Oscars TV Review: Jimmy Kimmel Packs A Punch On Trump & More As ABC & Producers Finally Make An Academy Awards For The 21st Century

deadline.com:

Looks like fourth time is truly a charm for Jimmy Kimmel and the Academy Awards. Back hosting the Oscars for the second year in a row and the fourth time overall, the ABC Late Night front man took a show where most of the big winners were pretty predictable and gave it some much needed bite. “See kids, sometimes smoking is fine,” Kimmel quipped after Da’Vine Joy Randolph won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her cigarette imbibing role in The Holdovers.

Sometimes kids, it’s worth packing a punch – as the Academy Awards proved Sunday. Bringing the great David Alan Grier in as the voice of God and picking up on what the Grammys and many other award shows have been put down in recent months, the Raj Kapoor, Katy Mullan and Molly McNearney executive produced Oscars joined the 21st century this year.

Thank the movie gods, even if the show was almost three hours and 30 minutes long. Thank the movie gods because for the first time in too long and after more than few false starts, the Oscars didn’t just celebrate movies tonight, it celebrated putting on a show about celebrating movies.

Hollywood’s biggest night was made for the small screen this year with movies that people have actually seen on stage. At the same time, Guns’n’Roses’ Slash showing up to add his stadium sized guitar licks to Ryan Gosling’s star studded, pyrotechnics packed and delightfully over the top Barbie performance of “I’m Just Ken” showed American Idol and The Voice just how it’s meant to be done.