On March 2, the biggest night of the year for Hollywood took place: the 97th Annual Academy Awards, more commonly known as the Oscars. 2024 was an exciting year for film, and the Oscars are the night where the best of these films receive worthy, or possibly not so worthy, recognition. This event was a three and half hour long love letter to film through awards, performances, speeches and more. The top prize of the night went to “Anora,” a dramedy about the romance between a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch. The film picked up five awards, the most of the night. Along with “Anora,” many other movies felt the love on Oscars night, with the majority of the Best Picture nominees picking up at least one award. It was a truly entertaining event, seeing who was going to win what and to see what kind of spectacles the Oscars were going to hold in order to make the ceremony one to remember. I, for one, believe this was quite a fun event. Obviously, it was not a perfect event, and there were some moments that I would have cut and some speeches I found to be boring, but I still had a fantastic time watching this film celebration. I would say that this awards show did the year of 2024 in film justice.

This event was hosted by beloved comedian and former late night host Conan O’Brien. There were high expectations of O’Brien considering his reputation. Fortunately, the comedian was able to live up to those expectations. The night began with a parody of the body-horror film “The Substance,” a film where a woman, played by Demi Moore, injects a fluid into herself, creating a younger version of herself that will be a star. Only in this parody, O’Brien pops out, ready to host the big event. Following this sketch, the comedian came out on stage to begin his monologue. The monologue contained some stellar jokes about the nominated movies and recent pop culture. Some of the highlights included “If you haven’t seen ‘Conclave,’ its logline is, ‘A movie about the Catholic Church, but don’t worry.’” along with “I want you to know we did not use AI to make this show. No AI. Yeah. No AI. Yeah. We would never do that. We use child labor. Hey, they’re still people,” “One of my favorite movies didn’t get nominated this year, ‘Baby Girl.’ Yeah, I love that film. Yeah. In the film Baby Girl, Antonio Banderas plays a man who doesn’t know how to give his wife an orgasm. Banderas described it as the most challenging role of his career,” and “‘I’m Still Here’ is about a woman who forges ahead alone after her husband goes missing. Yeah. When my wife saw it, she called it the feel-good movie of the year.” O’Brien then did a bit with Adam Sandler, who was in the crowd wearing a hoodie and shorts, about Sandler’s casual demeanor. Then, at the end of the monologue, O’Brien did a song in the style of an old-school musical about how he will not waste the audience’s time. All of O’Brien’s jokes were snappy, and his natural dorky charisma showed why he was the perfect choice for the job. O’Brien also popped up at several other points in the show, making jokes about preceding performances and winners. The most memorable joke from these small moments was when midway through the ceremony, O’Brien said, “We’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile,” following that up with “Don’t worry, I’m lawyered up.” It was his straightforward delivery that really sold the line. Throughout the night, O’Brien did an excellent job hosting the Oscars, and here’s to hoping he is asked back for next year’s ceremony.

Of course, it would not be an award show without some fun performances. This year, the Oscars broke from tradition and did not have the best song nominees perform. That decision was probably for the best, as this year’s nominees were fairly boring, including “El Mal,” the winning song from “Emilia Perez.” Instead, there was time for some other intriguing performances. The night started off with the stars of “Wicked,” who were also nominees, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. First, Grande sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz,” which is what “Wicked” is based upon. It was a beautiful performance and while not particularly enthralling, the song absolutely showcased Grande’s talents. Then, Erivo joined in to sing “Home” from “The Wiz,” which is also an adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz.” This performance was also delightful, demonstrating how Erivo is a powerhouse. However, the singers’ voices truly shined when they came together to sing “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.” They had undeniable chemistry and their voices combined to create a wonderful sound. Then, Erivo stole the show for her solo in the song, which includes the famous high note. Erivo commanded that stage with her voice and her presence, leaving people with no choice but to admire her capabilities. While “Wicked” may not be a film that I loved, this song is still one of the greatest in modern musical theater and Erivo knew exactly what to do to give this song the care that it needs. The combination of these songs came together to create a spectacular kick-off for the ceremony. Unfortunately, the performances were all downhill from here. Later on in the show, the Oscars presented a tribute to the spy film series “James Bond” through song. That tribute included actress Margaret Qualley dancing across the stage elegantly with many back-up dancers to some classic “James Bond” themes. First, former Blackpink member Lisa sang “Live and Let Die,” then Doja Cat sang “Diamonds are Forever” and, finally, Raye sang “Skyfall.” To be honest, this whole performance felt like it came from out of nowhere and there was nothing special about these singers’ performances that was able to justify this treatment. They were certainly not able to hold a candle to the original versions of all of these songs, and they were not even able to do anything special with their renditions to make themselves stand out. Furthermore, while Qualley is definitely an excellent dancer, I did not think her dancing added anything to her performance. This tribute was a real drop off from the opening number. Then, later in the show after this performance, Queen Latifah sang “Ease On Down the Road” from “The Wiz,” as a tribute to the late Quincy Jones, who produced the cast album for the movie. Of course, Queen Latifah has a fantastic voice and always knows how to take control of the stage. However, there was nothing that really stood out about her performance. To be clear, she was certainly better than the weird Bond tribute, but there was nothing that particularly drew me into this performance. It was fine for what it was, but it was nothing to write home about. The Oscars took some swings when developing the musical performances, and while some of those swings worked, there were a lot of misses as well. Maybe next year the Oscars will bring back performances from Best Song nominees, and, hopefully, there will be a better lineup.

In total, there were 23 competitive awards given out during the ceremony. The majority of them went as planned, with some favorites being locks for their categories. However, the awards that people will likely remember are the ones that were a bit surprising. These awards may not have necessarily come out of nowhere, but these recipients were likely not at the top of people’s prediction lists. For starters, there was Brazil’s “I’m Still Here” taking the Best International Film award over “Emilia Perez.” For months, “Emilia Perez” was receiving adoration from film critics and members of the industry. The general public did not agree with this assessment, mostly due to accusations of the film being transphobic and racist, but, nevertheless, film people seemed to love the movie. It even got 13 Oscar nominations, the most of any film that night. However, when the lead Karla Sofia Gascon’s old offensive tweets were uncovered, the film’s campaign went downhill. Even so, because of its earlier popularity and all of its nominations, it looked like the film could bypass the controversy. Earlier in the night, it was able to win Best Song and Best Supporting Actress. However, “I’m Still Here,” which started getting buzz after its lead Fernanda Torres won a Golden Globe, was able to take the win, which caused big celebrations in Brazil. This surprise shows that controversy can be a powerful tool, and it may just be the tool to sway voters’ minds. Another interesting win was “No Other Land,” a film about Palestine and Israel, winning Best Documentary over “Porcelain War,” which is about the war in Ukraine. While the former was certainly getting buzz, people believed it was too controversial and that the Academy would be made up of too many people opposed to its message. “Porcelain War” was highly predicted and seemed safer in some ways. Nonetheless, “No Other Land” was able to prevail, pleasing many people, leading to an acceptance speech about supporting Palestine. With this sort of win taking place, that could be an indicator of tides changing in the academy, as more young and aware people join and make their stances known. Also, on the topic of surprises, there were a couple that occurred in relation to the Best Picture winner, “Anora.” It was not much of a surprise that this film was going to win Best Picture, nor that it would win Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. However, there were also some bonus surprise wins, which helped solidify the fact that “Anora” was going to be the name read at the end of the night. First of all, the film won Best Editing, an award that looked like it was going to go to the film “Conclave” or possibly “The Brutalist,” as “Anora’s” editing did not really stand out so much. While that may be, people were loving “Anora,” so they did to bring that love to the most unexpected categories even, like Editing. Another interesting win for “Anora” came during Best Actress. This award went to “Anora’s” lead, Mikey Madison. While she was definitely not out of the question as a win, many people thought the award was going to go to Demi Moore for “The Substance” as it was generally believed that Moore gave a more complex and tougher performance. Even so, Anora was the flavor of the month at the Oscars, and the voters felt they had to recognize Madison’s work as well. Personally, I loved Madison’s performance, but I can understand the complaints about the award not going to Moore. Madison is young with a lot of time, and we don’t know if Moore will get another great role. For now, all that we can see is that the Academy is obsessed with “Anora,” and they are going to prove that, and the Academy may also be filled with some bravery, which is what leads to some inspired winning choices.

What are awards without some speeches? Everyone who won an award got to make a heartfelt speech, even if music tried to play many of the winners off, and these speeches all showed the excitement of winning an academy award. On top of that observation, there were some speeches that truly stood out amongst the bunch, for both good and not so good reasons. The night started off with Kieran Culkin’s comedic acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor, which he won for “A Real Pain.” He praised fellow nominee and “Succession” costar Jeremy Strong, who was nominated for “The Apprentice,” as being “fucking great,” a compliment that was bleeped, and joking that he should not show favoritism. Culkin also thanked his wife, Jazz Charton, and referenced a promise that she made to him. When Culkin won an Emmy, he said in his speech that his wife promised they could have a third child if he won, which was because she did not think he would win. He later told her he actually wants four children, and she said that can happen when he wins an Oscar, again thinking that would not happen. In Culkin’s speech, he reminded his wife of all of this, and goofily said he was going to hold her to these promises. It is the best speeches that have elements of humor, while also having some heart. Later on in the night, an interesting speech came from Adrien Brody, who won Best Actor for his role in “The Brutalist.” First of all, it is important to mention that Brody’s speech was five minutes and 30 seconds, which now makes him the record holder for the longest acceptance speech at the Oscars. The previous record holder was from 1943, when the Oscars were not televised. The music tried to play Brody off, but he would not have it. It is also worth mentioning that before he started his speech, Brody was chewing gum and threw the gum to his girlfriend Georgina Chapman from the stairs to the stage, which she caught. In Brody’s actual speech, he did the typical thank yous to his parents, God, Chapman, Chapman’s children (whom she shares with ex-husband Harvey Weinstein) that Brody has helped care for and everyone that Brody worked with on the film. He also looked back on the complicated career he has had since winning his first Oscar in 2003 and how hard he has been working, saying that acting is a “fragile profession” and that winning this award is a chance to “begin again” as he proves his worth over the next couple of years. Also, since he won this award for playing a Holocaust survivor, which was also the case for his first win for “The Pianist,”  he stated that he wanted to represent “the repercussions of war and systematic oppression” and that he prays for a more inclusive world. It was a long-winded speech, but Brody had to make sure he covered all of his bases. Furthermore, he was certainly able to give a memorable speech. Also, on the topic of speeches, I also feel that I have to point out the weirdness of the speech for the Best Song winners, Clement Ducol, Jacques Audiard and Camille. The speech itself was relatively normal, but it got awkward when Camille ended the speech by saying “Thank you to” and then singing “Emilia” over and over again in a tune that was not the most on key. Ducol looked like he was trying to join her, but he and Audiard seemed to be cringing at what was happening, and it took her longer than necessary to let up. It wouldn’t be a proper awards show without at least one confusing moment. Overall, though, all of the speeches were sweet and demonstrated how hard they worked to get to this point, which is what makes them so special.

All in all, this night of glitz and glamor is one for the history books. The entertainment history books, that is. The ceremony was relatively smooth and many wonderful films got to receive the highest recognition that they can possibly get. The ceremony may have been a tad long (Hulu was even cutting people out of watching before the last few awards, that is how long the show was running), but this event only happens once a year, so we have to make the most of it. Also, through the variety of films and each of them bringing something different to the table, there is a lot of honor for the Oscars to give. I was happy to see all of the variety offered up in this year’s ceremony. Yes, I did mention that I did not like all of the performances and tributes in this show, but I understand the important messages they were trying to convey. Plus, it would not be the Oscars without some odd quirks. A pristine ceremony would be kind of boring, so I will accept the weird moments. So, now that the Oscars are over, I have to come up with something new to think about for the next couple of months. Oscar predictions are what take up most of my mind for the fall and winter. Of course, there are some early predictions that I can start making, (“Marty Supreme” and “One Battle After Another” for the win?), but I guess I have to shift my brain’s thought process. Crunch mode will not be for another several months, in which I will go back to studying the predictions and the odds. So, until next time, stay awardsy.