thependulumswings

The 92nd Academy Awards presentation, more commonly known as The Oscars, was broadcasted live from Hollywood last evening.  The glamour and production looked alive and went quite well.  But, apparently, all is not well with the world according to a few woke people who had a chance to wake the rest of us up.

The very first award went to Brad Pitt for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Once Upon a Time…..In Hollywood.  Once upon a time in Hollywood actors thanked their friends, family, and all who had a role in making the movie.  Brad did that and more.  He told the crowd that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told him that he only had 45 seconds to address the assembled.  He commented that “45 seconds is 45 seconds more than the Senate allowed John Bolton to testify last week.”

BBR contacted Pitt’s agent last evening asking for comment on a persistent rumor.  Will Pitt and Mitch McConnell costar in the remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast?  “No comment,” came the terse reply.

Former President Barrack Obama and First Lady Michelle are celebrating the first Oscar win for their new production company, Higher Ground, which saw American Factory win Best Documentary Feature on Sunday evening.  By all accounts it’s a moving and well-made film.

It has one glaring omission, however.  The Obama administration bailout of troubled GM included a backroom deal that made the supportive United Auto Workers the exclusive union going forward in the deal.  The GM plant in Moraine, OH was unionized by the IUE-CWA. So despite being one of the top GM facilities for quality, efficiency, and production in the country, it was shuttered.  Its employees were put at the back of the line when requesting transfers to other GM plants.

The bailout actually forced the closure of the plant.  Chinese investments, state, and local officials actually got that plant started back up again with one caveat.  All hires needed to be with the UAW and were treated as new employees regarding benefits, wages, etc.

BBR would love to get a comment from the former president.   Given his net worth and security, he may be hard to track down.  He could be in any one of the 57 states that he said he visited.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences took the unprecedented step on Sunday of recognizing that the Oscars ceremony is actually taking place on tribal lands.

“The Academy would like to acknowledge that tonight we have gathered on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, the Tataviam, and the Chumash,” Jojo Rabbit director and presenter Taika Waititi said. “We acknowledge them as the first peoples of this land on which the motion pictures community lives and works.”

Since 2002, the Oscars have taken place at the Dolby Theatre, formerly the Kodak Theatre.  This year, the Academy bestowed an honorary Oscar to actor Wes Studi, making him the first Native American actor to win an Oscar.

BBR left messages for Native American Elizabeth Warren and her President 2020 campaign seeking comment.  We think our chances of getting a return call are roughly 1 in 1024.

The international movie Parasite, the winner of four Oscars, stole the show but did not unfairly infiltrate the process.  The Oscar presentation was long, but the vote results were not in dispute.

Hollywood had a better night than Iowa had all last week.