Thanks, Oscar

Despite recent efforts to curtail them, acceptance speeches are one of the Academy Award ceremony’s signature elements. This year’s winners are being forced to limit their statements to a mere forty-five seconds–award recipients will be encouraged to direct their excess gratitudte to a backstage “thank you camera“–and it’s hard to believe that some degree of Oscar magic won’t be lost along with the traditional recitation of names of friends, family members, colleagues, financial-backers, and higher powers. Though we’ll have to wait until Sunday to see if a shorter broadcast is worth the lost minutes of tearful acknowledgements, the video above (featuring an all-star cast that includes Gwyneth Paltrow circa 1999) pays tribute to the endless award ceremony “thank you.”