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Here we are, the last of the blog posts for 2025. So many wonderful movies, and I'm just getting started! While I love the Oscars, the true joy is seeing movies, and one of the best parts of the night was the refrain to go to theaters. I also love Los Angeles, and my favorite theater is the Laemmle - any one of them - it's truly one of my happy places. I hope you have a theater that you love and that you patronize on a regular basis. We would all be the losers if movie theaters go out of business. And on to the show...
To begin with Cynthia and Ariana was an inspired choice. I was crying at the 3 second mark - what a tribute! But the homage to the James Bond films bothered me. The songs they chose were iconic, but if you have time to sing four songs (three from James Bond and one other), why not simply allow the nominated songs to be sung? The show didn't end any earlier than it usually does, and I thought this was a shame, though I did like the interviews with the songwriters.
I also appreciated the multiple times that speakers honored the craftspeople - those who make movies great and don't get the recognition nor the large paychecks. They are the artists who bring the movies to life, and you could see the bond that develops among cast and crew when the system is working.
Finally, for the first time in so many years, they finally got the In Memoriam segment right. They didn't play around with the camera angles and camera tricks, they focused on the screen and you could see the pictures and the names. Kudos, it has taken forever to realize that if someone is watching this segment, he or she doesn't care about the musical performance nor the camera angles. We just want to see who is being honored.
Some observations about the actual awards, in a semi-alphabetical order. Also, my apologies for my abysmal predicting performance this year - my worst ever! Only 15 right. I'll try to do better next year.
Actor (Winner, Adrian Brody, The Brutalist): I am very unhappy about this one. Timmy deserved it, I'm not sure Bob Dylan could watch this film and know that it wasn't him on that screen, and that performance was incredible. Boo Academy, boo! Brody's speech was well intentioned but disorganized, and he kind of "All Lives Matter"ed his condemnation of anti-Semitism. When one is playing a Holocaust survivor, and anti-Semitism is portrayed so openly in the movie, you don't need to add in a general "all discrimination is bad" clause.
Supporting Actor: (Winner, Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain): While the award was certainly well deserved and the speech was a delight (does it count if his wife has twins?), most people who star in a Holocaust film at least bother in some capacity to honor those who died in the camps. Especially when the film is about visiting the camps, no?
Actress (Winner, Mikey Madison, Anora): I'm still surprised that Demi Moore didn't win, but I think Mikey Madison was a deserving recipient. Her appreciation for Brooklyn and the Lower East Side felt like a tribute to her Jewish roots in an odd way.
Supporting Actress (Winner, Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez): The film had 12 nominations and won 2. Saldana's speech was gorgeous honoring her immigrant family and those who came before her to give her a better life.
Animated Film (Winner, Flow): While this was a beautiful movie, I really thought The Wild Robot should win. But I do love seeing first time nominees win awards, and this film's message was all about how being in community means helping each other. A fine message for these times.
Animated Short Film (Winner, In the Shadow of the Cypress): This is literally the only animated short that I watched and still have no idea what the hell it was about. It was the worst of the group, not the best. Ridiculous.
Cinematography (Winner, The Brutalist): Meh, I don't know guys. I went with my heart on this and even if you're not a vampire film person (as I'm not) there's really no arguing that the award should have gone to Nosferatu.
Costume Design (Winner, Wicked): I absolutely loved hearing people talk about the quality of the work. I also love firsts, so the first black man to win this category was thrilling. It makes you wonder how that is possible in 75 years of this category existing. Hard to win an award when nobody will give you the opportunity to even do the work.
Directing (Winner, Sean Baker, Anora): History was made last night - Sean Baker is the first person ever to win 4 Oscars for the same film. The film had a total of 6 nominations, and he won 2/3 of them.
Documentary Feature (Winner, No Other Land): Kind of interesting that these speeches about coexistence fail to mention that one of the Israeli filmmakers was murdered on October 7th, eh? You read that right - no talk of their friend and peer being brutally murdered while at a music festival. I too dream of a future where two peoples live side by side in peace (as Palestinian Israelis DO in Israel), but may I point out two things? First, the title No Other Land - for the Jews, that is true, this is the one and only Jewish state in the world. For the Palestinians, there are plenty of other lands of origin - Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, as well as dozens of other Muslim countries. Second, right in the charter of these terrorist organizations like Hamas is the goal to eliminate all Jews. How do you have compromise, only murder half of the Jews? For those who believe that they mean just the Jews in Israel, why don't their spokespeople who teach so much hate use the word Israelis? Why is the word "Yahud" meaning Jew? Wake up.
Documentary Short (Winner, The Only Girl in the Orchestra): All of the films were wonderful in this category, but there were shorts that felt more important than this one.
Film Editing (Winner, Anora): Sean Baker did a magnificent job in all of his speeches, so I'll just note that The Brutalist was also nominated for this award, which is a bit ironic for a three and a half hour film.
International Feature (Winner, I'm Still Here, Brazil): Phew, what a warning about a totalitarian regime where the country is divided between loyalists and those who are not loyal to the dear leader. Should be a lesson to us all.
Makeup and Hairstyling (Winner, The Substance): Frankly, this is the only category where this film should have had nominations (and maybe actress). But this was incredible makeup and hairstyling.
Original Score (Winner, The Brutalist): I think this could be the vast amount of music that the writer had to produce for this incredibly long film. I thought the score from The Wild Robot should have won.
Original Song (Winner, El Mal, Emilia Perez): I can't deny it, while I'm always rooting for Diane Warren, this was the perfect song for this moment in the film. Even those who didn't love the movie, loved this song.
Best Picture (Winner, Anora): As you know from the blog, I loved this movie - it was purely original and the characters were so well drawn. Kudos. (but I still loved A Complete Unknown the most.)
Production Design (Winner, Wicked): Was there EVER any doubt?
Live Action Short (Winner, I'm Not a Robot): Here's another instance where the film was absolutely clever and original, but I thought there were others - two others in particular - that were more important. I hope you'll see A Lien and The Man Who Could Not Be Silent. See the blog post about the Live Action shorts for why.
Sound (Winner, Dune 2): A film that was well on its way to many noms, settled for some technical awards.
Visual Effects (Winner, Dune 2): See above.
Writing/Adapted Screenplay (Winner, Conclave): While I knew this one would win because of its close race with Anora for Best Picture, my heart belongs to Sing Sing for this award. Please see Sing Sing!
Writing/Original Screenplay (Winner, Anora): And while I knew this one would win, my heart belongs to A Real Pain. Please see A Real Pain!
And that's a wrap on another year for fabulous films and stories that stay with us for a lifetime. See you next year at the Oscars!
