Oscars’ most memorable moments

Host Billy Crystal as Hannibal Lecter at the 1992 Oscars.

I remember the first time I watched the Oscars. It was 1992, I was 12 years old when the show opened with host Billy Crystal being wheeled out in a mask and restraints, I was thrilled with myself for recognising the Hannibal Lecter reference (don’t ask how a 12-year-old had been allowed to watch The Silence of the Lambs (1991), it was a different time). It was a great year for the movies — we had Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Thelma and Louise (1991), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and the aforementioned ...Lambs (which is still one of the best movies to win Best Picture). It was the beginning of my obsession with Hollywood and award shows, and I haven’t missed a single Oscar telecast in the last 30 years.

The Oscar ceremony is one of the most carefully choreographed events in the world. And in recent years the Oscars have tried to manufacture virality, like when Ellen took the selfie (Ellen DeGeneres takes a selfie at the Oscars) that broke Twitter. But the most memorable moments of the Oscars come from the human interactions, the energy in the room, and the spontaneity of the people on that stage.

The best speeches are usually the right mix of emotion, self-deprecation, and charm.

There was Sally Field winning for Places in the Heart (1984) joyfully claiming “You like me! Right now, you like me!” (Sally Field winning an Oscar® for "Places in the Heart")

There was Ben Affleck and Matt Damon who brought their mothers along as their dates when they won best screenplay (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Win Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting, 1997).

But when it comes to charm, there’s no one quite like Julia Roberts who won over the room when she accepted her Oscar for Erin Brockovich (2000).

While the awards are the focus of the show, the producers try to break the monotony with tributes, montages, and musical performances. Some of the musical highlights in the recent past include John Legend and Common’s moving performance of Glory from Selma (2014) and our very own AR Rahman’s Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire (2009). But the most memorable musical act has got to be Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performing Shallow from A Star is Born (2018). It was beautifully shot in a single take from the stage with the audience in the background and for a magical four minutes it was like their characters Ally and Jackson Maine were right in front of us. In recent years, the show has started with a musical number to get the audience pumped and, if I were producing this year, I would open tomorrow’s show with Naatu Naatu from RRR (2022) and get all of Hollywood to dance along.

In recent years #OscarsSoWhite has become the go-to weapon for mocking and shaming the Academy for their nomination choices. But more than a decade before this hashtag was created, there was one year when African-American actors made history. In 2002, the Academy gave the legendary Sidney Poitier an honorary Oscar (Sidney Poitier Receives an Honorary Award: 74th Oscars, 2002) to celebrate his contribution to film. The same year, Denzel won Best Actor (Denzel Washington Wins Best Actor | 74th Oscars, 2002) for Training Day (2001). He saluted Poitier in his speech and joked that he was always following in his footsteps. But the highlight of the night was Halle Berry winning Best Actress for her powerful performance in Monster’s Ball (2001), making her the first person of color to win that category. In an emotional speech, she paid tribute to unsung black actresses from years past who had paved the way for her, and said “Tonight, a door has been opened.” It’s been over 20 years and she is still the only non-white Best Actress winner. The Academy has announced Halle Berry as a presenter for the show. With Will Smith banned from attending and fulfilling his duty to present Best Actress, will Halle be the one to give Michelle Yeoh the statuette and welcome her to the other side of that door?

As an avowed cinema lover and a long-time viewer of the Oscars, nothing gets me more excited than seeing someone on that stage who genuinely loves movies and film-making. My all-time favourite Oscar speech is Bong Joon Ho’s speech for winning Best Director for Parasite (2019). He had just made history as the first Korean director to win, but he spent most of his speech talking about his idol (and fellow nominee) Martin Scorsese and led the audience into giving Scorsese a standing ovation. Bong also expressed his love for long-time friend and supporter Quentin Tarantino, and used the reminder of his time talking about sharing the award with all of his fellow nominees. It was completely in keeping with Bong’s personality — celebrating the magic of cinema instead of making it about himself.

Winners often run long with their speeches and overstay their welcome. But every now and then, someone who’s over their allotted time will take the audience along with them on a joy-filled ride resulting in pure magic. The gold standard here is Cuba Gooding Jr's speech when he won for Jerry Maguire (1996). His exuberant proclamations of love for anybody and everybody associated with the movie (or not) brought the audience to their feet in a standing ovation.

These moments don’t just happen in a vacuum. There’s a whole team of producers, editors, and camera operators working tirelessly behind the scenes to package and present the ceremony to a global audience. A show like the Oscars involves a lot of planning and coordination that needs to be in place so that the director can capitalise on the spontaneity of the people on stage to create magic. And even with all of this preparation, Cuba’s speech missed an astounding visual from the end of the speech when Cuba put down the Oscar and did an honest-to-god backflip on stage. Just goes to show that not all of that spontaneity can be captured for posterity. Here’s a clip from the edit bay as Cuba Gooding Jr gave his speech. This is the magic of live television.

Here’s a prediction for the first big moment of tomorrow’s telecast — the ceremony always starts with Best Supporting Actor and while it’s not a stretch to say that Ke Huy Quan will win, I’m betting that the first presenter will be the star of the upcoming Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny (2023) — Harrison Ford. Imagine Indy and Short Round reunited after nearly four decades while their director Steven Spielberg cheers them on from the front row — now that’s an Oscar moment for the ages.