So there we have it, folks. The 97th Academy Awards have been handed out and there were a nice couple of surprises along the way.
After a fantastic opening number by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo- incorporating music from the various cinematic iterations of The Wizard Of Oz- Conan O'Brien's opening monologue was a little bit hit-and-miss (he was definitely very nervous) but there were a couple of nice little zingers- I did like the comment about the amount of swearing in Anora linking to the Emilia Pérez controversy. The Adam Sandler skit and "I Won't Waste Your Time" bits weren't great, but weren't massively egregious (Seth MacFarlane's ill-conceived "We Saw Your Boobs" song was much worse). He got a couple of nice one-liners in as the night went on, getting one of the biggest reactions to his crack about Anora featuring an American standing up to a powerful Russian. I liked him bringing on members of the LA fire department for a well-deserved standing ovation, but didn't feel it was necessary for him to get them to read out some "jokes". All said, though, once he settled in to the gig, he was a perfectly serviceable host. I certainly wouldn't object if he was hired to host again.
Aside from the host, how was the rest of the show? Like most Oscar telecasts, there were some good bits and some not-so-good bits. Morgan Freeman's heartfelt tribute to co-star and friend Gene Hackman before the moving "In Memoriam" (done to the mournful strains of "Lacrimosa" from Mozart's Requiem) was rather beautiful; the very uplifting tribute to Quincy Jones (featuring Queen Latifah singing "Ease On Down The Road" from The Wiz) was also very well done. A surprise tribute to the Bond franchise felt a little superfluous, although there was a slightly tenuous link in that former Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson had been honoured at the Governors' Awards in November. It still wasn't great though with a medley of Bond themes being slightly mangled by well-meaning but not-particularly-strong singers. There was also no performances of the Best Original Song nominees which felt odd; however, the show was running to around three-and-three-quarter-hours as it was, so having all five nominees performed would have pushed the show to four.
How some of the awards were announced was interesting; they had previously announced the return of the "Fab 5" presenters- where former winners pay tribute to the current nominees; this had previously been done for the acting categories- but extended this to the Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design categories instead for this year (presumably to save someone the embarrassment of praising Karla Sofía Gascón after the fiasco over her tweets). It was also tweaked by having members of the respective casts to pay tribute to the nominees, which I thought worked. They also had Robert Downey Jr. and Da'Vine Joy Randolph give short testimonials to the Best Supporting Actor and Actress nominees rather than show a clip of their performances (although didn't do the same for Cillian Murphy and Emma Stone, presumably for the reason given above).
So where were the surprises? Firstly, Flow winning Best Animated Feature over The Wild Robot (although I'd have dearly loved to have seen Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl win). Then I'm Still Here winning Best International Feature (I did think that would have gone to Emilia Pérez). And I will say it was a surprise- but not an unwelcome one- for Mikey Madison to win Best Actress. I was pleased that Conclave took home the Best Adapted Screenplay award; I'd have liked to have seen it take home more, personally, as it has been my favourite film that I've seen in this awards season.
There were several nice acceptance speeches. As a creative and a cinephile, I particularly enjoyed Sean Baker's plea for filmmakers to focus on cinema releases for films (to keep the moviegoing experience alive) as well as his co-producer Samantha Quan's advice to make the stories you want to make and follow your heart. It was also refreshing to hear both Sean Baker and Mikey Madison pay tribute to the sex worker community (as Anora is about a sex worker). Perhaps the most overtly political moment came with the acceptance speech by the makers of the Best Documentary Feature winner No Other Land which explicitly deals with the issues of Palestinians being forcibly removed from their homes by Israel, although there was a lot of mentions in other speeches about how music and art can help bridge divisions and bring people together in these interesting times of ours without anyone really mentioning anyone by name. Although Daryl Hannah did start her introduction to the award she was presenting with "Slava Ukraini"!
Anora was the big winner of the evening, taking home five Oscars (and it was nominated for six, only losing Best Supporting Actor). In second place was The Brutalist, with three. It's then a three-way tie for third, with Emilia Pérez, Wicked and Dune: Part Two winning two apiece.
This ceremony saw quite a few "firsts" - Flow is the first film from Latvia to be nominated for (and win) an Oscar; Zoe Saldaña is the first actress of Dominican descent to win an Oscar; Paul Tazewell becomes the first Black male winner of the Best Costume Design award, and I'm Still Here is the first Brazilian film to win the Best International Feature award (although it was the fifth film to be nominated). Sean Baker also becomes the first person to win four Oscars in one night for his work on Anora.
Despite multiple nominations, A Complete Unknown, Nosferatu, Sing Sing, The Wild Robot, Nickel Boys, and The Apprentice all walked away empty-handed.
Below is the full list of winners at the 97th Academy Awards:
Best Motion Picture of the Year: Anora
Best Actor: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
Best Actress: Mikey Madison (Anora)
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)
Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)
Best Director: Sean Baker (Anora)
Best Original Screenplay: Sean Baker (Anora)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Straughan (Conclave)
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Flow
Best International Feature Film of the Year: I'm Still Here
Best Cinematography: The Brutalist
Best Film Editing: Anora
Best Production Design: Wicked
Best Costume Design: Wicked
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Substance
Best Original Score: The Brutalist
Best Original Song: "El Mal" (Emilia Pérez)
Best Sound: Dune: Part Two
Best Visual Effects: Dune: Part Two
Best Documentary (Feature): No Other Land
Best Documentary (Short Subject): The Only Girl In The Orchestra
Best Animated Short Film: In The Shadow Of The Cypress
Best Live Action Short Film: I'm Not A Robot
Congratulations to all winners! And with that, the curtain has now come down on this year's awards season. Thank you for your indulgence; I hope it's been a nice little distraction for you all. Same time next year?
