The 92nd Annual Academy Awards premiered on Sunday February 9th and while people of color weren’t heavily represented in all four categories, visibility was vibrant in the performances. Starting with Grammy nominated singer Janelle Monáe, who kicked off the evening with a performance of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,’ as she performed her own version of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” Billy Porter joined her on stage and gave a glamorous performance as he sang part of the Elton John song, “I’m Still Standing” in tribute of the movie Rocketman.
Janelle Monáe also delivered a stellar performance with a new version of her 2010 song “Come Alive,” which highlighted diversity and snubbed films. Some of the onstage dancers were dressed as Queen and Slim, Rudy Ray Moore from Dolemite Is My Name and a group of Tethers from the movie “US,” three films that should’ve had a seat at the Oscar table.
Chris Rock did a swell job delivering truth via comedy. His joke about Cynthia Erivo doing such a great job in Harriet hiding black people, that the academy got her to hide all the black nominees, was spot on.
Maya Rudolph & Kristin Wig were comedy gold and I would’ve loved to see them hosting the Oscars instead of announcing a category. Maybe next year!
My favorite win of the night went to “Hair Love” for best animated short film. Congrats to writer/director/producer and former NFL pro Matthew A. Cherry and producer Karen Rupert Toliver. “Representation matters in cartoons!” It’s almost sinful not to mention that Kobe Bryant won an Oscar in this same category back in 2018 for “Dear Basketball,” based on a poem he wrote in 2015 as a farewell to the sport he loved.
Best documentary feature went to the Obama-produced “American Factory,” the first film in their post-White House careers. The documentary looks at what happened when a Chinese company took over a closed General Motors factory in Ohio.
Power Series Finale – Review
We finally found out who shot Ghost. No major surprise there. Tariq St. Patrick’s hatred for his father had been brewing since Ghost left the family for Angela with no explanation and Tariq (with the help of Kanan) found out who his father really was.
I spent a good portion of the last couple of seasons loathing Tariq for being petulant and blatantly disrespectful but it wasn’t until the final episode that I found some compassion for him. I think the writing and acting did a great job driving that point home in this last episode: conflict and resolution.
The vision of Kanan before Tariq shot Ghost was instrumental in Tariq actually going through with his mission. I thought that was a smart way to reiterate the impact that Kanan had on Tariq and also a way for 50cent to make a cameo in the last episode.
Tasha and Ghost’s run-in at the cemetery was BRUTAL and so was his scathing remark after he released her from their marriage, “Go ahead. Be Tasha Green, the half-smart chickenhead who’d still be in the hood if it wasn’t for me.” YIKES!
There was no loyalty in this family, well except between mother and son as we saw at the end with Tasha trying to frame Q only for her to end up taking the wrap for a murder her son committed.
All in all, I think the ‘Power’ series finale delivered a worthy ending to a cult favorite show.
In addition to the previously announced Power Book II, Starz green-lit three more spin-offs: Power Book III – Raising Kanan, Power Book IV – Influence (centered around Rashad Tate), Power Book V – Force, which will follow Tommy’s character now that NY is behind him. #PowerNeverEnds
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