The Academy Awards always have great speeches. Here are 15 of our favorites.
The Academy Awards have always been a great place for great speeches.
Over the years, we’ve seen incredible outpourings of gratitude mixed in with unforgettable exclamations of jubilee. Heck, we’ve even seen someone do push-ups.
We’ve tallied 15 of our favorite speeches from over the years, ranging from ones by actors like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Denzel Washington and Robin Williams.
While this list is by no means exhaustive, it’s a reflection of what makes for a great Oscars speech and some admiration for some of our favorite Academy Award moments.
Sit back, relax and get those Academy Awards memories going.
Some of the best moments in sports have been born out of witnessing history. So, it’s not shocking that HBO chronicled the 1980s “Showtime” era Los Angeles Lakers, who won five championships, turning their prolific run into Winning Time.
Based on a book by Jeff Pearlman, the series debuted in 2021 and was renewed for a second season a month after its debut. The star-studded cast included names like Jason Segel, Adrien Brody, Sally Field, John C. Reilly, and newcomers Solomon Hughes and Quincy Isaiah.
Dedicated fans were in on the wild storylines, but the series battled lower-than-expected viewership numbers. Like many other shows, it has also been impacted by ongoing writers’ strikes.
Last month, Pearlman expressed his concerns over the canceled show, telling fans it needed more support.
And, to be blunt, I'm worried there won't be a season three. And it's not about me. I'm fine. It's about a cast of amazing young actors who live this. So, seriously, tell your friends to support "Winning Time" and show @hbo you want it to continue. Peace. #winningtimehttps://t.co/1KD2uKOY16
Unfortunately, the series was canceled after two seasons, leaving fans with a less-than-pleasant ending to Sunday’s finale: a Boston Celtics championship. Ending a storyline on a bitter rival’s success did not sit well with fans.
Understandably, they are furious and saddened.
Winning Time ending with Boston winning it all is wild
If you want to understand the unbeatable charm of 80 for Brady, watch Sally Field chow down on hot wings in a contest hosted by Guy Fieri.
In a world where we’ve lost touch with how to build consistent studio comedies for theaters, it seems strange to imagine that there aren’t 500 more movies like this. You know, just watching an elderly screen icon doing something silly can bring forth laughter you never know you had in you.
That’s the fun of 80 for Brady, a sports-centric comedy with four undisputed entertainment legends who just want to have a good time watching Tom Brady play football. If you can’t find at least something enjoyable in watching a stoned Rita Moreno walk around a mansion in a Venetian mask to discover a room full of Guy Fieris playing poker, you need to loosen up a bit.
What’s refreshing about 80 for Brady is the commitment to the concept. It’s easy to get a bunch of hyper-talented comedic actors like Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda together and let them just do their thing. Tomlin and Fonda have been doing that together for decades, going all the way back to 1980’s 9 to 5. It’d have been easy to just throw these four ladies in any sort of situational comedy and let it all just work itself out. However, the feisty screenplay from Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern helps the broader humor all blend in together with the Super Bowl-related shenanigans.
They do have a real-life story to kinda-sorta consider, even though there are clear fantastical licenses the writers had to take with what inspired this. You can’t really make that much of a movie just about four seniors heading to Houston to watch Brady and the New England Patriots take on the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51. You can, however, delightfully embellish just how that might’ve gone down.
There isn’t a nuanced bone in this movie’s body, and it’s all the better for it. Playing it as broad as possible allows 80 for Brady to maximize its loonier plot developments, and it gives the primary quartet plenty of room to just let their organic comedic chops take over whatever scene is going on. Moreno has been doing this since the 1950s, and she’s still as spry as ever. You could argue, even though Tomlin and Fonda are the comedic titans here, that Moreno and Field get the biggest laughs.
While any Falcons fan attending might want to excuse themselves for a bathroom break during the film’s actual Super Bowl sequences, there’s enough for even the most begrudged Dirty Bird fan to find something pleasant in a lighthearted comedy that’s very sure of itself.
How is Brady, you might wonder? While he’s certainly not going to have an acting career like the one former NFL cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha has built for himself, he holds his own with what he’s asked to do. He and Tomlin share one sweet moment toward the end of the movie that does make you wonder if Brady does have something in him for acting, but more than likely, he won’t grace the screen with any movie that doesn’t have his name in the title.
Watching 80 for Brady is a bit like joining in for a game night at your grandma’s retirement village. There’s just something nice about watching an entire room of elderly people crack jokes and sip the bubbly on a Saturday afternoon. If you have a grandma, take her to see this one. The smile on her face will undoubtedly make the one on yours grow even bigger.
That’s an All-Star cast to go along with the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Per the article:
In his first post-retirement move, Brady is making a blitz into Hollywood and will produce and, yes, act, in a football-themed road trip movie titled 80 for Brady.
… Brady, the movie, not the player, will be directed by Kyle Marvin, who also co-wrote the script with Michael Covino.
,,, Inspired by a true story, Brady tells of four best-friends and New England Patriots fans who take a life-changing trip to the 2017 Super Bowl LI to see their quarterback hero, Tom Brady play, and the chaos that ensues as they navigate the wilds of the biggest sporting event in the country. Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno and Field will play the quartet.
Now that we have more details about HBO’s upcoming Untitled Lakers Project, we are officially excited. Flat out, this show looks awesome.
LakeNow that we have more details about HBO’s upcoming Untitled Lakers Project, we are officially excited. Flat out, this show looks awesome.
Here is what you need to know: The show will be produced by Academy Award winner Adam McKay, who has directed comedies like Anchorman (2004) and dramas The Big Short (2015). He has also produced HBO shows Succession and Eastbound & Down. McKay, a former head writer for SNL, has range.
His collaborator Max Borenstein has already written all of the scripts for the first season and he says it will be structurally similar to Netflix’s The Crown. It is based on sportswriter Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.
Exclusive: HBO's Lakers series will be a love letter to basketball that resembles 'The Crown' in terms of its structure, writer @MaxBorenstein says in his first comments about the untitled show. https://t.co/nhYTlMUIGE
I’m a sucker for sports shows and period pieces, especially those set in my hometown of Los Angeles, so I’m already on board. But the most exciting element is the cast.
Many of the players on the Lakers will be depicted by first-time screen actors and we’re incredibly excited to see this new chapter of their careers.
Some of the emerging stars are former pro basketball player Solomon Hughes (who even played for the Harlem Globetrotters) as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michigan-native Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson and stage actor Delante Desouza as Michael Cooper.
The cast also includes recognizable some more recognizable names such as Zero Dark Thirty (2012) star Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffman (Transparent), Tamera Tomakili (Fruitvale Station) and Michael Chiklis (The Shield).
Below are some of the other notable casting choices slated to star in the upcoming project about the Lakers.
