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In a surprising turn of events, Hollywood’s predictions took a hit.
Timothée Chalamet didn’t win!
Once considered a shoo-in for Best Actor for his role as the unpleasant lead in “Marty Supreme,” Chalamet’s conceit proved excessive even for an industry well-versed in fostering such traits.
The 30-year-old, also known for his high-profile relationship with Kylie Jenner, launched his Oscars campaign with the boast that his acting was “some top-level stuff.” Ultimately, his overconfidence backfired.
The Academy seemed more than willing to relish in his downfall.
It’s rare to see celebrity-on-celebrity violence, but it seems Timothée Chalamet is a provocateur like no other.
An orchestra member on stage introduced the ‘Chalamet bum drum,’ tapping prosthetic butt cheeks with two ping pong paddles — a reference to Chalamet’s character getting spanked on-screen, and a true humiliation.
Steven Spielberg appeared to snub Chalamet on the red carpet.
Once tipped as a lock for Best Actor as the insufferable titular character in Marty Supreme, Chalamet’s arrogance was too much even for an industry that cultivates, nurtures and abides it
Prima ballerina Misty Copeland was invited to perform at the Oscars after Chalamet, days before voting closed, said that ‘no one cares’ about ballet or opera anymore.
Spielberg outright shaded Chalamet at the SXSW festival last week, while promoting his forthcoming film Disclosure Day.
‘At the end of a really good movie experience, we are all united with a whole bunch of feelings,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing like that. It happens in movies, and in concerts. And it happens in ballet and opera, by the way.’
For her part, Copeland said she found it ‘very interesting’ that Chalamet had asked her, as a star ballerina, to help him promote Marty Supreme on social media.
‘There’s a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years,’ she said, adding that Chalamet wouldn’t be a successful actor without all of the performing arts.
So Hollywood successfully took the memo from the culture — from regular moviegoers who, unsurprisingly, did not buy the film’s conceit that underground ping-pong in New York City was ever a thing, much less life-and-death stakes.
That we did not enjoy watching a thoroughly unlikeable, greedy, vauntingly ambitious, amoral character who seemed to blend all too closely with the actor portraying him.
It was a huge slice of humble pie doled out to a most deserving awards-season villain.
Prima ballerina Misty Copeland was invited to perform at the Oscars (pictured) after Chalamet, days before voting closed, said that ‘no one cares’ about ballet or opera anymore
Otherwise, Sunday night was yet another lengthy, boring, bloated ceremony full of self-regard. (Pictured: Host Conan O’Brien)
Contrast that with the love shown to Michael B Jordan, who beat Chalamet here and two weeks ago at the Actor Awards.
Whether genuine or not, Jordan completed the necessary task: He displayed humility, didn’t campaign as if his life depended on winning and thanked his peers for supporting him in a job he loves.
Seems simple, doesn’t it?
Otherwise, Sunday night was yet another lengthy, boring, bloated ceremony full of self-regard.
Only in Hollywood would Conan O’Brien be hosting an Oscars ceremony less than three months after throwing a holiday party attended by Rob, Michele and Nick Reiner that ended with Nick allegedly murdering his parents when they got home — a party at which one person was so alarmed by Nick’s behavior they reportedly suggested calling the cops before O’Brien shut the idea down.
A ceremony in which Rob Reiner was honored in the ‘In Memoriam’ segment. A ceremony in which O’Brien’s last sketch saw him named Oscar ‘Host for Life,’ then ushered into an office where he was gassed to death.
Truly, one wonders: Was that a Holocaust joke? Why end a meaningless awards ceremony with such darkness?
Other attendees and presenters insisted on bringing politics into the few living rooms still tuning in: Javier Bardem, while presenting Best International Feature, said, ‘Free Palestine.’
Former soccer player Abby Wambach’s wife Glennon Doyle, in my opinion a self-help hack, carried a handbag that said ‘F*** Ice.’
Sara Bareilles, the Grammy winner behind the hit Broadway musical Waitress, wore an ‘Ice Out’ pin.
Is it any wonder that the culture at large just doesn’t care anymore?
Other attendees and presenters insisted on bringing politics into the few living rooms still tuning in: Javier Bardem, while presenting Best International Feature, said, ‘Free Palestine’
Former soccer player Abby Wambach’s wife Glennon Doyle, in my opinion a self-help hack, carried a handbag that said ‘F*** Ice.’ Is it any wonder that the culture at large just doesn’t care anymore?
The buzziest moment of the night came when Anna Wintour and Anne Hathaway appeared onstage, both to present an award and promote the forthcoming Devil Wears Prada sequel.
Curiously absent was the film’s star, Meryl Streep. Could it be that Meryl knows the movie’s a stinker?
Or did she simply not want to be bothered with all the fuss for a few minutes of screen time, for an awards ceremony no one watches?
The Oscars have only two more years left on linear broadcast. In 2029, they’ll migrate to YouTube and the digital lane.
Couldn’t be more fitting. That’s where Hollywood’s dying theatrical releases wind up anyway.