"Yeah, I'm really moved by the warm reception our film has had, and I think, and I hope that it'll open doors to independent animation filmmakers around the world. This is the first time a film from Latvia has ever been nominated, so it truly means a lot to us. We are very inspired and we hope to be back soon. And yeah, we're all in the same boat. We must overcome our differences and find ways to work together" -- Glint Zibadolis, Flow Director
On March 2, 2025, the entertainment world came together in Hollywood to celebrate the best of this year's movies at the 97th Academy Awards. The show was a long broadcast, presented by Hulu and hosted by Conan O’Brien, lasting almost 4 hours and featuring a tribute to James Bond. Overall, the show tonight was amazing, it truly felt like a sincere appreciation of the art of Cinema. However, there were still a few hiccups along the way. Today, dear reader, I intend to give you a mix of a recap and a bit of my thoughts along the way as we dissect this year's Oscars.
Back and better
As previously mentioned, this year's Oscars was hosted by Conan O’Brien, and in my humble opinion, he should host the Oscars every year. Conan is such a legendary comedian, and it really does feel like such a breath of fresh air to have him. After the last year of lackluster hosts, from the milquetoast and boring Jimmy Kimmel, to the painfully unfunny Amy Schumer, it felt great to have someone like Conan up there. Compared to Kimmel, who felt like an embodiment of the lack of personality of mainstream Hollywood, Conan was unafraid to perform and push it a bit. He was unafraid to really send some strays the way of the audience, while also being incredibly respectful to the artistry of all of the movies nominated, such as telling Karla Sofia Gascon, controversial Best Actress Nominee, concerning her controversial tweets, “Little fact for you: ‘Anora’ uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist.”
The show started with amazing performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande performing a few songs from Wicked. Considering the cultural force it has been the past few months, it was good to see them being able to perform. Conan then started doing stand-up, killing it as previously mentioned. He then finishes it up with a little musical number called “I won’t waste time.” Although funny, it does sting a bit in retrospect in regards to some moments of the show, but I’ll expand on that later.
The first award of the night is then given for Best Supporting Actor, with Kirean Culkin winning with his role in A Real Pain. While personally I thought it was going to go to Jeremy Strong for his role in The Apprentice, I think it’s not surprising that Kirean won it, as he absolutely did deserve it. Kirean then gave his acceptance speech, during which he thanked his crew and his director with all of his bumbling charm he’s known for.
Changes and Upsets
Next, the show moved on to present Best Animated Feature, presented by Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn. In perhaps the biggest and most significant upset of the night, the projected winner by almost everyone, DreamWorks' The Wild Robot, lost the award to Flow, an independently made Latvian movie. I don’t know if I can properly articulate how significant this is. Flow, a Latvian movie, without any dialogue, made on a tiny budget of $3.7 million completely independently, beat out both Disney and DreamWorks. Having seen the movie shortly after, I can say it absolutely deserved it, but it was still incredibly shocking. This trend of the academy recognizing smaller independent productions would persist throughout the night, and I’m all for it.
The next award to be presented was Best Animated Short, going to In The Shadow Of The Cypress, an Iranian film. The creators would then go on to give a rambling, albeit endearing acceptance speech, marked by their poor English. I don’t have too many thoughts on this win, but it is nice to see International features get mainstream appeal in the Academy.
The next category to be presented was Best Costume Design. Unsurprisingly, it went to Wicked. Not much surprise there, although it is significant in that the costume designer, Paul Tazewell, became the first black man to win the award, which is a great step forward. Following that, Best Original Screenplay was presented, which was won by Anora, the dark horse, so to speak, amongst the nominations. While I haven’t watched the film, I do feel that it does feel deserved, as Sean Baker has definitely worked very hard up to this point. Director Sean Baker then gave a speech thanking everyone involved and especially the Sex Worker community that the film is based in. Best Adapted Screenplay was presented next, going to Conclave. While I once again have not seen this movie, anything with Ralph Finnes in it is bound for greatness, and any category that Emilia Perez doesn’t rob is a win for me. Finally, Makeup and Hairstyling went unsurprisingly to The Substance. Judging by the amount of practical effects in that movie, I felt it was bound to win.
A Few Hiccups
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, courtesy of Hulu not being equipped for live broadcasting. I hate the recent trend of streaming services further trying to consolidate every aspect of entertainment into themselves, especially when they are equipped to do so. Netflix couldn’t do it during the Jake Paul fight and could barely do it during the Christmas Day NFL game. Hulu was somehow even worse, barely working for anyone. In fact, it didn’t even barely work for the first two hours, going down for the first two hours, coming back, before shutting down during the last 20 minutes, cutting off Best Picture. If streaming services are going to monopolize every aspect of our viewing of entertainment, at least make sure it works, please.
Next up was a bizarrely timed James Bond tribute. First question, why was there even one? There was one 3 years ago during the Oscars, it isn’t even an anniversary of any significance, and there isn’t even a new movie coming out. While it was fun to watch, it was a somewhat baffling inclusion that only bloated the runtime of an already long event even more. Considering the issues coming up, I think this could have been safely cut.
Next, Conan does a segment mocking streaming, in which “CinemaStreams” reinvents a movie theater with a bunch of phones taped together. Sponsored by the Sacklers and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Next, Best Editing was presented, going to Anora. Not even halfway through, Anora has already begun it’s sweep, already picking up two Oscars. Moving ahead, Best Supporting Actress, and in an unfortunate snub, Zoe Saldana won for her work in Emila Perez over predicted frontrunner Ariana Grande. Listen, Zoe wasn’t bad, per se, but compared to everyone else who were firing out of all cylinders, she was merely alright, definitely not Oscar-worthy. In her acceptance speech, she gives a tearful address talking about her immigrant status.
Following that, Ben Stiller does a little bit on stage, where he rises from beneath the stage to only about shoulder height, before presenting Best Production Design. This category has been extremely competitive this year, and it ultimately went to Wicked, a worthy winner. Next up was Best Original Song, and unfortunately, it went to “El Mal” from Emilia Perez, a song in which Zoe Saldana tries to keep the number afloat, only to be ruined by Karla Sofia Gascon’s terrible vocals. I haven’t even watched Sing Sing, but it should have won. Thankfully, the performance of Best Original Song was cut, so no one would have to be subjected to it. The songwriters then accept the award in a rambling address before the lead songwriter sings one of the songs in a poorly ad-libbed and cringe-worthy manner. Fortunately, their speech ends, during which at no point did they thank or even address the Mexican or Transgender community, in an oddly fitting way to the rest of the movie.
The Most Important Moment of The Night
Moving along, the next category to be presented was Best Documentary Short, going to The Only Girl in The Orchestra. I also haven’t seen this one, but from what I’ve heard, it’s just a relatively inoffensive but poignant short. I don’t have any thoughts about it, so I’ll keep this segment brief.
Following that was Best Documentary Feature, going, shockingly, to No Other Land. In my opinion, this was the most important win of the night. No Other Land is a documentary made by a group of Palestinian and Israeli activists documenting the displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank. I will not mince words here in saying that what Israel is perpetuating against Palestine is ethnic cleansing. They are making a focused effort to destroy Palestine, using both settler violence in the West Bank to remove Palestinians from their homes and direct violence against Gaza. Israel wants to destroy Palestine as a people, as a group, as a nationality, and as a land. It has been so frustrating that so many, both in the media and in politics, bend over backward to defend Israel and manufacture consent for the horrific acts of violence and the apartheid Israel is perpetuating. The violence needs to end, innocent civilians are being massacred and displaced, well before even October 6th.
However, by some miracle, the academy managed to recognize the importance of the film and its message. The creators then gave their acceptance speech, a moving call not just from the Palestinian creators to end the violence, but also from the Israeli creators to end the oppression of the Palestinian people. It was a deeply moving speech, and I implore all of you to watch and listen.
However, the message seemed to be mixed amongst the crowd. Some within the audience wholeheartedly gave a standing ovation to the creators, while others refused to stand. It was at least somewhat heartening to see that the majority of the audience was standing. However, it was deeply shameful to see so many complicit or even in support of the crimes Israel is perpetuating. At the very least, however, I hope the amount of support, especially from the academy, means that public support is in favor of Palestine. I can only hope that someday the United States will finally stop supporting Israel's oppression of Palestine, and that there may then be lasting peace and freedom for Palestine.
Some More Awards
After a brief segment by Conan honoring the Los Angeles firefighters, the next award to be presented was Best Sound, going to Dune Part Two. Unfortunately, however, their acceptance speech would be brief, being quickly played off. Sorry, the pointless Bond tribute must have lasted too long. After that was Best Visual Effects, also deservedly going to Dune Part Two again. Once again, however, they would be quickly played off. Sorry, got to save time for A-list actors to ramble on. Following that was Best Short Film, going to I’m Not a Robot. Not much to say about this one, but congratulations to them.
Next would be the In Memoriam segment. This one was hard. So many influential people in entertainment died this year. Seeing David Lynch and James Earl Jones on screen was such a sad moment for me. However, it was unfortunately undercut by the playing of Mozart’s Lacrimosa, a song that had most likely not been used seriously in at least 15 years. You know, the really overdramatic meme song. Yeah, that one. It really softened what should have been a much more solemn moment.
Next up would be Best Cinematography. After a moving opening in which each of the lead actors of the nominees recognized their film’s cinematographers, the award would eventually go to The Brutalist. Considering how amazing the film looks for being made with under $10 million, it’s no surprise that it won. The first 10 minutes honestly cement the award for it, and then it just keeps on going. Props to it. Following that was Best International Feature, thankfully not going to Emilia Perez, instead going to the Brazilian I’m Still Here. This was a historic moment for Brazilian cinema, and thankfully it took it over Emilia Perez. Next would be Best Sound, also going to The Brutalist. At 2 winners so far, it was tied with a few other films. I was mildly hopeful at this point that it would sweep and win Best Picture.
Following that would be a segment by Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, celebrating Quincy Jones, a black composer and seven-time nominee. Following that, Queen Latifah would perform “Ease on Down That Road” from The Wiz. She definitely ate it up out there.
The Final Stretch
Following that, we now approach the home stretch, the last four awards, and these were big ones. First up would be Best Actor, ultimately going to Adrien Brody in The Brutalist. This is his second Best Actor win, and it was absolutely deserved. Adrien Brody was the heart and soul of The Brutalist, and it is amazing for him to be recognized. However, the other nominees still did an amazing job. However, following that, he gave a rather poor, rambling speech. There was maybe about 3 good minutes of speech, but the rest just meandered on. They tried to play him off to wrap it up, but he told them to let him keep speaking so he could keep rambling. I get it, it’s a big honor, but the fact they let him keep talking but not over award winner reeks of A-list favoritism.
Next up was Best Director, going to Sean Baker for Anora. This is historic, as at 4 Oscar wins all in one night, Sean is now tied with Walt Disney for most Oscar wins by an individual in a night. Sean Baker has finally made his break into the public eye, which has been great to see. However, the Anora sweep was still gaining momentum. Next up was Best Actress, going to Mikey Madison for Anora. Another historic win, Mikey is now the youngest Oscar winner. She gave a tearful address thanking the sex worker community.
Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Best Picture, going to Anora. What an upset. Anora, the independent film made with about $6 million, with no A-listers, sweeping the Oscars. Truly a sight to behold. And with that, the Oscars concluded, as did the Anora sweep, with 5 Oscar wins.
A great year for independent films
This year has been a year of dark horses, a year of underdogs, a year of Indie. Films made with under $10 million going up against films like Dune Part 2 or Wicked, multi-million dollar blockbusters, and winning. Nothing exemplifies this more than Flow, a Latvian indie animation beating out both Pixar and DreamWorks' best films in almost a decade. While some might bemoan the fact that they didn’t recognize any of the films, I see it as a sign of change. No longer does it feel like the Oscars are just a popularity contest, but true artistry is finally being recognized. I don’t know why this is happening, maybe, as I suspect, the voting age is getting younger with more people who appreciate international and indie films voting, but it is a breath of fresh air. So, dear viewer, I implore you to watch these amazing films. Many of them have just now begun being distributed. Some of them might challenge you. Some of them you might hate. But appreciate them, at least, because they are what truly keep cinema alive. In the age of soulless Hollywood blockbusters and streaming service slop, Indie films are pushing the boundaries, being creative, and keeping the torch lit, and I for one am so thankful that the academy recognized that this year.
