Oscars Review: Jimmy Kimmel Hosted the Best Show in Years
There may be no greater endorsement for a piece of entertainment than Donald Trump logging onto Truth Social and trashing it. So consider Jimmy Kimmel’s revelation right before the end of Sunday night’s Academy Awards that the former president had taken to the site to call the telecast a “really bad politically correct show,” asking “has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel” as close to a rave as an awards ceremony can get.
Praise is deserved, though, because, for those of us who are not former-presidents-turned-internet-trolls, this was one of the best produced and most pleasant Oscars in a long time. This was the rare case where almost every award went to a deserving winner, there was an engrossing balance of gravitas and goofiness, there were several show-stopping moments, gorgeous speeches, and a swift pacing that kept the typically bloated affair from ever seeming like a slog—to the point that the show nearly ended early. That never happens!
Oppenheimer won eight awards including Best Picture, sweeping the night as expected. That’s what made Sunday’s telecast even more remarkable. Going into the ceremony, almost every category’s winners seemed preordained, which should be lethal for a show that mines much of its drama from the element of surprise. But thanks to the emotional heft of having past winners present the acting nominees—an awards obsessives’ favorite presentation style from 15 years ago—a truly show-stopping musical moment courtesy of Ryan Gosling, a nude John Cena, and Kimmel’s breezy hosting, the telecast still managed to feel monumental, skirting expectations that the predictability could have made for a very boring night.