The magic of the Oscars used to sprinkle a smattering of stardust as Hollywood celebrated glittering movies in style.
But the swagger has long gone from this tiresome self-congratulatory echo chamber that allows the industry to exhort the mediocre.
Year after year, the same old stars and directors are trotted out as the number of bored viewers watching the ceremony falls in number.
In 1998, when Titanic swept the board, nearly 60 million were glued to their TVs in the US.
This year, broadcaster ABC estimates the audience at around 23 million – less than half the number.
Marathon boredom
The boredom sets in with each of the 24 categories of award receiving the same air time.
Most people just want the potted highlights – best picture, best actor and actress and maybe a couple more. Who really cares who gets the Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award and who was he anyway and what’s it for?
After rows about the lack of representation among the awards by women and people of colour, it was good to see Parasite win the best picture gong – the first foreign language film to do so in almost a century of the Oscars.
The movie also took the best foreign language film, best director, best original screenplay, best production design and best film editing Oscars.
1917 loses to The Parasite
“I feel like I’ll wake up to find it’s all a dream. It all feels very surreal,” director Bong Joon-ho said.
The film is a look at the contrasts between rich and poor in the South Korea capital of Seoul.
Joaquin Phoenix picked up the best actor award for his role as The Joker, while Rene Zellwegger took the best actress Oscar for her part as Judy Garland in Judy.
Brad Pitt and Laura Dern scooped the supporting acting awards for their roles in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood and Marriage Story.
Oscar favourite 1917 lost out, although widely tipped for best picture, the movie only managed Oscars for cinematography, sound mixing and visual effects.