
Analysis: 2021 Oscars tried to celebrate the business, but didn't put on much of a show
CNN
The Oscars are over, and except perhaps for the winners, the prevailing feeling is more relief than euphoria. If one message emerged from the telecast and preshow, it was the hope for better days ahead, with an in-person ceremony that signaled the prospect of going back to the movies.
Award shows have mightily struggled during the pandemic, and the 93rd Academy Awards -- despite the advantage of capping off an extended 14-month "awards season" calendar -- promise to be no exception. Yet even a charitable assessment would find the presentation lacking, amid a host of decisions that ranged from puzzling to flatly misguided. The awards themselves made history on a number of fronts. "Nomadland's" Chloé Zhao became only the second woman ever to win Best Director and the first woman of color, for a movie that premiered on the streaming service Hulu, a seemingly inevitable milestone in a year that, by necessity, temporarily erased those lines.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.










