On Friday nights,\u00a0IndieWire After Dark<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0honors fringe cinema in the streaming age with\u00a0midnight movies<\/a>\u00a0from any moment in\u00a0film<\/a>\u00a0history.<\/em><\/p>\n First, the\u00a0BAIT<\/strong>: a weird genre pick, and why we\u2019re exploring its specific niche\u00a0right now.\u00a0Then, the\u00a0BITE<\/strong>: a spoiler-filled answer to the all-important question,\u00a0\u201cIs this old cult film actually worth recommending?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For decades, pop culture lovers have been told that falling asleep in front of their TVs is an insult to both their personal sleep hygiene and the broader seriousness of cinephilia. But awards season has a way of drawing out uncomfortable truths, and with just two weeks to go before the 98th Academy Awards, here\u2019s mine: If you love movie history but suffer from insomnia, few things are more comforting than dozing off listening to the dulcet tones of old Oscars<\/a> ceremonies.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n From familiar orchestral swells to ritualized envelope openings, Hollywood\u2019s annual night at the Dolby is uniquely suited for nocturnal drifting. Nearly a century in, ABC\u2019s broadcasts remain creatively dynamic but mostly structurally unchanged. The shows are still infamously long, presented as a clap-a-thon, broken up by speeches and jokes calibrated for their specific cultural moment (albeit with varying degrees of success). The hosting gig has seen diminishing returns over the years, but with Conan O\u2019Brien returning to the Oscars again in 2026, the core concept persists like a bedtime story too well-known to rewrite.<\/p>\n As the same celebratory arcs and dramatic upsets repeat year after year, always with the same familiar cast of world-famous characters<\/a> looking their best, the Oscars help make the movie business look like magic \u2014\u00a0even when we know it\u2019s not.\u00a0That faux effortlessness can make all the hardship of filmmaking feel worth it, if only for one night. And folks who listen to white noise, rain sounds, and even podcasts when they fall asleep are relying on predictable patterns and comforting symbolism, too.<\/p>\n Midnight movies are all about re-contextualization, and considering these TV<\/a> programs were mostly designed as single-use spectacles, they take on mesmeric new meaning when they\u2019re replayed on your laptop or phone in the middle of the night. Half-heard then and less remembered now, these delicately mummified parties become something much stranger and softer when you know you\u2019re watching alone.<\/p>\n Enjoyed in a semi-conscious (even Lynchian!<\/a>) state, everything from a killer Steve Martin monologue to a moving Viola Davis acceptance becomes a sparkly representation of ambition, gratitude, and the fading relevance of time. You don\u2019t need to see the dresses or recognize the names of all the nominees to feel like out there somewhere, someone\u2019s dream is happening \u2014\u00a0and even that will pass. There\u2019s joy in remembering movies the industry has already buried, and it\u2019s worthwhile to consider the power of achievement when you\u2019re totally untethered from the stakes of an awards race. Closing your eyes, you lose the air of prestige and iconic Oscars moments take on an otherworldly sense of intimacy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s that engine of imagination that\u2019s kept so many cinephiles looking to the Academy for guidance, even as the awards body has lost authority over the years. So, skip the Seth MacFarlane disaster and the Will Smith\/Chris Rock year, too. But curated with rest in mind, this viewing ritual repurposes Hollywood\u2019s highest stage as an on-demand lullaby of entertainment legacy. It\u2019s both restorative and faintly disrespectful \u2014 as all Oscars viewing, in my sleepy li\u2019l opinion, should be.\u00a0\u2014AF<\/em><\/p>\n First of all, I will push back on the Seth MacFarlane dismissal, as that man\u2019s entire oeuvre is just jokes that are only funny after the clock strikes midnight. But alas, the ceremony I chose to sample (bearing in mind that you need to know \u201cslime tutorial\u201d-like keywords to unearth a lot of the Oscar ceremonies on YouTube) was the 2004 Academy Awards.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the issue: I\u2019m not new to this. I\u2019m true to this on several fronts. I sleep with some form of sound on every night because the alternative is what introduced me to my sleep paralysis demon. My usual routine as a YouTubeTV convert is to turn to the NickToons channel, which almost exclusively plays \u201cSpongeBob SquarePants\u201d reruns, and more importantly, does not play any trailers like \u201cScream 7<\/a>\u201d that would rattle my slumber. The scariest commercial they play is the music video for the \u201cMonster High\u201d theme song.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also nodded off at a couple of awards shows I\u2019ve attended in real life<\/em>, like at the Palm Springs International Film Awards one year, after I had only had two hours between landing at the airport after three different flights in one day, checking into my hotel, changing into my suit, and going straight to the ceremony.<\/p>\n Anyhow, I ramble because this strategy ultimately worked too well. At best, I heard snippets of host Billy Crystal\u2019s monologue, where he kept to the tradition of inserting himself into Best Picture nominees, but truly, presenter Sean Connery kicking off the night with his surprisingly sweet-sounding Scottish accent knocked me out like a light. So, I am sad I didn\u2019t even get to see one of the record 11 wins for \u201cThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,\u201d but I am happy that this sleep strategy\u2019s effectiveness probably earned me an extra REM cycle. \u2014MJ<\/em><\/p>\nThe Bait: And the Academy Award Goes to\u2026 Bed? <\/h2>\n
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<\/div>\nThe Bite: For Your Consideration\u2026 2004! <\/h2>\n