Happy Day-After-Oscars Day, everyone!! Did you watch the ceremony last night? Thankfully, the Oscars didn’t happen during the end of daylight savings time this year, and somehow, it didn’t feel as long as previous years, but of course, there are some unnecessary frills that should’ve been cut out or trimmed down.
Now, Conan O’Brien hosted the Oscars this time around, and I quite enjoyed his monologue. Conan has always been goofy and likable, and he embraced his weird style when hosting the Oscars. The bit involving The Substance (he came out of Demi Moore’s back!) is a hoot, and the jab about Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist spewing more expletives than ANORA is spot on! I like Conan as host, even better than Jimmy Kimmel. So perhaps he can come back next time!
Unlike last year, somehow I’m just not as enthused about this year’s ACTING winners. I think the three winners, except for Best Actress, are predictable. In any case, here’s the Oscars’ acting class of 2025:
IMAGE COPYRIGHT: Arturo Holmes/WireImage
Anyhoo, I made my predictions at the last minute of who will win and who SHOULD win, here are my predictions ballot. I actually tried to predict ALL of the nominations this year despite not having seen them all. I got 17 right out of 23 categories, not bad!!
FULL WINNERS LIST
(in the order the Oscars were handed out – thanks to CNBC)
Best supporting actor: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Best animated feature: Flow
Best animated short: In the Shadow of the Cypress
Best costume design: Paul Tazewell, Wicked
Best original screenplay: Sean Baker, Anora
Best adapted screenplay: Peter Straughan, Conclave
Best makeup and hairstyling: Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli, The Substance
Best editing: Sean Baker, Anora
Best supporting actress: Zoe Saldana, Emilia Pérez
Best production design: Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales, Wicked
Best original song: “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
Best documentary short: The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Best documentary feature: No Other Land
Best sound: Dune: Part Two
Best visual effects: Dune: Part Two
Best live-action short: I’m Not a Robot
Best cinematography: Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Best international feature: I’m Still Here (Brazil)
Best original score: Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
Best actor: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Best director: Sean Baker, Anora
Best actress: Mikey Madison, Anora
Best picture: Anora
HISTORIC WINS
- Flow becomes the first Latvian film to win an Oscar
- Wicked’s Paul Tazewell is the first Black man to win an Oscar for costume design
- Zoe Saldaña becomes first American of Dominican origin to win an Oscar
- I’m Still Here is the first Brazilian film to win an Oscar
- Sean Baker made history by being the first person since Walt Disney to snag four Oscars in one night back in 1953. Baker was the first person to achieve that feat with just a single film.
- Adrien Brody won his second Oscar in the best actor category, portraying a Holocaust survivor in both films. Per THR, he joined an elite club of as the 11th person to have won the Best Leading Actor award more than once, the other 10 are Daniel Day-Lewis (the only three-time winner), Jack Nicholson, Spencer Tracy, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Fredric March, Gary Cooper and Sean Penn.
- Anora also made history as the only fourth film that won both Cannes’ Palme d’Or AND the Oscar for Best Picture, the other three are Parasite, The Lost Weekend, and Marty
Thoughts on ANORA’s big night
I have to say I did not predict that ANORA would practically sweep the Oscars with a total of 5 wins, followed by The Brutalist with 3 and Wicked with 2 awards.
I’m not as enamored with that film as most critics and the academy voters are. I think it was good enough to be nominated, but did it deserve Best Picture? Well, my answer is NO, but at the same time, I’m not going to be a sour gripe about it as I’m glad that an indie film won Best Picture, though I wish it had been another indie, The Brutalist, that took that honor.
Still, Sean Baker is a talented director who seems like a great guy. I love that he champions independent cinema and movie theaters, reminding people of the importance of the communal moviegoing experience.
“Watching a film in a theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream and fight together, perhaps sit in devastated silence together. And in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home. And right now, the theater-going experience is under threat. Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters, are struggling, and it’s up to us to support them.”
THE HIGHS
The Oscars started out with a powerhouse performance from the Wicked duo, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. It kind of gives me a Tony Award vibe, ahah, but they truly defied gravity (and my skepticism) with that performance, so I think it’s great to start the show this way.
I’m thrilled that FLOW won Best Animated Feature, as I thought The Wild Robot might’ve snatched that one. Looooove this image of the cat holding its Oscars!!
Conan’s hilarious jab at the Emilia Pérez controversy is spot on!!
“I love Anora — Anora uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by [Emilia Pérez star] Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist.”
He didn’t stop there… “Karla Sofia Gascon is here tonight,” and then proceeded to address her directly: “Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, remember: My name is Jimmy Kimmel.” LOL!!
John Lithgow‘s disappointed expression is priceless!! He’s such a good sport about being a part of this. It’s destined to be the best Oscars meme!
I’m thrilled that I’M STILL HERE won Best International Feature!! Its director, Walter Salles, paid tribute to the woman featured in the film and the two women who played her:
This goes to a woman who, after a loss suffered during an authoritarian regime, decided not to bend, but to resist. This prize goes to her. Her name is Eunice Paiva, and it goes to the two extraordinary woman who gave life to her: Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro.
As a huge fan of Nora Ephron movies, I was thrilled to see a Meg Ryan + Billy Crystal reunion! Crystal referenced the time he hosted the Oscars, and he was a fantastic host. I love that he dropped an iconic line from When Harry Met Sally…
“Because when you have a chance to be an Oscar winner for the rest of your life, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
Mick Jagger strutting with his usual swagger and making a joke about being younger than Bob Dylan, classic!
I like the ingenuity of some of the presenters, such as the production design award presentation by Ben Stiller with the stage floor malfunction bit. His droll delivery and physical comedy were fun to watch!
Last but not least, the Academy honored the LAFD who bravely battled the wildfires!! They even told a few jokes, which got a rousing response from the grateful audience.
THE LOWS
Once again, this ceremony brought back past acting winners to introduce the acting nominees from all four categories. Now, as much as I love seeing those past winners on stage together, like the five women presenting the Best Actress Oscars, I miss seeing the clips of each nominated performance. Why can’t they show the movie clips as the presenter is talking?
Somehow, The Academy just can’t get the In Memoriam segment right. I love that Morgan Freeman paid tribute to Gene Hackman, but they overlooked quite a few: Michelle Trachtenberg, Tony Todd, Alain Delon, Mitzi Gaynor, Olivia Hussey, and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, among others.
At least they got rid of the distracting live music/song + dance performances on top of the clips of those who have passed away in the past year.
Ok, let’s get to the most baffling segments of the night. So this year, they got rid of the performances for the best original song nominees, likely to make room for this Bond tribute, presented by former Bond girl Halle Berry. Look, I’m a big Bond fan, and I get that the Academy wants to pay homage to the end of Barbara Broccoli + Michael G. Wilson’s 60-year tenure of the franchise as Amazon gained control (which I wrote about last week). It’s not the WHY they did that segment; it’s the HOW.
The tribute involves a song + dance segment with Margaret Qualley performing as a Bond girl in a slinky red dress with tuxedo-clad male dancers. I think it’d only make sense if at the end of that they announce Qualley as the next Bond or some kind of Bond-related news! Then we’ve got three singers I’ve never heard of singing Live and Let Die, Diamonds Are Forever, and Skyfall. I don’t particularly care for any of their renditions, and it makes me cringe, to be honest.
Where is Dame Shirley Bassey?? I tweeted last night that it’d have been best if they just stick to just ONE classic Bond song and invite Dame Bassey to sing Goldfinger or even Diamonds Are Forever if they’re set on that, especially since that Doja Cat couldn’t even hit the high note of the song, sheesh!
Ok, so I’m glad Adrien Brody won. He’s my predicted winner and personal pick for Best Actor. But man, he just went on and on with his speech!! It even got its own intermission as the music cue went up, which he asked to stop, and he went on with an even longer speech (he spoke for longer than 5 minutes!!). It’s one thing if it was a great speech, but when he said, ‘This isn’t my first rodeo… I’ve done this before,’ it reeks arrogance; and even when he mentioned his fellow nominees, it didn’t seem genuine. Dude, have you ever heard of ‘brevity is the soul of wit?’
The goofy bits with DUNE’s sandworm (he even played the harp!) while they overlooked Denis Villeneuve for Best Director?? NOT COOL, Oscars!
Lastly, I feel awful for Demi Moore for losing out on the Best Actress win. No offense to Mikey Madison, but I really was rooting for the veteran actress who got the role of a lifetime in The Substance. It seems that life imitated art as Moore lost out to an actress half her age (Demi is 62, Mikey is 25), which is the main plot of that film where her character was passed over by a much younger woman. It also seems that the Academy voters still aren’t ready to embrace the horror genre.
I know it’s a competition and all, so there will always be winners and losers, but for seasoned actresses after a certain age, there just aren’t that many roles out there. For industry folks who feel bad for Demi, the only way to atone for her would be to give her more prominent roles after this, which will give her more opportunities to compete with fellow actors down the line.
Biggest WTF Moment
Right when Emma Stone, a two-time Oscar winner, was about to hand out the Best Actress award—right before they announced Best Picture—the feed suddenly cut out, and I was left staring at a blue screen of death on my TV! I totally missed Mikey Madison’s win, but luckily, I managed to get LIVE TV back up just in time to catch the Best Picture announcement. It’s really frustrating that HULU just dropped the ball like that!
Well, that concludes 2025’s award season! What did you think about last night’s ceremony?
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I watched some of it on Hulu and… yeah…. that sucked. I was watching it with my mother who was talking to her favorite cousin on the phone and we were like… “what happened?” I didn’t like that.
I too wanted Demi to win as she put on a performance for the ages. Still, I have no problem with Mikey Madison winning as she killed it in Anora. I am already fucking ELATED for that film and for Sean Baker. A film that cost $6 million to make and already grossing more than $41 million worldwide is impressive but to win that big at the Oscars with 4 of them going to Baker. I am fucking happy for him. I was overjoyed in seeing Karren Karruglian holding 2 of those Oscars as that is a moment for him as he is kind of Baker’s good-luck charm. Right now, the film is in my top 10 list https://letterboxd.com/thevoid99/list/best-picture-oscar-winners-ranked/ for Best Picture and #27 in my Palme d’Or list https://letterboxd.com/thevoid99/list/palme-dor-winners-ranked/
I am happy for Adrien and Kieran. I watched Zoe’s speech last night as I am fucking happy for her. I’ve been a fan of hers since she was in Center Stage back in 2000 as that is an underrated film and it is the first film she did. My dad is a fan of her as he really liked her in Avatar and Colombiana. He would’ve been happy over her win. I like a lot of the winners though I do not remember that song “El Mal” but at least beat another lame Diane Warren song. They call her the Susan Lucci of the Oscars…. that is an insult to Lucci.
I liked Morgan Freeman’s eulogy for Gene Hackman as that was touching but I didn’t see the memoriam as I knew the Oscars were going to fuck that up again. It’s bad enough they omitted including Shannen Doherty but to give David Lynch a measly five seconds was a fucking diss. Fuck the Oscars for that.
Yeah I think HULU pissed a lot of people off when it cut off abruptly like that!
I’m not as elated as you about ANORA but I’m impressed that it already made nearly 7 times its budget!! I’m glad the Best Picture went to an indie film and Sean Baker championing independent cinema makes me a fan.
I still need to see COLOMBIANA, not sure if it was worth watching. Mwahaha, what makes you hate Diane Warren so much? I’m neutral about her but haven’t paid attention to her songs much.
Glad Adrien won but his long-ass speech has got to stop, ugh!
I just think Diane Warren is the embodiment of mediocrity. Does anyone remember a song she wrote that is worth remembering for the past 20-25 years? Plus, if you listen to the lyrics in some of the hit songs she wrote. A lot of them are fucking terrible. And to think, the stuff I listen is depressing but her stuff I think is much worse in how much despair they have but in a bad way.
As usual I didn’t pay attention to the awards show but thanks for the recap. I honestly thought that Adrien Brody‘s career was over yet he just won another Oscar! I wonder if he’ll get a revival at being a leading man in a major movies again. After he won his first Oscar, he was given lots of leading roles but none of the films he starred in were successful.
I saw those tribute the Bond films and I’m still not sure why they did that. I mean if there’s a new Bond film coming, then I guess it would be appropriate but I still don’t understand the tribute.
I haven’t paid much attention to Brody’s career but yeah, I think he’ll get more work after this. I’m just still annoyed by his long, rambling speech, LOL! Even his speech needs an intermission!
I think I get the idea of honoring Broccoli and Wilson after 60 years managing Bond. I mean, there were SO many Bond actors who have won Oscars and even Ralph Fiennes as M was nominated this year. But the WAY they did it is puzzling, we don’t need that silly song and dance number, and having 3 people butcher great Bond songs is just ugh!
Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger would have been the way to do the Bind segment. You convinced me, spot on.
Shirley Bassey is a legend and she would’ve been eons better than those three ladies combined!!
I’m happy that an independent film won Best Picture but I’m not enthusiastic about Anora. Would’ve been more satisfying to see the award go to The Brutalist, though I thought Conclave had a slight edge after winning at the BAFTAs and SAG. What do I know?
I like the way they presented Costume Design and Cinematography with 5 actors from the movies introducing the nominees. It’s heartening to see the usually faceless craftspeople get their 10 seconds of spotlight other than just having their names read before announcing the winners. Maybe they could do it every year with a couple of different categories like writing, editing, sound and visual effects.
The tribute to Bond was indeed baffling. Didn’t they have a tribute not long ago when Bond turned 60? I understand the tribute flowed from the acknowledgement that Wilson and Broccoli were recipients of the Academy Governors award, but the tribute felt like a eulogy to lament Bond’s acquisition by Amazon. Go in peace, we’ll miss you.
And I was just thrilled that Cat and his pals won. Meow!
I’m with you about The Brutalist, Patrick, it would’ve been nice if the Best Picture had gone to that and Sean could still get the Best Director award. Oh well.
Yeah, I like having the actors introduce those two awards, makes it more personal. I hope they’ll do that again next year and expand the categories.
I forgot about the tribute when Bond turned 60, but yeah, it’s just so weird all around and making Margaret Qualley perform as if she’s auditioning for Bond girl is in poor taste.
But yeah, go FLOW the cat and his pals!! Love that movie, glad they won instead of The Wild Robot.
Little divided on the acting wins. Was rooting for Chalamet even though I knew Brody was taking it, and though I liked Anora I was pulling for Demi to bring it home. Ain’t mad though, was a surprisingly fun broadcast to watch despite some of the fumbles and lows. (The Emilia Perez songwriters trying to get everybody to sing was the cringiest thing I’ve seen at the Oscars yet.) Happy that Dune 2 got some recognition!
Hey Adrian! Yeah, that bit with the Emilia Perez songwriters singing should’ve gone under my LOW moment list, ahah, it was indeed cringe-worthy!
I actually saw A Complete Unknown while Chalamet was in the theater. While I think he was great, I still think Brody deserved it. I would’ve liked for Demi to win, but hopefully this role opened more doors for her. She’s still got 20 years to do great acting work, I mean look at Dame Judi Dench! As for DUNE 2, glad it won 2 but it should’ve gotten more!
I didn’t watch it and I haven’t seen Anora, but your views are interesting. A lot of people seemed very pleased with the outcome this year.
I’m just glad the Oscars are done. There’s always something we wish the outcome would’ve gone the other way, but that is life.
Indeed, especially now 💞
I really hope the women who were nominated all get more prominent roles in the future, esp. those of a certain age.
Another Fantastic Oscar Recap! Your really do this momentous occasion justice… Yeah Hulu gets a fat “F”!! for cutting out early and for their seizure inducing self-plugs every commercial break!
Hey thank you!! It’s getting tougher to recap these events somehow, not sure if how long I’ll keep doing it LOL.
I still can’t believe HULU cut off like that, and right before two of the biggest awards of the night!! 😡
So difficult, especially this year I feel. Your coverage is phenomenal; a special treat🌟
Really appreciate the encouraging comment!! I’m just glad Conan was funny, and his jokes aren’t to mean-spirited.
Oh man, I finally made it back here!
I did not sit and watch the entire show, I was in and out.
Conan is a fab host, and I loved the Ben Stiller gag!
17/23 is amazing Ruth. That’s about 75%. I hope I do that well with the Emmys this year!
FLOW – a must see for me. It’s available, but not free, yet!
John Lithgow, well, he’s just funny even when he’s not.
It’s hard to bark at any winners, as it really is the Crème de la crème competing. Still, I was hoping for a Demi Moore win. I know, I already mentioned that to you.
Okay, lots to do this week. Yikes!
You have a good one! 🌹🌟☀️XX
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