The actress, alongside co-hosts Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, opened the March 27 ceremony with many a zinger, like how it was cheaper for the Academy to hire three female hosts than one man. While Hall thanked the opportunity to represent women of color onstage, Schumer added that she’ll be representing the “unbearable white women who call the cops when you get a little too loud.” Yet during Schumer’s later monologue, she ribbed the Oscars Best Picture nomination for “Don’t Look Up,” joking that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences clearly “‘Don’t Look Up’ reviews.” The Adam McKay-directed film is nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing. (It’s already lost the latter two prizes.)
Similarly, audiences questioned how “Don’t Look Up” could be up for Best Picture while blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was shut out of the category and all but out of the Oscars in its entirety (the Marvel film is nominated for Best Visual Effects).
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Jimmy Kimmel previously voiced his shock at the Academy recognizing “Don’t Look Up,” saying, “Even if you go by the critics reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, ‘Don’t Look Up’ got a 46 percent and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ has 90 percent. For God’s sake, ‘Jackass Forever’ has an 89 percent. Why do Best Picture nominees have to be serious? When did that become a prerequisite for getting nominated for an Academy Award?”
Kimmel continued, “You want to know what happened? Voters looked at the list and saw the names Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep and they checked the box and then they put their kids in the car and went to see the movie ‘Spider-Man.’ And they loved it! But they didn’t vote for it.”
“Don’t Look Up” wasn’t the only film Schumer set her sights on during the 2022 Oscars. She joked that it was impressive how Aaron Sorkin made a film about Lucille Ball, “Being the Ricardos,” that “didn’t have one joke in it.”
Schumer quipped, “It’s like making a biopic about Michael Jordan and just showing the bus trips between games.”
The Academy Awards is now airing on ABC.
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