Allan Watched the 97th Academy Awards
The 97th Academy Awards went mostly chalk, but it was an enjoyable ending to a great awards season that celebrated a wonderful array of films from 2024.
Conan was the most Conan in his hosting duties and crushed all of it, from the monologue to the silly between-commercial teases, to the quips between presentations, he was an all-timer. As for the awards, Anora stole the show, winning five of six nominations. Mikey Madison will be the headline, which is deserved, as her Best Actress-winning performance was the reason it won Best Picture, Director, Editing, and Screenplay.
Emilia Pérez came away with just two statues, and both were pretty clear favorites. Zoe Zaldaña won Best Supporting Actress and Él Mal won Best Song. Zaldaña’s speech was the only redeeming quality of the much-maligned film that had 13 nominations, and as noted below, the rest of its notable moments are horribly cringey.
Below is the list of winners and my running thoughts as the night went.
Random Thoughts
Love that they kicked things off with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. They did not get enough love this awards season.
Erivo singing “Suddenly” and then “Defying Gravity” dressed like the greatest wedding cake was a gift. Absolute chills.
They let Conan do a very Conan-like bit with aThe Substance opening. Love it.
It wouldn't be a Conan monologue without a quirky audience bit.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Kieren Culken, A Real Pain
My favorite performance of the year by far. And something poetic that he won over Jeremy Strong.
Best Animated Film - Flow
A bit of an upset here as A Wild Robot seemed like the clear winner, but Flow has amazing reviews as well.
Andrew Garfield pulls off all the awkward and cute moments so well.
Best Animated Short - In the Shadow of the Cypress
A delightful speech. I can’t even begin to imagine being a favorite to win an Oscar and you do not get a Visa to get into the country until the day before. A story they will tell for the rest of their lives.
Also, speeches on phones don’t hit the same as speeches on folded-up pieces of paper.
Best Costume Design - Paul Tazewell, Wicked
The first black man to win Best Costume Design, and he was the only choice this year.
His odds to win were -1000, the third-best odds of the evening.
Bowen Yang turns up everywhere and I hope we don’t get sick of him. The presentation bit was very funny.
Best Original Screenplay - Sean Baker, Anora
Anora was a lot of fun, and a standout for entertainment, but the script has massive holes in it. I feel this should have been A Real Pain.
Best Adapted Screenplay - Conclave
Another heavy favorite at -1000, this was a shoo-in. The film really is a play on screen and its story momentum is unmatched this year.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling - The Substance
No upsets yet. The Substance was the easy choice against a strong crowd. The makeup was the movie.
The rights to James Bond were sold to Amazon, so everyone is pretty sure the franchise is over.
I do not know who Lisa is. She has 106 million followers on Instagram. I am old.
Best Film Editing - Sean Baker, Anora
Don’t want to be this guy who hates on Anora because I liked it, and Film Editing is always a disaster at the Oscars, but this film spent 30 minutes doing nothing and it won best editing.
Best Supporting Actress - Zoe Zaldaña, Emilia Peréz
She is incredible, but it also feels like since people soured so hard on the film they overcompensated and overcorrected with her winning every award.
The director winning a hat with the movie on it is everything people hate about the movie.
Zaldaña’s speech was beautiful…and also did not mention Karla Sofía Gascón…
Best Production Design - Wicked
Wicked used almost no CGI for its sets. Enough said.
Best Presenter bit of the night by Ben Stiller.
Best Original Song - Êl Mal, Emilia Pérez
No surprises here. No real surprises anywhere so far.
Another cringey moment on behalf of the cringiest film of the year. Singing a song while you win an Oscar for a song is hard to watch.
Best Documentary Short - The Only Girl In the Orchestra
Best Documentary Feature - No Other Land
The most important film of the year and the most important speech of the night.
Best Sound - Dune: Part Two
Best Visual Effects - Dune: Part Two
The expected Dune: Part Two sweep of the technical categories. The series feels like it is on the Lord of the Rings trajectory, and the third in the trilogy will win a bunch of awards after the first two do not win much.
Best Live Action Short - I’m Not A Robot
The biggest upset of the night so far. +500 to win while The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent was a pretty heavy favorite.
Best Cinematography - Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Amazingly this is the first win of the night for The Brutalist, but it can win three more big ones. The film was captured brilliantly and it is a film-lovers film.
Best International Feature Film - I’m Still Here
This was the right decision. Two months ago it would have been unimaginable for Emilia Pérez to not win this category, but the award season has readjusted correctly.
Best Original Score - The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg
A film this masterful can’t exist without a meaningful score.
A big win for folded-up acceptance speeches!
Best Actor - Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
He deserved this. I finally watched it this weekend and it is his greatest performance and one that people will remember for a long time.
The AI conversation will loom large around this win. It made his accent more accurate, which means he did not make that accent, but the output was a masterpiece.
Best Director - Sean Baker, Anora
The Anora love continues. Feels like it means a Best Picture win and good news for Mikey Madison.
All this is said, Sean Baker won three Oscars tonight, and the film was unique. His mission is to uplift the voices of the oppressed, and that is worthy of praise.
Great speech about movie theatres. It is so important.
Best Actress - Mikey Madison, Anora
Well deserved. She was everything in the film.
I feel sad for Demi Moore but it was not like she was robbed.
Folded thank you speech!
Best Picture - Anora
Anora was the odds-on favorite and won five of six nominations.
None of this was possible without Mike Madison. It would have been a fun indie flick if it was not for a powerhouse superstar in the making.
Conan was amazing and should be the host for a long time. A really fun awards season and enjoyable Oscars!
