes out of the way within seconds and rapidly segued into chirpy appearances from Anna Kendrick, Jack Black and a few Stormtroopers (via a song composed by “Let It Go” writers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, no less).
Grade: 7
WORST: NPH’s recurring joke about the lock box. Octavia Spencer didn’t understand what was going on either.
Score: 4.5
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WORST: The length. Boy, do we love us some Oscars. But this telecast lasted more than three-and-a-half hours so Neil Patrick Harris could chuckle at his own jokes? No thanks.
Score: 3
Overall grade: 6
