There was a bit of drama at the
Academy Awards over the weekend.
And first off the Academy awards
happened.
And I personally didn't even know
about it until a few hours
before the event began.
But what really stood out was, what
appeared to be the show runners for
the Academy Awards, kind of teasing
the audience throughout the night.
Into thinking that Chadwick Boseman
was going to win for Best Actor.
And it didn't really turn out
that way.
So the run of show shifted
Best Actor to the final
award of the night.
So that was like hit number one,
that Boseman might win.
Prompting many to assume they did
so because Chadwick Boseman
posthumously was going to win the
Oscar for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
It made sense.
It would have been
a touching way to end the show.
And to pay tribute to a beloved
star who died last year of cancer.
He died incredibly young,
in his 40s.
And it was unexpected because he
hadn't disclosed what he was
going through with the public.
Now when Boseman was awarded
a Golden Globe for
Best Actor earlier this year.
The emotional acceptance speech
given by his widow Taylor Simone
Ledward, was the emotional
highlight of the night.
Perhaps with that in mind,
the Oscars switched the traditional
order of categories this year.
So that the best actor award came
last after the best picture had
already been awarded.
But here's what happened.
Chadwick Boseman did not win.
The award went to Anthony Hopkins
for The Father.
And since Hopkins wasn't even at
the Oscars,
the ceremony ended immediately
after the award was announced.
With presenter Joaquin Phoenix
looking as confused as anybody.
>> To be fair, Joaquin Phoenix
often looks confused.
[LAUGH] Don't get me wrong I
love him as an actor.
But anyways, now the heart of the
couple of issues here with Oscars.
Their beat getting beat up from
every quarter, right?
So some folks are very angry about
this particular story and they're
saying >> How could you do this?
And they use his image in the swag
bags, etc.
To promote answers and
then they rob them.
No way let's be fair.
They apparently, genuinely didn't
know who was going to win.
So that actually gives me a little
bit more faith in the process.
>> How do we know that they
genuinely didn't know who was
going to win?
>> He would never produce a show
to end with a sorry, bye.
[LAUGH] >> Yeah >> No, I mean,
this is totally embarrassing.
They wouldn't ever produce it this
way if they knew Anthony Hopkins
was going to win.
>> Why did they just assume
it then?
>> Well, oftentimes,
very often, if there's buzz around
someone marketing works and
that person wins.
And so look,
I'm not saying he wouldn't have
deserved it.
He would have according to a lot of
people who saw the movies.
I didn't see any of those movies.
So I don't know.
But I assume that they know what
they're talking about.
I'm sure a lot of people voted for
him, etc.
And you remember the battle days
when Harvey Weinstein would just
create buzz.
And have everyone that were in his
movies win in outrageous
fashion, right?
But nine out of ten times they used
to use Ben free.
So this is a great example of
a Ben Mankiewicz original one of
the co founders.
And of course,
on the host of the young Turks is
also hosted Turner Classic Movies.
And the Oscars would use him to do
the ads for a couple of years
before the the ceremony began.
They stopped doing that, why?
Because the ads makers were
always right.
So would give away the whole show.
Okay, in this case the ads makers
were wrong.
Now why were they wrong?
This is totally my speculation.
A lot of the people who vote on
the Oscars are old.
They watch Anthony Hopkins,
they're like, yes, right.
And that's why for example,
Haley Joel Osment lost the Oscar in
success to Michael Caine.
Because even though Haley Joel
Osment had this amazing performance
that still stands out today.
I don't even remember what
Michael Caine was in.
The older voters were like
Michael Caine.
That's my boy.
He's in his 70s or 80s.
We're voting for him, right?
So the take another away from his
great career overall.
So here though guys obviously they
didn't know, right?
They thought he was going to win.
So now that makes me think, okay,
they're not cheating.
[LAUGH] They really don't know.
>> I mean- >> Is that fair that I
that seems super fair to me.
>> Who even are these people?
The people that are complaining?
>> Not the people are complaining.
Some of them are actually
pretty funny.
For instance one of them said that
ended worse than The Sopranos.
And I totally agree.
I know it's a controversial issue.
But I hated the ending of
The Sopranos.
>> I love that in The Sopranos.
>> No, okay, we don't get into
that, [LAUGH] >> But
I love that tweet.
No, I'm not talking about
the complaints from people watching
the Academy Awards.
I'm talking
about the people who vote, right?
Who even are these people?
Do we know or is it just like some
take situation?
>> No, it's the Academy.
I don't remember exactly how.
>> It's the academy, okay.
>> No, what I mean by that
is people that are in movie make.
They're professionals and
movie making.
And so actors, directors,
producers, etc.
That's what they mean.
When everybody thinks Academy,
that's who they're thinking.
But I don't know the exact
qualifications you need to be in
the academy to vote.
And in different categories might
have different people voting.
Again, I'm not positive about that.
We'll talk about it in an old
school episode with Ben he'll tell
us >> So it's just a bunch of
industrial slapping >> Yeah, but
almost all awards are industrial
slapping.
>> Yeah, exactly.
>> That's what they are by
definition.
Now, it's not like they found
experts in like, we have a Harvard
professor and a Stanford professor.
And they've decided
Sir Anthony Hopkins is correct.
It's just all subjective.
>> No, I know,
but let me just provide an example
in our context.
The equivalent of the academies
if I may.
So like Webbys, [LAUGH].
Like Webby Awards.
Actually, I don't know 100% how
Webbys are decided.
But I know that there's a voting
component to it.
We're like ordinary people get
to vote on who the winner is.
Wouldn't it be more interesting
to do it that way?
>> Well,
they're going to have a much harder
time verify, etc.
And know that would make their old
school heads explode.
And Webbys streaming is another
online awards to MX.
Some awards are decided by
their version of the Academy.
And other awards are decided
by you guys.
Every award that is decided
by you guys, we win [LAUGH].
So that's usually how it goes.
Anyways, make sure wherever 11
won't be served a stream
isn't shortest.
We might have more by now, anyway.
[CROSSTALK] I think
the academy can do it, right?
I don't think process wise it would
be that difficult.
It's just that you're right.
They wouldn't want to do it because
it's the academy
players [CROSSTALK] right?
It's just every year there's some
controversy.
I oftentimes wonder whether or
not it's manufactured.
Because what would people be
talking about the Academy Awards
today if there wasn't a controversy
last night?
>> No, it's such a big event that
it creates controversy just
by existing.
In fact, the other controversy
related to those conservatives.
Are going, haha,
because he got really low ratings.
They think it's because
the speeches were too progressive.
First of all let's just break it
down real quick, okay?
Number one I didn't know the Oscars
was rapping and last night.
You didn't know.
You know why?
Because nobody
went to the movies this year.
So nobody went to the movies we
forgot the Oscars was on.
They had it in a non spectacular
way because they were forced to.
They didn't have it in the theater
that they normally do.
You turn it on,
it looks like a couple of people
sitting on their couch, right.
if you turn it on.
But just there's so stupid.
In order to for
it to have bad ratings, people
would have had to have known that
there were going to be progressive
speeches ahead of time.
By the time they watch
the progressive speech, they
already got counted in the race.
Okay, but if facts don't matter to
conservatives.
We weren't men reading because they
go to see Black People Matter.
Down show you black people don't
matter your ratings will be higher.
No, you schmucks, the whole country
isn't quite as racist as you are.
>> And there really wasn't much
marketing by the academy regarding
the event.
Because I actually did see quite
a few movies.
Obviously, they were on demand.
I didn't go
to the movie theater to watch them.
But in terms of Best Picture,
I saw several of those films.
And I didn't even realize that they
were going to be nominated
for Best Picture.
Nomadland which won
Best Picture excellent.
Minari which I
watched over the weekend excellent.
And Judas and the Black Messiah,
also excellent.
So watch those films and
you'll understand why I think so
highly of them.
They were heavy movies that touched
on many economic and social issues
that we're facing today.
In the case of Judas and
the Black Messiah,
obviously it's Fred Hampton.
We're talking about the history of-
>> The Black Panther movement.
>> The Black Panther movement,
civil rights, all of that.
I mean, I think out of all of them,
that might have
been my favorite movie.
But then all three
of them were great.
>> Right and he won Best Actor for
that performance.
And talked about how the Black
Panthers were so much more than
what they're painted in the media.
And how their struggle in their
fight helped to make who he is.
That was a really interesting
speech too.
But lastly guys, the other reason
why you never saw us for
the Oscars and
why you think they didn't hype it.
Is because nobody watches TV
anymore.
So Sean Hannity makes us really
stupid argument.
He'd say in 1991,
four times as many people watched
Oscars as they did today.
And it's because they're
progressive.
No, you schmuck.
Everybody wants TV in the 1990s.
And Seinfeld would regularly get
20 to 30 million viewers every
episode.
Now the largest TV show,
which is the Oscars,
gets about 10 million.
That's it.
And so that's that's also why you
didn't see the ads because you
don't watch TV where they would
have that.
>> Now that you taught you say it,
you're right.
And the only two ads that I've
seen over and
over again to the point where it
makes me want to rip my hair out.
is NerdWallet and
Postmates where they try to do
subliminal messages about Pad Thai.
That's it.
That those are the only two.
And it's because they play before
videos that I actually want to
watch for the show.
And it's like I don't want to see
this anymore, but yes.
>> Well, that gives
you an excellent sense of
where people should advertise.
I'm not saying anything.
I'm just saying.