Oscars

So, I stayed up late last night to watch the 97th Academy Awards. I don’t know what the overall consensus for this year’s show is, but I greatly enjoyed it.

I’m normally indifferent to whoever hosts the Oscars, but I was really excited to see Conan O’Brien as the host for this year’s ceremony and he didn’t disappoint. Plenty of energy, some great jokes and I even kind of dug the musical number he sang about how the Oscars won’t drag on too long this year… which is ironic because it kind of did. Woka woka. Either way, I wasn’t really complaining too much.

Aside from that, the musical numbers were decent. The James Bond medley with LISA, Doja Cat and Raye was a solid tribute to the Broccolis, who picked up the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, but it definitely felt bittersweet in light of the recent news surrounding Bond. I also enjoyed the opener with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo singing a Wizard of Oz-themed medley with representation from the OG film, The Wiz and the recent Wicked. I still need to see Wicked, but that’s only because I didn’t watch very many films last year.

Queen Latifah also sang “Ease On Down the Road” in tribute to Quincy Jones, which is a weird choice since he only produced the song for the film version of The Wiz, but hey, the song’s a bop and Latifah did a great job so I’m happy. I don’t think there was anything quite as show-stealing as Ryan Gosling and his fellow Kens tearing up the stage with Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen from last year’s ceremony, but to be fair, that is a hard thing to top.

I don’t think there was any particular sweeps with the Oscars this year, but Anora came the closest with five wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Actress. I still have yet to see it, but having seen Mikey Madison in a few films, I’m glad she won. She’s a talented actor and I’m excited to see her potentially hit the big time.

The Brutalist won three Oscars. I still haven’t seen it either, but Adrien Brody winning Best Actor felt like an appropriate bookend to his win for The Pianist. I also liked his acceptance speech, even if he was constantly fighting against the orchestra signalling him to wrap it up.

I could probably make my usual complaint about how the Academy hates horror, especially because The Substance only took home one award out of the five it was nominated for, while Nosferatu walked away completely empty-handed, but the fact that both films were even nominated — one of them for Best Picture and Best Actress, no less — is quite impressive in its own right. Demi Moore would’ve been my personal pick for Best Actress this year, but even being nominated is a fucking honour and The Substance’s win for Best Makeup and Hairstyling is well deserved. Poor Nosferatu, meanwhile, was just up against some insanely stiff competition in its categories.

I wasn’t too keen on seeing Emilia Perez win Best Original Song, although that’s probably because the competition wasn’t anything too special and also because it had two songs in the running for the award. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of Emilia Perez and from my perspective, it looks like one of the most baffling films ever made. I will say, though, that Zoe Saldaña’s Oscar speech was nicely delivered. Very emotional and moving.

Honestly, I thought most of the speeches were great, but I’d be especially remised if I neglected to mention the filmmakers behind No Other Land, a documentary about the Israeli-Palestine “conflict” that’s currently having a hard time finding distribution. I’m glad it won and the filmmakers’ speech was remarkably poignant, especially given the current political climate and how difficult it is to talk about Israel and Palestine without attracting ire and misguided accusations of bigotry.

A Complete Unknown didn’t win anything, which was a little surprising, because biopics usually seem to be a shoo-in at the Oscars. I haven’t seen it either, but I’m confident that Chalamet kills it as Bob Dylan.

I’ve not seen Conclave either, but I thought it would’ve been the main contender for Best Picture, but that went to Anora.

I also need to see A Real Pain, especially because my goofy ass missed the chance to see it when it was in cinemas. I’m glad Kieran Culkin won Best Supporting Actor. I’ve liked him ever since the days of Home Alone and his speech was certainly memorable. I don’t think he expected to win, but either way, congratulations.

I’m glad Dune: Part Two got some recognition, although its Best Visual Effects win was practically guaranteed even with the competition it was up against. I was kind of expecting it to win for Best Cinematography, but that instead went to The Brutalist. I haven’t seen The Brutalist so I can’t fully comment. It does look like a visually striking piece of work so it winning Best Cinematography is understandable.

Alas, just like every other year, there was also plenty of snubs. I’m surprised Challengers didn’t receive any nominations, especially since the score was THE soundtrack of the summer. Likewise, Furiosa was completely ignored, which is a little baffling because Mad Max: Fury Road was a serious awards contender, but maybe that’s because Furiosa didn’t do too well. Still, a kick-ass movie though.

Hell, even the “In Memoriam” segment had a few snubs, with Michelle Trachtenberg, Tony Todd, Olivia Hussey and Bernard Hill being among the most glaring omissions. It was a lovely segment despite that and I did get especially emotional when David Lynch and Gene Hackman’s names came up.

It’s become a bit of a joke in recent years to say something along the lines of “if it wasn’t for [blank], I wouldn’t have even known the Oscars was on this year”, and that might be true to some extent, but I did like this year’s ceremony. Having Conan O’Brien as the host was definitely a major benefit and it also helps that it actually feels like they’re celebrating cinema, as opposed to making lame jokes about how animation is for children.

I’m curious to see what films will be in the running for next year… if we make it that long.

But that’s a story for another time.