After a year like no other, we’re told to expect an edition of “The Oscars” (8 p.m. Sunday, ABC, TV-14) like none we’ve ever seen. Details are sketchy. There will be no host, but expect a batch of A-list presenters. Due to COVID, there will be no giant theater filled with stars and Oscar hopefuls. Producer Steven Soderbergh has promised that the Academy Awards will unfold “like a movie.”
But what kind of movie? The arty movie that Oscar tends to favor? Or the popcorn blockbuster that audiences (used to) go to see? Increasingly, people are wondering, just what is a movie anyway?
COVID has kept people out of the cinemas, but that only accelerated a trend toward streaming films at home.
Netflix has this year’s most-nominated film, “Mank.” But it has been a force at the Oscars for years, with “The Irishman” and, before that, “Roma.” COVID merely forced its studio rivals, Warner Bros. and Disney, to play Netflix’s game. Many were chagrined to see a Pixar film as ambitious as “Soul” unceremoniously dumped on the Disney+ schedule, like just another “High School Musical,” entry, or so much “content.”
But without streaming, would films like “Da 5 Bloods” or “The Trial of the Chicago 7” get released at all? A Hulu release elevated “Nomadland” from a mere arthouse favorite (like director Chloe Zhao’s previous film, “The Rider”) to something widely seen and talked about.
But how widely seen? Streaming services are still pretty cagey about numbers. Apparently, if you sit through the credits for a movie and abandon it after five minutes, you’re counted as a full-fledged “viewer.” That’s very different from buying a ticket.
That may account for a recent survey showing that fewer than 20% of people claim to have even heard of “Mank,” nominated for 10 Oscars.
Rather than a celebration, “The Oscars” has become a ritual of introspection and worry. Are movies still movies if people only stream them at home? Is Hollywood diverse enough? Are there enough women filmmakers? Can straight actors play gay characters? Must actors now only play characters of their own race? Can we still laugh at Woody Allen movies? Should we strip the Oscars from every film ever made by Harvey Weinstein? How about Scott Rudin? Why was Steve Guttenberg ever popular?
People seem to be chattering about everything but the last movie they saw and loved.
Not unlike the TV industry, the movie end of show business lurches from crisis to crisis until interrupted by a bona fide hit. The ratings for the Oscars are forever in freefall, until a really big movie arrives, like “Titanic” or “The Lord of the Rings,” to get everybody’s attention.
Heck, by the end of the 1960s, the studios were so broke they held auctions to sell their old sets and costumes. Then, in 1972, “The Godfather” (8 p.m. Saturday, Sho2) became the highest-grossing film in history. Followed in quick succession by “The Exorcist,” “Jaws” and then “Star Wars.”
You can probably judge somebody’s age by the year they think Hollywood started going downhill. (It’s 1980, by the way!) There’s a great book called “The Fifty-Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood.” Written by Ezra Goodman, it was published in 1961!
Historically, Hollywood’s “really big” movies were generated from really big books. 2020’s “Hillbilly Elegy” was based on a bestseller, but most agree that Ron Howard’s adaptation was less than scintillating. The fact that the book is considered controversial should not matter. It certainly never stopped “Gone With the Wind,” or “Peyton Place.”
Speaking of big books, 2020 brought yet another Jane Austen adaptation, “Emma,” starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role. It’s been generally well received by critics, but attracted only a modest audience in theaters. Would it have become a bigger hit had it streamed on Netflix like Taylor-Joy’s other project, “The Queen’s Gambit”?
From the Bible to Dickens to Austen and “Harry Potter,” Hollywood history is filled with literary adaptations. But books are hardly the only source material. Last week it was announced that Universal Studios was collaborating with Mattel and star Vin Diesel to create a film version of the plastic toy game “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.” That’s what I call “intellectual property”!
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— A mother discovers that her nanny is spreading rumors about child abandonment issues and has become her husband’s secret lover in the 2021 shocker “My Husband’s Killer Girlfriend” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— A busy New York restaurateur inherits an Australian cafe in the 2020 romance “Hearts Down Under” (9 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— The Dallas Mavericks host the Los Angeles Lakers in NBA action (8:30 p.m., ABC).
— Dana Bash moderates “The Climate Crisis: CNN Town Hall” (9 p.m., CNN), featuring appearances by climate envoy John Kerry and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
— ID unspools three hours of true-crime documentaries about “The Clown and the Candyman” (8 p.m. through 11 p.m., TV-14). That’s one way to spend a Saturday night.
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): the Chauvin verdict; COVID’s impact on live performance.
— The Dodgers host the Padres in MLB Baseball (7 p.m., ESPN).
— The odds are against finding a missing mathematician on “The Equalizer” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Underdressed exhibitionists spend 60 days wading in Louisiana’s swamp country on “Naked and Afraid XL” (8 p.m., Discovery, TV-14).
— “Top Gear” (8 p.m., BBC America, TV-14) enters its 30th season.
— A widow and her teen daughter discover they are no longer alone in their new house in the 2021 shocker “Just What the Doctor Ordered” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— Eight returning failures hope to cement their title as “Worst Cooks in America” (9 p.m., Food, TV-G) opens its 22nd season.
— Penance steampunks a broadcasting system for Mary’s inspirational song on “The Nevers” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— Martha keeps up pressure on the president on “Atlantic Crossing” on “Masterpiece” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings).
— Jackie proves to be tenacious on “City on a Hill” (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— Mare gets a new partner (Evan Peters) after the body of a second young woman is discovered on “Mare of Easttown” (10:00 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
A year after playing Robin Williams’ estranged wife in the 1993 comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire” (7:15 p.m. Saturday, CMT), Sally Field portrayed Tom Hanks’ mother in “Forrest Gump.”
SATURDAY SERIES
Bad chemistry on “FBI” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Domestic violence on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14) … “The Masked Singer” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG).
Hondo feels used on “S.W.A.T.” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Benson helps Stabler on “Law & Order: Organized Crime” (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14) … “Game of Talents” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) …”48 Hours” (10 p.m., CBS, r) … A vintage helping of “Saturday Night Live” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
The 2017 thriller “The Fate of the Furious” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14) …. Cletus becomes a famous singer on “The Simpsons” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “World’s Funniest Animals” (8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … Judy worries about her love life on “The Great North” (8:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG).
Another Navy man in the morgue on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Valentine’s Day on “Bob’s Burgers” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “Masters of Illusion” (9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … The race for mayor divides the Griffiths on “Family Guy” (9:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … Darn the torpedoes on “NCIS: New Orleans” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
