Oscars 2021 Review: 8 Ups & 8 Downs

6. No Play-Off Music During Acceptance Speeches

One of the major, undeniable improvements of this year's show was the decision not to introduce play-off music for any winner whose acceptance speech was deemed to be running "too long."

In previous years the Academy's producers have been rightly dragged for trying to speedily usher winners off the stage inside of a tight 90 seconds, while typically proving stricter with winners in "lesser" categories.

Most infamously, 2013's Oscars saw winners played off with John Williams' iconic Jaws theme, but this year there wasn't any such mean-spiritedness.

Though in part a result of the show's low-key presentation, it was neat to see winners from all categories given as much time as needed to say their thank-yous, particularly Another Round director Thomas Vinterberg, who had time to pay moving tribute to his late daughter Ida.

One suspects Soderbergh's involvement as co-producer may have had a hand in organising this, himself an Oscar-winner who can surely appreciate the pressures placed upon victorious artists.