THE 2026 ACADEMY AWARDS......NOT THE GOOD OLD DAYS, BUT SOME NOMINEES WITH PIZZAZZ HELPED A LOT.......

 The 98th annual Academy Awards Ceremony (2026)

           We'll always sigh and pine for that Golden Era when millions of us crowded into theaters to watch the most exciting and popular movies of the year.

      And we couldn't wait to see our favorite blockbusters competitively vie for the ultimate prize at the end of the rainbow.....the Oscar statuette.

       All of that began to fall apart with the onslaught of streaming services and the nominations dominated by obscure, unwatchable, audience unfriendly films that nobody cared about and nobody had the slightest interests in sitting through. 

        But some of the long gone glamour and anticipation returned this year with the addition of actual crowd-pleasing nominees that audiences enjoyed and turned out for....("One Battle After Another", "Sinners", "Weapons"...

         Surprise, surprise....even at over 3 & 1/2 hours, we were never bored and for a change, we took an active interest in who was going to win the clash of the 'One Battle' and 'Sinners' titans. 

         So here's our impressions, in no order whatsover.....

          Conan O' Brian  The "Weapons" kickoff was inspired, his subsequent bits ranged from funny to mildly amusing and his monologue, with a only a few bumps, was on target. We say bring 'im back next year by all means.

           Timothee Chalamet  Got exactly what he deserved.....nothing. His 'I'm-a-legend-in-my-own-mind' shtick finally undid him and we're not sure he learned anything from the hard lesson of not taking your ego out of a walk in public.  He's a gifted kid and we've no doubt there's more nominations in his future as his career progresses.....who knows, with a little injection of humility, he could even win one. C'mon Timmy....show you're a good sport and next appear in an IMAX mash-up of 'Swan Lake' and 'La Traviata'...

          The orchestra and its conductor   When they started playing off the 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' song winner who tried to speak, Conan should've sprayed the band a with fire extinguisher. 

          Bill Pullman and his son Lewis Pullman  Granted, it was a dumb, flop bit they wrote for you, but you should've tried to pull out of it with a little more grace and professionalism. Most painful moment of the show. 

          Choreographer Mandy Moore...a genuine MVP here, with her dynamic staging of the 'Sinners' and 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' songs...each of which stopped the show.

         Legendary songwriter Diane Warren....lost her 17th competitive Best Song nomination (but did receive a Life Achievement Oscar in 2022).  Sadly,  her expert musical craft in storytelling never connects with whatever popular film nails the Zeitgeist of the moment. But maybe....sooner or later the stars will align for her.......

       In Memoriam   We stood fully prepared to unleash our usual evisceration of the Academy's death roll, which it consistently screws up every year, both in selection and presentation. And with 2025 being a cruel, brutal year for the loss of so many beloved cinema icons, we expected the worst.

         But what a stunner.....this year the Academy finally stepped up and acknowledged that the passing of these legends required some extra special effort. Yes, there were omissions (Brigitte Bardot) but those heartfelt tributes to Rob Reiner, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, Catherine O' Hara and Robert Duvall were, for splendid change of pace, handled with taste, care and a whole lot of heart. 

         Miss Congeniality Award:  to Elle Fanning. We didn't see anyone who looked like they enjoyed the ceremony more than Fanning, who bubbled over with happiness from the Red Carpet to the finale credit crawl. Love her to pieces.....

          "Wish I Were Somewhere Else" Award to Leonardo DiCaprio, who probably checked his watch 300 times throughout the proceedings.

            "I Actually Was Somewhere Else" Award: to sourpuss Sean Penn, who passed up a golden opportunity, as a likely Best Supporting Actor winner, to use the Oscars as a Bully Pulpit to vent about whatever's pissing him off at the moment. We don't blame the other most-likely competitor, Delroy Lindo, for scowling and sitting on his hands when the absent Penn won.   Yay to Kieren Culkin for his casual backhanded diss on Penn. 

             Best Acceptance Speeches: Both winners, Michael B. Jordon and Jessie Buckley, delivered all the emotional, heartfelt highpoints you'd expect.

             And finally....Conan, do NOT join the Christmas Adventurers Club  Perfect wrap-up as Conan spoofed Sean Penn's fate in 'One Battle After Another'......but we still need him back.....

             Overall.....a typically messy, overlong night at the Oscars....but a lively, funny, always entertaining spectacle.....with enough stuff going right to counterbalance all the gaffes, fluffs, mistakes and verbal bloopers of a live event. 

             3 and 1/2 stars (***1/2).....hooray for Hollywood.

'SNL 50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL' (2025)....THE HITS, THE MISSES, THE "BUT WHERE WAS....???"

 SNL 50: The Anniversary Special (2025    Even with 3 hours and 20 minutes, it may not have been possible to do an all encompassing recap of half a century of Saturday Night Live....

          But not that producer Lorne Michaels didn't try his best. 

          Packed to the rafters with SNL guest hosts, current cast members, past cast members and musical guests, the show took a deep dive into legendary SNL moments, characters, skits, mock commercials and general history. 

         For any fan of the show, a nostalgic treasure trove opened wide, spilling out who knows how many fond memories. 

         Also on view......the glaring omissions.

         Though SNL established a long history of mercilessly lampooning U.S. Presidents, you'd never know it from the 50th anniversary special.....MIA were cast members' eviscerations of the POTUS of the moment, from Chevy Chase's dim bulb Gerald Ford to James Austin Johnson's babbling Donald Trump.....(unless you count the montage of the young Chase's stumbling pratfalls, a signature of his Ford impression.)

          We'd hate to think this has anything to do with Trump, now armed with unlimited power and his own FCC minion, planning to exact vengeance on TV shows and comedians who've dared to mock him. 

           Also glaringly not in attendance for various reasons - some of the most monumental figures in SNL's history.....Dan Aykroyd, Bill Hader, Dana Carvey. Considering the contributions they made, you'd think Lorne Michaels should've moved heaven and earth to include them, even if from remote locations.......

          Just sayin'........

         To the special's credit, it served up a feast of mostly on target recaps, fresh skits and live musical performances over a long, long Sunday night, with few duds and missteps.

          A few random observations......

          If ever anyone needed a poignant reminder about the ravages of time, we felt both saddened and elated as Paul Simon and Paul McCartney valiantly sang their songs with weakened, aging voices.

         The tour of un-woke, now offensive politically incorrect skit characters was for us, the funniest, most perceptive bit in the show. It reminded us of when we recently watched the re-airing of the show's 1975 premiere episode. A mock news film by Albert Brooks included the breaking news that Oregon has lowered the age of consent to 7 years old, then cut to clip of a guy dating a little girl. Try imagine seeing something like that on TV today (along with Buck Henry's character of a pedophile uncle babysitting his nieces.)

          Fortunately, the golden moments outnumbered the duds.....appearances by Bill Murray, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Adam Sandler, Rachel Dratch and the formidable female power players Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Maya Rudolph  (We're aware, we're leaving out lots of people off these lists, but by now, you know all the others....)

         We can only feel thankful that two former guest hosts, President Elon Musk and Assistant Dictator Donald Trump declined an invitation to attend the show. Maybe Lorne Michaels shouldn't consider inviting people dedicated to wiping his show off the air......

        SNL 50 was a huge mixed bag of treats and blunders.....but then that aptly describes the 50 years of the show itself. 

       If you missed it, it's well worth streaming. 4 stars (****).

THE GOLDEN GLOBES 2025......BIG LAUGHS, BIG CRINGES, AND BOOZED-FUELED CELEBS....WHO COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE?

 The Golden Globes Awards (2025)

       Three years ago, the rickety, corrupt-to-the-bone Hollywood Foreign Press Association, along with their ludicrous, laughable awards show, finally collapsed under the weight their incompetence and numerous scandals. 

        We sadly sighed. C'mon, who didn't love the Globes as a glorious Guilty Pleasure......with liquored-up celebs, untethered from the high tension of the Oscars, embarrassing themselves with awkward acceptance speeches. 

         The show crawled back on TV, a few years ago, but its ghastly choices for hosts (unfunny non-entity comedians) drained the entertainment value out of it. 

         Now we're thrilled to report, the Globes came back with a vengeance last night, energized by take-no-prisoners roast comic Nikki Glaser. 

          Glaser, in the best traditions of Ricky Gervais, unleashed a devastating riotous monologue on the A-Listers......and for a change of pace, they laughed right along with her...(as if they knew they had it comin'....)

         More indelible Globes moments followed. 

         Winner Zoe Saldana sobbed and blathered on as she'd just been handed the Nobel for curing cancer.  For the rest of the night, no other winner could match her in hysterical melodrama. 

         Vin Diesel poked a hello at arch-enemy Dwayne Johnson, who simply smiled back at him. Priceless.

         Kieran Culkin easily won the Best Drunk-As-A-Skunk acceptance speech. 

         Seth Rogan called out the Globes for their dumb idea of positioning the award presenters with their backs to the celebs. Then he and fellow presenter Catherine O'Hara recalled their Canadian days starring in purely imaginary North-of-the-Border disasters. 

         We could go on, but if you watched the show, you know the stuff we refer to.......if you skipped it, this one's worth streaming if you've got the time.

           Overall, this year's Globes got back to being everything we expect of this show.....

          Ridiculous, Sometimes touching, sometimes foolish, sometimes laugh out loud funny.  A fine way to gaze upon and mock Hollywood royalty on parade......

           BQ's happy to welcome back the Globes we all love and mock without mercy. So we'll raise a glass to 'em with 3 & 1/2 stars (***1/2).

          But, here's the thing......

          Nikki Glaser said it best.....that these ego-stuffed, overpaid preening performers could accomplish most anything.....except tell the country who they should vote for.....

            True enough.

           America thumbed their noses at these entitled, tuxedo'd, designer gown'd elites.... and all their wokeness, diversity and progressive agendas.....

            Then again, America also thumbed its collective nose at decency, morality, the rule of law and democracy....

            And now, we're all on the verge of paying dearly for it.

            But not the pretty people we saw on the Globes last night. 

            The celebs, with their salaries totaled in 1000's (and millions) of dollars will make it through the next four years just fine......(except the ones who get tossed into jail for rape....)

              But the unsettling question remains....will we??? 

                  

JOIN BQ FOR OUR FIRST LIVE STREAMING EVENT!! SAVE THE DATE AND DON'T MISS OUT!

              We're thrilled to announce that BQ will go live this Tuesday 9/22/20 at 2 PM Eastern Standard Time (USA)......we'll be moderating a a discussion of one of our all time favorite films, Billy Wilder's "The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes".......with loads of little known fascinating info to enjoy and chime in on. 

               You can check out our own review of the film on this blog's archive date of 11/29/17......and with your library card, you can sign up with Hoopla Digital and watch the film for free.  Registration for the event is required, but that's free too...at https://delawarelibraries.libcal.com/event/7099823?hs=a

               We're calling it "Tuesday Matinee At The Popcorn Palace"........if you can make it, cook up some corn of your own and join in. Hope to see you this Tuesday!