The Oscars Had A Cinematic Opening To This Year’s Unprecedented Ceremony

The Academy Awards has now gone without a host for the last three years. (The last time there was a host, it was Jimmy Kimmel cracking jokes about the Moonlight and La La Land debacle.) But the 2021 Oscars is unlike the last two — or any other in the award show’s history. It was anyone’s guess what form the monologue would take, but with Steven Soderbergh producing the ceremony, you knew it was going to be good. It was.

The 2021 Oscars kicked off with a tracking shot filmed in CinemaScope of Regina King (her directorial debut, One Night in Miami…, was nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture) walking down the carpet to the stage, where she delivered a timely message. “It has been quite a year and we are still smack dab in the middle of it. And I have to be honest, if things had come differently this past week in Minneapolis, I may have traded in my heels for marching boots,” she said. “Now I know a lot of your people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you. But as the mother of a Black son, I know the fear that so many live with. And no amount of fame or fortune changes that. OK But, tonight, we are here to celebrate.”

King also acknowledged the mask-less ceremony. “Think of this as a movie set. We been vaxxed, tested, re-tested and socially distanced, and we are following all of the rigorous protocols that got us back to work,” she said.

— Vulture (@vulture) April 26, 2021

A two-hour film of just Regina King walking places

— Sam Sanders (@samsanders) April 26, 2021

I would like to watch a three hour heist movie that begins with regina king in black tie walking with a purpose thru a big train station

— Natalie Walker (@nwalks) April 26, 2021

For the complete list of Oscar winners, head here.