Hollywood’s Biggest Night Celebrated Indie Film’s Greatest Champion | 97th Oscars – Recap and Review

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.

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Who Will Win? – Final Predictions | 97th Oscars

The wait is almost over. In mere hours, stars will be walking the red carpet, Conan O’Brien will take on hosting duties, and, not long thereafter, awards will start to be handed out. But, hey, before we get to that, I still have to tell you which films I think will be victorious on Hollywood’s greatest night. In the race for Best Picture, for instance, it’s been a rollercoaster ride where I, initially, thought Anora would go all the way, only for the Golden Globes (and the Oscar nominations) to indicate that the real fight was between Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist. However, when controversies surrounding toxic social media posts, ill-advised statements, and AI started happening, the Globes’ darlings started to fall into the background. Now, after the guilds and BAFTA, it certainly looks like the big winner of the night will be either Conclave or, the early favorite, Anora. What do I think? Well, let’s get to it.

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IFSCA Awards 2024-2025 | Winners

Adrien Brody in Brady Corbet’s THE BRUTALIST — PHOTO: Universal Pictures / A24.

Yesterday, on March 1st, 2025, the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA / @IFSCritics on Twitter), of which I am a voting member, announced their full list of winners for the ongoing 2024-2025 awards season. Like any other film critics association, their awards celebrate the best films of the past year. Below you can read the full list of winners and runners up.

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Nickel Boys (2024) | REVIEW

Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson in NICKEL BOYS — PHOTO: Amazon MGM (Still image from trailers).

Directed by RaMell Ross — Screenplay by RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes.

Based on Colson Whitehead’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys follows a smart and politically engaged young African-American man named Elwood Curtis (played primarily by Ethan Herisse) who, in 1960s America, is wrongfully convicted of grand theft auto while hitchhiking on his way to college. Elwood, due to being underage, is then sent to Nickel Academy, a so-called ‘reform school,’ where he befriends a boy named Turner (played by Brandon Wilson) and experiences racial segregation and abuse.

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The Order (2024) | REVIEW

Jude Law in THE ORDER — PHOTO: Amazon MGM Studios / Vertical (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Justin Kurzel — Screenplay by Zach Baylin.

Based on Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s The Silent Brotherhood, Justin Kurzel’s The Order follows a veteran FBI agent, Terry Husk (played by Jude Law), who, alongside a local Idaho Deputy named Jamie Bowen (played by Tye Sheridan), takes on a case to investigate a series of disappearances and instances of domestic terrorism carried out by a white supremacist militant group led by a man named Bob Mathews (played by Nicholas Hoult).

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IFSCA Awards 2024-2025 | Nominations

Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkles in Coralie Fargeat’s THE SUBSTANCE — PHOTO: Mubi / Camera Film (Still image from trailers).

On February 21st, 2025, the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA / @IFSCritics on Twitter), of which I am a voting member, announced their full list of nominations for the ongoing 2024-2025 awards season. Like any other film critics association, their awards celebrate the best films of the past year. The ultimate winners will be announced on March 1st, 2025, which is in just a few days. Below you can read the full list of nominated films, performers, artists, and filmmakers.

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The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) | REVIEW

Pierre Niney as the title character in THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO — PHOTO: Pathé.

Directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière — Screenplay by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière.

Based on Alexandre Dumas’ novel of the same name, The Count of Monte Cristo is set in the 1800s, where we follow Edmond Dantès (played by Pierre Niney), a recently promoted sailor, who, during his wedding with his fiancee Mercédès (played by Anaïs Demoustier), is arrested and accused of being a Bonapartist. Though innocent, Edmond is betrayed by people he thought that he could trust and is, eventually, imprisoned indefinitely on a harsh prison island. When he starts talking to his neighboring inmate Abbé Faria (played by Pierfrancesco Favino), Edmond starts to plan for both an escape and sweet revenge on the people who wronged him.

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Evil Does Not Exist (2024) | REVIEW

Ryo Nishikawa in EVIL DOES NOT EXIST — PHOTO: Incline / Janus Films.

Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi — Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist follows Takumi (played by Hitoshi Omika), a single father, who lives with his daughter (played by Ryo Nishikawa) in the snowy Japanese mountainside village of Mizubiki. When, one day, the local community is confronted by representatives of a corporation seeking to establish a glamping site there, he and his neighbors and friends voice their concerns about the plan and the possible pollution it would lead to. Later, when the representatives try to influence Takumi, things transpire that causes our lead to panic.

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Captain America: Brave New World (2025) | REVIEW

Red Hulk (Harrison Ford) hulking out in CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD — PHOTO: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Directed by Julius Onah — Screenplay by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, and Peter Glanz.

Despite the huge success of Deadpool & Wolverine last year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in an unsteady moment currently due to an inundation of Disney+ series, and several rushed and poorly received films. In the post-Avengers: Endgame era, Marvel Studios still needs to get back on track, and, unfortunately, Captain America: Brave New World isn’t the film to do that. Though it’s not the worst film in the connected universe of films, I believe that it is, however, a lower-tier MCU film that feels messy, tinkered with, and sometimes even soulless. This is despite the fact that certain elements and scenes are quite satisfying. Although Marvel die-hards will probably still have a decent-enough time with it, but outside of the massive Red Hulk sequence teased in the marketing, the film arguably fails to justify its existence on the big screen. 

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The Gorge (2025) | REVIEW

Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy in “The Gorge,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

Directed by Scott Derrickson — Screenplay by Zach Dean.

Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge follows two elite snipers, an American man named Levi Kane (played by Miles Teller) and a Lithuanian woman named Drasa (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), as they are both independently recruited for a top-secret mission in the middle of nowhere. At some unknown place in the world, there are two watchtowers standing across from each other, one representing the Western Bloc and another representing the Eastern Bloc. Each watchtower is guarded by mechanized turrets and bombs, and between the two watchtowers is a giant long hole in the ground — hence the title. Levi and Drasa have been hired to do maintenance on the weaponry and, at the same time, defend the world from what is hidden inside the mysterious valley. As they are the only two people in the vicinity, Drasa and Levi establish a connection, but when one of them accidentally falls down into the valley, everything changes and top secrets are revealed.

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