Only Tiffany Haddish Can Make the Oscar Nominations Entertaining
This morning, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 2018 Oscars. This is typically a fairly dry affair in which two actors wake up very early in Los Angeles to read the names aloud to a small room of journalists. The networks usually cut into their morning shows for the big acting and directing nominees, after which we all start discussing who got snubbed and who the favorites are. End of story. But not today. Today, national treasure and The Last Black Unicorn author Tiffany Haddish accomplished the impossible: She made the Oscar nominations interesting, furthering my deep belief that she deserved an Oscar nomination for her breakout role in Girls Trip. Oh, and Andy Serkis was also there.
From the first set of nominees—for the scintillating category of production design—Haddish was out there being Haddish. "Do you think they could install a steam shower in my house? Because I need one," she commented about the group. That's when we knew it was on. Over the course of the next 20 minutes or so, she made me—and the audience present for the announcement—giggle out loud more than once, something that's never happened before. She is truly magic. How dare the Academy not fully recognize this fact? It's almost like they knew they messed up in not nominating, so they asked her to host this morning.
From mispronouncing names with unprecedented charm to incredible facial expressions to doing some of her signature dance moves (to celebrate the nomination for War for the Planet of the Apes for Visual Effects, no less), Haddish was an utter delight from start to finish. Special shout-out to every which way she said "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" throughout the show—each its own unique treat.
Here, more of her best moments:
On Dunkirk (my personal winner for best use of sweaters on film): "I gotta see this Dunkirk. It seems like a lot of people like it."
On the live action shorts: "The last category proves that length doesn't matter....mmmmm."
On the documentary short nominees: "All these titles make a woman from an urban area very uncomfortable." Those titles: "Edith + Eddie", "Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405", "Heroin(e)", "Knife Fight", and "Traffic Stop."
On Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya and his name, which she had trouble pronouncing: "He know his name."
On what could go wrong announcing the best picture noms: "Oh, you don't know me that well. You don't know me at all."
Twitter was rightly amused.
By once again being unabashedly herself, perhaps the thing I love most about her, Tiffany Haddish has proved that she can literally work any room with her talents. We should be giving her all the awards, an Oscar included.
Watch and see for yourself below:
