slowpoked

Ugh, out of all the things to “wrap up” before its finale, I have zero interest in the Josh/Allie storyline. They tried to recreate the Sarah-Grissom storyline and it just sucked! Allie was annoying, and Josh was too brooding. I’d rather see Penny and Jack’s wedding. One of the previously unsolved cases, that I personally would like to see revisited, was that of Catherine’s ex-husband’s homicide. I thought that case would have been nice to actually get its own episode, rather than stashed with another Lady Heather case. The ending where Sara just sorts of throws her hands in the air and gives up seemed abrupt, and highly unusual to me.

Aww, this is too bad. I have the feeling it’s on the bubble after it was moved to Sundays, and with so many procedurals right now, it just didn’t stand out, even for nostalgia purposes. Sad we didn’t even get to see what Nick Stokes is up to now. I know there was a throwaway line in S1 that he’s in LA(?), but at least make up a story that will bring him to Vegas.

Yes, I have the same feeling. I thought they were insinuating that there something sinister about the robot guy driving into a tree and killing himself. And then all of a sudden it’s case closed? I’m glad they’re dialing down the CSI dramas this week, with the Josh’s case and the partners system. Well, I guess except for Sarah who hasn’t gotten over it, I guess. She needed to vent.

I would assume not far because he went to the health convention, and he had to haul his victim from his car to the basement. Unless the victim was alive when he went into the building. But why would you willingly go to an abandoned building with a complete, suspicious stranger?

To be fair though, I don’t think it’s a window? More like the cannibal guy saw a hole where sunlight passes through and started breaking out the weak concrete wall to get more sunlight while he stayed there. Allie herself had to do a lot of breaking and her hands bled as a result because she has no proper tools and it’s concrete. But yes, I assume she broke just enough for one person to pass through. Why she didn’t run either way (she got out first, or was left behind) is puzzling.

My gosh, could they be any more heavy-handed with the ending (Chandler voice). “Thank him in your heart…” really?! I guess I should be thankful that Olivia didn’t set him up to meet the actual real-life hero of his case.

Thanks for pointing that out, I hated that part! Josh did a seriously, grave, criminal act, and while Max eventually forgave him for it, or at least gave him another chance if she hasn’t done the former yet, she’s still putting him at arms’ length distance and reminding him that he screwed up royally and she’s putting her ass on the line for him. Meanwhile, Allie is acting like all Josh did was forget to log in evidence with the lab, and speaking for everyone that they’re all fine with him. So unbecoming of a supervisor. He should be in jail for what he did - he kidnapped a suspect, injured him, and tampered with evidence. Just because he didn’t kill the guy doesn’t mean he gets a pass and a high-five. There’s nothing heroic about what he did. I’m glad Max and Serena are giving him the cold shoulder, which ought to always remind him of what he got away with.

Was it bad to wish that Allie just be trapped there forever?! I’m glad this show wasn’t too heavy-handed that it was Folsom who met Allie right when she got saved from the suspect. I expected Folsom to come running in there and scoop her in his arms and her crying hysterically and there be some kind of somber, romantic music in the background as they stare deeply into each other’s eyes. So it was a pleasant surprise it was Serena who met Allie instead. I guess I kind of get why Max was against partners. She’s right in a sense that partners often lose accountability to their bosses, and their loyalties eventually evolve to their partners, to the point they’ll cover each other, etc. Grissom sent his people on who best fits the situation, and so does Max. Aside from the loyalties thing, there’s also the “familiarity breeds contempt” thing, which is now slowly happening between Catherine and Max. The show should really clarify what Catherine’s role is. The way they strut her out as some CSI Level 1, 2 or 3 in the field drives me crazy, considering at some point in the past she ran the lab herself.

Well, like that article said, it’s arguable what Lily’s role really is in the movie, but it looks like she made the right choice because she just booked another lead role. And I think there’s some truth to that. You bag a win for Supporting, and it’s hard to get to the next level. People see you as a great team, ensemble player, but not really someone who can carry a movie. Case in point - Lupita Nyongo. You’d think after her inspiring win for 12 Years A Slave, she’d be the next IT girl and be booking roles left and right. But the truth is, since then, she has nowhere been close to another Oscar than her peers are, and also hasn’t exploded in lead roles like Brie, JLaw and Emma Stone have. There’s US, but what else is there? That project is also known more as a Jordan Peele movie, rather than a Lupita Nyongo movie. Look no further than the last black woman who won the Lead Actress Oscar - Halle Berry. There is no one single factor in her career trajectory - Halle’s career choices, Halle’s life choices, Hollywood opportunities, etc. - that has determined where she is now. But the sad truth is, the likes of Jessica Chastain, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, even Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, etc., have been much closer to their second, third, or fourth Oscar than Halle ever was, or sadly, ever will be. Yes, it eventually comes down to the law of averages. When a lot more minority women are nominated in the category, not just the token single slot, the chances are higher that somebody, someone, someday, will eventually win.

I think there was no “official” photo of Supporting Actress because JLC left shortly after giving the award. I assume the official photos happened at the end of the show. It looks like she had to fly away somewhere immediately: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4WpLl_Pq4z/?igsh=MW40c3h4djl4cjQ3dA== The juxtaposition of the Actress and Supporting Actress shows there’s still so much more to be done in Hollywood in the diversity on quality lead actress roles. If not for Michelle Yeoh - who just won last year - that’s an all-white lineup. And they probably couldn’t ask Halle again because she already presented last year. Who else is there? Contrast with supporting, and they probably still have someone they can call from the bench (Viola, Ariana, Penelope, Whoopi). Heck, Octavia was also at the show and she got to present the Oscars with her bestie MM instead for another category, because they can afford to have her do that instead.

If your victims when you’re a detective are now all grown up and joining the police force, then maybe it’s time to think about retirement, Captain Benson?! One can only hope…. Plus didn’t she say she was eight months pregnant?! How in the world would she able to chop up a husband, even one who’s already dead?! When I was 8 months pregnant, I can barely get up from a chair or a bed, let alone have enough energy and strength to chop up a dead man.

Interesting that they didn’t address Michelle Pfeiffer’s absence. Maybe it’s really Al’s solo? Last year the producers mentioned that Glenn missed the show due to getting Covid. Some of the more memorable small screentime supporting work that were nominated were Viola Davis in Doubt (8 minutes) and Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea (11 minutes). I remember Michelle Williams wrecking me while watching that movie. That was definitely an Oscar-worthy winning performance. Incidentally, Michelle lost to Viola Davis (Fences) that year, whose win was considered by some as “fraudulent” since Viola was arguably co-lead alongside Denzel. But she had a much surer shot at Supporting. See, Oscars itself can be so political! No need to bring in any crazy, outside politics 😂

I probably would never win an Oscar in my lifetime, or even come close to it, but in Emma’s case, I can probably imagine how overwhelming the moment was. You didn’t expect to win, your brain is a fog, your dress ripped up, and all of a sudden there’s 5 people onstage trying to get a piece of you. If there’s another argument against a 5-presenter bit thing, this is it. It can be pretty overwhelming for a winner to try and greet everyone graciously and properly, especially for an award towards the end of the show where producers are most anxious for the running time. This should just have been Michelle’s moment alone to congratulate Emma. And I imagine if there’s one presenter on there, who didn’t try, or look like it, at least to congratulate the winner, there will be a different controversy. In the barrage of her emotions, Emma was probably glad to see a familiar face there. Last year, it was already overwhelming as it is to have dual presenters onstage. And not everyone will have the quick thinking of say, a Jessica Chastain letting Halle and Michelle have their moment first, before going in. JLaw was probably so excited to get to her best friend, that it looked like she mowed through Michelle. I don’t think there’s anything malicious in it, but that will always be an issue for a multiple-presenter thing. As for RDJ, I think of it differently because he’s been the favorite for that award all season long, and clearly he expected to win, so I can imagine he’s already had some time to think of how he’ll be onstage. I’ll close with this - if Meryl Streep had been in RDJ’s shoes and had his issues instead, I don’t think she’ll get the kind of comeback that he did. Good for RDJ for turning his life around, but he’s lucky he’s also working in a position of privilege.

More than the roles being subjective, it also comes down to the studio’s decision of what category to submit whom. They all want Oscar glory - the actors and studios themselves. If they feel their actor has a better chance in a certain category because of “weaker” competition despite of their actual role, they would do it. Category fraud has long been an accepted game in the Oscars. If you can manipulate it to your advantage, then so be it. Is there a solution to this? Who knows. And if there is even one, I would think there’s not much appetite to fix it. I agree that if Lily had been submitted for the supporting category she probably would have been the runaway winner. But to the article’s point, the studio didn’t want the perception that her character, the reason why there’s even a story in the first place, is only a supporting role. And then this goes back to the criticisms of KOTFM that they centered the wrong character and chose the wrong POV in the first place.

Here’s an interesting article that opines on why Emma won over Lily - that Lily is really more in a supporting role whereas Emma is undoubtedly lead, and Emma pulled from the international vote. https://www.vulture.com/article/why-emma-stone-beat-lily-gladstone-at-the-2024-oscars.html I highly doubt DeNiro was asked - he was part of a BP nominee, and although it’s not the front runner, it would have still been awkward to stand on stage with your film losing. Unfortunate re: Michelle Pfeiffer. Two years now that we have been deprived of glorious reunions - last year we missed the Air Force One reunion, and now, Scarface.

I think the landscape has changed permanently. It’s no longer the “event” that it was before, with all the other viewing options. But I hope that the producers get the right lessons from the increased viewership - that the viewers like a fast-paced, simple, run-like-a-tight-ship production with not a lot of gimmicks, and continue on this trend. One statistic that I hope can be quantified is the international viewership. Now the Oscars has significantly increased its international membership, and international movies are getting nominated in more categories other than just the token Best Foreign Film, it will be interesting to see how much more of the world watches the Oscars than before.

Apparently there’s some minor controversy of JLaw trying to “snatch” the Oscar award from Michelle so she herself can give to Emma. 🙄 But the queen herself clarifies things;

Al Pacino states it wasn’t his intention, and decision, to omit nominees: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/al-pacino-oscars-best-picture-explained-1235849601/

The Emmys did it wonderfully, having live singers with the segment, with some personalized touches for the bigger stars.

I wonder if a lot of the voters felt similarly to the Director below, and thus, resulted into a Maestro shutout. “I hated Maestro. Absolutely hated it. If you’re going to tell a story about Leonard Bernstein, why did you pick the least interesting aspect to focus on for so long. If you’re going to go so far with the makeup and prosthetics, God forbid Bradley Cooper cover up his piercing beautiful blue eyes to be accurate. I don’t think Leonard Bernstein had blue eyes. I think he famously did not. That was such an actor’s vanity show.” The Director: This award-nominated filmmaker has earned their reputation of excellence on screens both big and small. https://ew.com/2024-oscars-secret-ballot-anonymous-academy-voters-reveal-picks-8604071

And can I just say - what is Charlize’s secret and how come it looks like she DOES NOT AGE????

I think that she, like many others bought into the hype that Lily was going to win this thing, especially after the SAG awards. Emma practically jumped out of her seat when Lily’s name was announced. And we all know how SAG greatly affected last year’s races, making it into an almost sweep of EEAAO, after having close contests between JLC vs Angela, and Cate vs Michelle, coming into the night. Plus, Lily has the narrative, and Emma already has an Oscar win. These things, whether fair or not, factor into the race. I liken this win to La Streep’s win over Viola in 2012, an upset of sorts but not totally something unforeseen. Especially since Emma did come in as the frontrunner at the start of the awards season. A huge upset would have been Sandra Huller winning.

I disagree that he was wasted, because he certainly was the best thing in that movie. I really like the majority of the presenters - a great mix of the classics (Beetlejuice, Twins), and the new gen (Anya, Zendaya). And then having most of them present more than one award really helped with the pacing, and letting the viewers get to appreciate them more. The 5-presenter bit thing was also a great mix of 3 generations there, appealing to a wide group of audience. I was really happy to see JLaw there for Emma’s win, especially. They came up in the business together and are contemporaries. JLaw got a little ahead on the critical acclaim, but Emma eventually caught up. I just wish though that the stars of the other smaller movies got spots on the presenter lists. I mean I love both Emily and Ryan, obviously they represented the two biggest movies of the year, but do we really need Kate and America in there too? Let Greta Lee and maybe Dominic Sessa present instead.

This is why it would have been better if the names filled the screen of the TV viewers, instead showing the stage just to highlight the dancers and singers. The Emmys were able to strike the perfect balance between having singers and giving respect to the people in the montage. When they were showing the singers, they stopped showing people on the screen, when they started showing the In Memoriam again, they cut off from the singers. Simple as that, really. On another note, I got sad again to see Lee Sun-Kyun included in the montage. He was included in the SAG one but I din’t think he would be in the Oscars because the Oscars tend to include a lot of entertainment people behind the scenes, and there wouldn’t be enough time for everyone. Then again, he was an integral part of a trailblazing Best Picture winner. I hope his death is the catalyst to change SK’s seemingly screwed up laws and culture re: drug use.

I just realized that KOTFM got shut out, and Lily would have been its best chance at an award. It would have been a seminal moment for the Asian actress winner to hand the Oscar to its first Native American actress winner. But Emma is very much a deserving winner. And I love how she was able to share her moment with JLaw, who is her contemporary, and her Aunt May.