On Sunday, Conan O’Brien hosted the 97th Academy Awards. It was the first time that the tall red-haired beloved comedian had hosted Hollywood’s biggest night for AMPAS, and it was in a year where it felt like one film ran away with the major awards. Indeed, multi-hyphenate filmmaker Sean Baker — someone who is known for his decidedly non-mainstream indie oeuvre, which has made him a true critical darling — became a 4x Academy Award winner with his very first nominations. Baker’s Anora took home Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Lead Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture. Baker’s film dominated the night, but how should we feel about it as a winner and how did Conan do as an Oscar host? Well, let’s run through The Great, The Good, The Mixed Feelings, The Bad, and The Ugly of the 97th Academy Awards.
The Great
- Anora winning Best Picture: What is a good Best Picture winner? Well, that’s very subjective, but what I will say is that I think Anora is a very good winner. Not only is it an emphatic win, as is evident from its five huge Oscar wins, but it is also a critical darling, which, notably, won the Palme d’Or in mid-2024. It is only the fourth film to win both Best Picture and the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. This also means that Anora must be seen as a film people around the world can get behind. Furthermore, even though mainstream audiences complain about not having seen the nominated films (and, frankly, it is very likely that a lot of people haven’t seen Anora), I think the film is much more easily appreciated than, say, Nomadland was. From a certain point of view, it is a modern retelling of Pretty Woman with a partial focus on the American Dream and difficulties with social mobility — so people should be able to connect with its themes. Oh, and it’s also just a really good film, if you ask me.
- Conan O’Brien: Jimmy Kimmel had, for a while, seemed like the safe pick for the ceremony and, to be honest, I have mostly enjoyed what he has done for the Oscars, even if he isn’t the exciting ‘host as entertainer’ type that is always fun to watch. Conan O’Brien, however, has a little bit of that, and he put it to good use on Oscar night. His opening, where he crawled out of Demi Moore’s spine (as a reference to The Substance) got the comedy off on the right foot, and then his subsequent monologue had a satisfying blend of self-deprecating humor, a musical skit, roasting stars (i.e. the hilarious and direct Gascón joke), respectfully teasing movies, and extended pre-arranged bits (e.g. Adam Sandler’s clothing and the Amazon jokes). As the show, then, went along, he regularly returned with decent jokes including the very memorable political comment he made about Anora and America wanting to see someone standing up to Russians. The one thing that I think he, sort of, bungled was the Dune: Part Two joke he did, as it seemed like he tripped over his words. But, on the whole, he did a wonderful job.
- No Other Land Speeches: One of the best acceptance speeches of the night was the ones delivered by the winners of Best Documentary, who took the moment to speak their minds on the situation with Israel and Palestine, and they did so eloquently.
- Sean Baker’s Best Director Speech: Another one of the best speeches on Oscar night was Sean Baker’s third of the night, which he used to shine a light on the importance of movie theaters as a place to inspire passion for filmmaking, the importance of theatrical releases, the importance of making films for the big screen. This is something that I, too, am really passionate about and which, frankly, is exactly what the Oscars should be all about — keeping the movie and movie theater industries alive and thriving. Sure, streaming is easy and very useful, but we must protect the churches of cinema.
- Fab 5 Format in Tech Categories: The so-called ‘Fab 5’ presenter formula (i.e. when five presenters are on stage to each introduce and praise a nominee) is usually reserved for acting categories, but instead of getting this presentation style in Lead Actor and Lead Actress, we got to see it used for Costume Design and Cinematography. I thought it was really nice to see below-the-line categories treated with that kind of respect.
- Opening Montage, Praising Firefighters, and Wicked Medley: The show got off to a strong start with a montage in celebration of Los Angeles (and later Conan O’Brien also multiple times made it a point to emphasize the bravery and importance of firefighters and first responders), which was really nice to see. And then, of course, before Conan took to the stage, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo performed a Wicked medley that sounded absolutely wonderful. It wasn’t exactly as iconic as the Ryan Gosling musical performance at last year’s show, but it was very satisfying nonetheless.
- Daryl Hannah: Other than the No Other Land speech, the ceremony was surprisingly light on political speeches. But there was one political remark made by a presenter that I thought was very appropriate. I am, of course, talking about when actress Daryl Hannah swiftly remarked, for all to hear, “Slava Ukraine.”
- Denis Villeneuve Shout-Out: I, alongside many other cinephiles, am still upset about the fact that Denis Villeneuve wasn’t nominated for Best Director for Dune: Part Two. But do you know what was nice to see and hear? The Oscar-winners for Dune: Part Two making it a point to specifically shout-out their film’s brilliant director.
The Good
- Solid Presenter Bits: The Oscar presenters are often hit or miss, but, this time around, I thought they were mostly quite good. Goldie Hawn and Andrew Garfield were a winning combination, Ben Stilller’s production design bit was fun, and I really enjoyed the whole bit about June Squibb saying she was really Bill Skarsgård in make-up.
- Kieran Culkin’s Speech: It was always expected that Kieran Culkin was going to win, and his acceptance speech was exactly as charmingly chaotic as one would expect. Not only was it nice to see him praise his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong, but it was a really fun Oscar moment that he had with his wife.
- Brazil and Latvia’s 1sts: It’s always a huge achievement when a country gets their breakthrough at the Academy Awards, and with I’m Still Here and Flow going home with little golden statuettes, Brazil and Latvia got their 1sts. Congrats, Latvia and Brazil!
The Mixed Feelings
- I love Mikey Madison’s performance, but I feel bad for Demi Moore: Okay, let me be clear, I think Mikey Madison is a great winner in the Lead Actress category. I adored both Madison and Moore’s performances and would’ve been happy with either one of them winning. What I have mixed feelings on, however, is mostly that even though I should be so happy about AMPAS choosing a good winner here w/ Madison, I just feel so bad for Demi Moore. In a way, the cruel part of the narrative in The Substance came true, as the industry chose the ingénue over the older Hollywood royalty individual who had waited so long for her moment. Hey, Hollywood, give Demi Moore more top-notch roles, so she can get another nomination.
- Adrien Brody’s Speech: Brody went unnecessarily long with his speech (and broke the record for the longest acceptance speech doing it), and him throwing a piece of gum at his wife was awkward, but I have mixed feelings here, because I thought it was a great Oscars moment when he basically ordered the orchestra/production to stop playing him off and let him finish his speech.
The Bad
- Random James Bond Medley: Look, I love the Bond universe, and, sure, I like seeing a montage of Bond films. I also really like seeing Margaret Qualley partake in a dance number in a gorgeous red dress and all that. But this extended segment was completely unnecessary. I guess it was included to honor Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, but it felt half-hearted since no one from the films took part in it and since the medley was sung by singers who, also, have nothing to do with the franchise. Frankly, it’s even more of a strange inclusion, when you remember they had just marked the film series’ 60th anniversary at the Oscars just a few years ago.
- Winners Not Getting the Chance to Speak: I hate this. This is the biggest moment of some of these people’s lives, and still the production is not giving them all of the winners a chance to speak. It’s cruel, and I think I remember it happening for both Dune: Part Two acceptance speeches.
- Best Song Speech: Okay, let me be clear, I’m not targeting the entire speech, as it’s important for me to emphasize that they always, always, always should be allowed a moment to thank the people they need to. But, frankly, it felt way too cringe (and I hate that word) when the songwriters and/or composers started to sing Emilia Pérez. That was totally unnecessary, didn’t work at all, and felt a little bit tone-deaf given the recent controversy that also clearly had impacted the Oscars results.
The Ugly
- People Left Out of In Memoriam: I actually had a really tough time figuring out what to put in ‘the Ugly,’ this year, and, ultimately, I could only really come up with one thing. It seems like there’s always something to complain about with the In Memoriam package. They always forget or leave out someone and this time around it felt particularly unjust that Michelle Trachtenberg and Tony Todd, to name just two, weren’t honored. That’s really disappointing, AMPAS.
– Article Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 