As awards season comes to a close, one of the biggest nights of the year took place with historic and surprising wins from movies and actors alike. From the Mexican Cartel to an underwater world entirely inhabited by animals, there was a wide range of movies and shorts nominated for many categories at the Oscars, as well as funny and somber moments during the ceremony.
Rather than performing the songs nominated for Best Original Song, the ceremony surprisingly decided to scrap the tradition this year. Instead, tributes to famous figures in the industry and series were among the performances dispersed throughout the ceremony. The awards opened with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” sung by Ariana Grande, and Cynthia Erivo singing an uplifting rendition of “Home”. Then, the two joined with a moving live performance of “Defying Gravity” from the hit movie Wicked, which the two starred in. Later in the ceremony, there was a tribute to the James Bond legacy opened with ]Margaret Qualley (The Substance) dancing, Lisa, a former member of the K-pop band Blackpink, performing “Live and Let Die”, followed by Doja Cat singing “Diamonds are Forever”, and then finished off by a stunning performance of “Skyfall” by Grammy-nominated artist Raye. Near the end of the ceremony, many industry greats were commemorated in an “In Memoriam” honoring those who have passed away in the past year such as Maggie Smith and James Earl Jones among many others.
Late-night TV host Conan O’ Brien hosted the awards ceremony, delivering the opening monologue laden with both snarky comments and compliments to the actors and actresses nominated. There were also a few comedic bits interspersed throughout the show, such as Adam Sandler showing up in “trashy” clothes, a joke revolving around the actor’s casual dressing style in public.
For the acting Oscars, the early Best Supporting Actor award was won by Kieran Culkin for his role in A Real Pain, lighting up the room with a quippy speech. The Best Supporting Actress award went to Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Perez, the movie that garnered the most Oscar nominations (13) despite controversy of being an international film. Moving on to some of the bigger awards, the Best Actor in A Leading Role had 5 nominees, Timothee Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice). The award went to Adrien Brody, with quite a long speech at 5 minutes and 36 seconds, breaking the record for the longest acceptance speech at the Oscars to date. Lastly, the 5 nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role were Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here), Mikey Madison (Anora), Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez), and Demi Moore (The Substance), with the award being won by Mikey Madison.
Like most awards ceremonies, this Oscars had some historic firsts for the show such as Paul Tazewell, the costume designer for Wicked being the first black man to receive the award. Flow (a personal favorite) was the first Latvian film to win Best Animated Feature film, as well as the first to be nominated for International Feature Film. Additionally, the winner of that category was the movie I’m Still Here, which was the first Oscar win for Brazil in the history of the ceremony.
At the end of the long night, awards such as Best Director and Best Picture were presented, with little speculation as to who or what would win the prestigious awards. The Best Director award was won by Sean Baker for Anora. Finally the Best Picture nominations were presented with 10 films being nominated. The winner of the last award was Anora, which had surprisingly swept 4 other awards throughout the night.
