Bonnie and Clyde shot the hell out of the Oscar telecast Sunday as Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway combined to name the wrong winner for the coveted “Best Picture” Academy Award.
“Moonlight” eventually won the best picture honor after Dunaway incorrectly announced “La La Land” as the winner of Hollywood’s most prestigious honor near the midnight hour.
I saw it and I still don’t believe it. It’s kind of like when Trump won the election.
Jimmy Kimmel, host of the ABC-TV program, had the line of the night when he said during a chaotic scene on stage: “Blame it on Steve Harvey.”
Harvey’s the guy who last year announced the wrong winner of the “Miss Universe” pageant.
Kimmel then took some personal blame: “I knew I would screw this up. It’s only an Awards Show. I won’t be back next year.”
Dunaway’s mind-blowing Oscar boner will go down in film history as the biggest bomb since “Cutthroat Island” – but Beatty claimed it wasn’t her fault. He said they were handed the wrong envelope.
Beatty and Dunaway starred as “Bonnie and Clyde” who were machine gunned to death in the landmark 1967 film. On stage, they both looked waxy, nervous and lost. Beatty kept squinting and Dunaway, standing next to him seemed just as dazed.
Beatty pleaded innocent, saying he was handed the wrong envelope. Emma Stone of “La La Land” won the Oscar for Best Actress just before the Best Picture Award was presented. Beatty said he had Stone’s envelope in his hand.
Beatty, who opened the envelope for Best Picture, kept staring at the card inside. Finally, Dunaway, grabbed it and said “La La Land.”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Beatty said on stage, surrounded by “La La Land” members who had given acceptance speeches.
Jordan Horowitz, producer of “La La Land,” looked at the winning card and noticed the word “Moonlight” on it.
“This is not a joke,” Horowitz said. “It’s Moonlight.”
Then, the horde of “La La Land” people left the stage as another crowd of “Moonlight” actors and producers filled the space. It was like two football teams switching field position after a turnover.
Talk about your Hollywood drama.
“La La Land” is a big-budget musical about a musician and actress pursuing their dreams. It won six Oscars. “Moonlight” is a low-budget drama about a gay, black teenager coming of age in Miami.
“Even in my dreams, this could not be true,” said Barry Jenkins, director of “Moonlight.” He added: “But to hell with dreams! This is true.”
Dreams do come true. So do nightmares.
Ask Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty.