It was the best of nights, it was the worst of nights.
This year’s Academy Awards — held Sunday, February 9, 2020 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles — were filled with memorable speeches, quotable gags and fabulous fashion.
But per usual, there were also plenty of groan-worthy bits that made the remote control look mighty tempting.
Here, the highlights — and lowlights — of the 2020 Oscars.
Best: The not-hosts
For the second year in a row, the Oscars went host-free. Luckily, former show emcees Steve Martin and Chris Rock essentially filled the part with a series of jokes at the top of the show. Their targets included Amazon honcho Jeff Bezos.
“Jeff Bezos is so rich, he got divorced, and he’s still the richest man in the world,” said Rock. “He saw ‘Marriage Story’ and thought it was a comedy.”
They also slammed Academy’s dismal showing in racial diversity among the acting nominees. “Cynthia [Erivo] did such a great job in ‘Harriet’ hiding black people,” said Rock, “that the Academy got her to hide all the black nominees.”
Perhaps best of all, Martin and Rock mocked the Academy for its great lineup in the directing category, with Rock cracking that the only thing missing in the nominees was “vaginas.”
Best: Billy Porter
Janelle Monáe kicked the evening off with a song-and-dance routine celebrating the year in film, and it was a little . . . all over the place. But there’s no denying the joy of seeing “Pose” star Billy Porter in sparkly things. He joined Monáe to belt out a fun rendition of Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.”
Worst: No John Travolta
Back at the 2014 Oscars, John Travolta served up the meme of the night when he introduced Idina Menzel as “Adele Dazeem” before she performed her “Frozen” hit “Let it Go.”
This year, Menzel returned to perform the “Frozen 2” track “Into the Unknown,” but was sadly introduced by her co-star Josh Gad. Missed opportunity. Show yourself, Travolta!
Props to Gad though, who hinted at the flub by introducing Idina Menzel — “pronounced exactly as it’s spelled.”
Best: Diamonds in the sky
But speaking of Menzel’s performance, how cool were all the shiny diamond things seemingly floating around her, just like in the movie? Pretty voices deserve pretty set design.
Best: Diane Keaton
Maybe just text Diane Keaton the winner next time.
Presenting the Original Screenplay award with Keanu Reeves, the 74-year-old actress brought what can only be described as big Diane Keaton energy, dryly quipping her way through a quirky back-and-forth about when they worked together on “Something’s Gotta Give.”
The highlight, however, was Keaton’s ongoing struggle with the envelope.
First, she attempted to tear the thing open before the nominees had even been announced.
Finally, when the time came, she dropped the envelope against the mic — CLUNK. Classic Diane.
Best: Chrissy Metz shouts out her mom
“This is Us” star Chrissy Metz ended her emotional performance of the nominated song “I’m Standing With You” from the movie “Breakthrough” by delivering a sweet message to a special lady. “I love you, Mom,” she said as the spotlight faded.
Worst: Brad Pitt’s speech
In his award-show acceptance speeches leading up to the Oscars, Pitt could be counted on to deliver carefully planned jokes, whether about his bachelor status or his “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” costar Leonardo DiCaprio totally having room on the door in “Titanic.”
But instead of delivering laughs on his big night, Pitt focused instead on the impeachment trial. Hm.
Worst: The song montage
Poor Lin-Manuel Miranda was stuck with introducing a lame montage of memorable musical moments in film history, from “Jai Ho” in “Slumdog Millionaire” to “Footloose” in, well, you know.
Bizarrely, the clip package ended with Eminem live on stage, performing his “8 Mile” hit “Lose Yourself,” which, yes, was the first rap song to win an Oscar … in 2003. (He famously did not attend to perform it then.)
Although the crowd eventually gave him a standing ovation, when Eminem started, most looked as perplexed as the rest of us felt. In the middle of a three-hour telecast, ain’t nobody got time for that.
But it wasn’t the worst rap of the night…
Worst: The rap recap
Before we’d even hit the two-hour mark, “The Mindy Project” star Utkarsh Ambudkar came out to deliver a rap, recapping everything that had happened so far. The entirely unnecessary number failed to land any great jokes — and even weakly threw back to the John Travolta/Idina Menzel mix-up that’d already been addressed earlier (and better) by Josh Gad.
Best: Tom Hanks pays tribute
After announcing the opening date of the Academy’s new museum, Tom Hanks signed off with a quick, but sweet tribute to Kirk Douglas, who died on February 5. “I am Spartacus!” Hanks shouted, quoting Douglas’ famous line from the 1960 film “Spartacus” — also used in Hanks’ film “That Thing You Do!”
Best: James Corden and Rebel Wilson lean in
The “Cats” stars gamely poked fun at themselves by dressing up as their characters from the maligned box office bomb. Appropriately, they presented the award for visual effects, for which “Cats” was widely derided.
“As cast members for the motion picture ‘Cats,’ nobody more than us understand the importance of good visual effects,” the two declared, swatting the air. Me-ouch!
Best: The conductor’s expressions
Eímear Noone was the first female orchestra conductor the Academy Awards had ever had, and she made sure to enjoy her moment in the spotlight. While conducting pieces of each of this year’s nominated scores, she delivered a series of hilariously intense facial expressions that livened up what could’ve been a dry spot in the show.
Best: Olivia Colman reflects
Colman, who won the Best Actress Oscar last year for “The Favourite” presented the Best Actor award this year, but not before recalling her triumph in 2019 with a sly sex joke.“That night was the best night of my husband’s life,” she said. “He actually says that, and I’ve given birth three times.”
Best: A surprise ending
“I’m speechless,” said producer Kwak Sin-ae through a translator. “We never imagined this to ever happen. We are so happy. I feel like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now.”