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You can use a number of words to describe the Academy Awards. The ceremony has attempted a number of changes over the years to try and attract more viewers – or, at least, retain the viewers that seem to be melting away year after year. So, “inconsistent” is a term that comes to mind with regards to the Oscars telecast, because the ceremony seems to chase audiences by throwing things at them that audience members may or may not want. One element that does add some stability, however, is the presence of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who returned to the Oscars stage for a fourth time (tying Whoopi Goldberg for hosting opportunities) and delivered a monologue that was mean, sharp, but ended on an emotional beat that we’ll likely remember for ages.
The hosting gig is another place where the Academy Awards experimented with significant change. But Jimmy Kimmel’s comfortability around Hollywood A-list talent – who stop by his late-night television show on a regular basis – that makes him an ideal host for this back-patting extravaganza. Because Kimmel seemed unfazed as he went after some of the biggest targets in the room. After noting that the show already was “five minutes over, I’m not joking,” Kimmel laid into Madame Web, made a not-so-subtle Brokeback Mountain joke aimed at Ryan Gosling, and threw in some easy jabs at awards movies being too long, specifically throwing Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon under the bus.
But Jimmy Kimmel seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time on Robert Downey Jr., who is nominated for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Kimmel tends to have a running feud with Matt Damon, but fired his biggest shots at Downey, who didn’t appear too thrilled with the negative attention. The ribbing began with drug jokes, and Downey being at a “high point” in his career. Initially , RDJ played along by pointing at his nose. But the longer Kimmel stayed on the joke, the more annoyed Downey appeared. And things reached their most awkward when Kimmel asked Downey:
Is that an acceptance speech in your pocket, or do you just have a rectangular penis?
Downey didn’t know what to do with that one – to be fair, who would? – so he glared at the host, as if he was a junketeer asking the actor personal questions. No matter what happened after that moment, Kimmel had two strikes, as far as RDJ was concerned.
Part of me really misses the pre-recorded bits that Billy Crystal once used to open the Oscars. They were clever and funny, and figured out how to toe the line between respecting and honoring the movies that have been nominated… and poking some fun at the pretentiousness of the whole Oscars event. Kimmel started with a funny one, appearing opposite Margot Robbie in an emotional scene from Barbie. But it didn’t go nearly as far as some of Crystal’s classics:
Kimmel’s jokes were mean. Not too mean. But sharp enough that they dug beneath the surface to hit at people’s insecurities – Downey Jr.’s past drug habits, Robert De Niro’s taste in younger women, and Bradley Cooper bringing his mom along as a date to Awards shows. They were funny. And some missed. But Kimmel stuck the landing when he brought out nearly a hundred below-the-line technicians and thanked them all for standing strong and in support of SAG during the industry wide strike. It was a nice reminder that Hollywood can be a small community that can often operate like an extended family… and that’s part of the reason why making RDJ drug jokes years after his addiction issues seems misguided.
We’ll have plenty more coverage from the 2024 Academy Awards, so keep reading CinemaBlend.