Billy Crystal criticises Oscars for lacklustre 2021 ceremony

Its very problematic, Crystal said, drawing a comparison between that ceremony and the most recent Academy Awards.Critically-acclaimed features Nomadland, The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7 were nominated in the best picture category this year, but Crystal believes they were not audience-friendly.

Veteran actor-comedian Billy Crystal has said that he found the 2021 edition of the Academy Awards to be ''disappointing''.

The Oscars, which held in April this year after being delayed by two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, turned out to be a dull affair.

The ceremony ended up being the least-viewed Academy Awards telecast on record in the United States.

Crystal, who previously hosted the Oscars nine times, was asked whether he would emcee the ceremony again during his appearance on ''The Jess Cagle Show''.

The actor, however, did not seem too enthused.

''One of the last times I hosted the show, the economy was just in shambles. And I said, 'That's what people want to see: millionaires giving each other gold statues.' It made no sense... It's very problematic,'' Crystal said, drawing a comparison between that ceremony and the most recent Academy Awards.

Critically-acclaimed features ''Nomadland'', ''The Father'', ''Judas and the Black Messiah'', ''Mank'', ''Minari'', ''Promising Young Woman'', ''Sound of Metal'' and ''The Trial of the Chicago 7'' were nominated in the best picture category this year, but Crystal believes they were not ''audience-friendly''. ''(They) were not audience-friendly in a way — beautiful films; they needed to be celebrated more,'' the 73-year-old actor added.

All in all, the ceremony lacked entertainment, Crystal noted.

''You have to give (viewers) some entertainment, and there wasn't any. And that was disappointing,'' he said.

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