The Oscars 2025

Okay so yesterday was The Oscars and I was excited for it this year! This is the first time I had seen nearly every movie on the list and I enjoyed all but one of them! So let’s get to the big moments and the awards themselves!

The Nominees and Wins

So one thing I always like during the Oscar’s is when all the movies win for something- and with the exception of A Complete Unknown and Nickel Boys- I think everything won something. And even if it wasn’t the biggest awards- they were all pretty big wins. Wicked won for best costume- which was historic because it was the first time a black man had won for best costumes. Zoe Saldana I think mentioned in her speech that she was the first American of Domenican descent to earn the award which is great. Although I didn’t like Emilia Perez overall- I can’t really say anything bad about the acting in it or a lot of the nominations it got.

I was worried I’m Still Here wasn’t going to win anything because Emilia Perez won so much it seemed like that could have won for best international film- but it was the first win for Brazil- which was great. I didn’t see this movie- it sounds excellent based on what I saw at the award show and again- even if I didn’t see the movies or I don’t really like them… I’m happy when everything wins something.

The acting awards were actually a little surprising for me! Of corse Kieran Culkin won and he made another speech about wanting more children from his wife- which his wife did say she would agree to if he won an Oscar and it was very funny. A Real Pain was one of my favorite movies on this list so that was great. I would have loved Jesse Eisenberg to win for the movie also I think he did a great job on his debut movie… but I think he’s happy Kieran Culkin won for it as well. And I’m sure he’ll be nominated again.

I was a little surprised Zoe Saldana won for Best Supporting Actress even though she’s swept all the awards also. I just thought they would give a major acting category for Wicked. Maybe Part 2 will have some more big wins.

Adrian Brody winning wasn’t that surprising- I wanted Timothee Chalamet to win- I didn’t see either of these movies but Timothee Chalamet is one of my favorite actors- so I wanted him to win. I’m sure he will win for something. I also would love him to be nominated for Dune because Dune is really really good and I love him in it!

And best actress was the big shocker of the night- it went to Mikey Madison instead of Demi Moore. From what I heard it was the closest race. Either actress would have deserved it. As much as I loved Anora- I would have loved Demi Moore to win. I love when horror movies win and she did a great job in it. Both ladies really deserved the award. And Demi Moore seemed genuinely happy for Mikey Madison.

Best picture going to Anora… totally loved that. The film bros seem SO MAD about it… which makes me even happier. This was so sad but overall a very fun movie and it felt like so many different movies in one… my boyfriend and I were surprised at every part of it and we totally loved it. This was another one of my favorite movies on the list… honestly Wicked is probably my favorite movie ever- but this also felt like The Wizard of Oz… so this was a great movie to win!

Plus Sean Baker swept all the awards he was nominated for- which was the first time that’s happened too. Technically Bong Joon Ho won 4 awards for Parasite as well- but because one of the wins was for Best International Feature Film that award technically belongs to Korea and not to him. The awards for best international film go to the country- which I was not aware of. But because he won the country the award I still think that counts.

The substance and Dune also won some good categories. The Substance for best Makeup and Hairstyling and Dune won a lot of the technical awards. I think The Brutalist won a lot for that too. And Conclave won for Best Adapted Screenplay which was awesome.

The Host + Presenters

I love Conan O’Brien. His opening skit and his monologue were really great. I feel like towards the middle of the show they didn’t really show Conan as much and it wasn’t as funny.

I really liked that they continued what they started last year where they had the presenters of a category say why each nominee did an amazing job and why they were nominated. This year however- they only had last year’s winner present it instead of having a group of previous winners. I preferred when they had a group of presenters talking about one of their peers who were nominated. I liked that they did that with the costume award and some of the other awards at least but… I just would have liked to see it with the acting categories again. It’s just a lot of recognition for just one person to say.

I think Mick Jagger and June Squibb were my favorite presenters of the night. My parents both loved Mick Jagger’s part- I was falling asleep by the time I watched it (I got home from work at 10- and I watched it from the beginning) so I think I just thought it was okay but overall I liked him.

I also loved the Wicked performance at the beginning and the tribute to James Bond… I’m a huge James Bond fan also so seeing that was great. Queen Latifah looked like she had a lot of fun singing Ease on Down from The Wiz as a tribute to Quincy Jones- which was great. I hope that they have performances for Best Song next year… but I think they will also have better nominees for Best Song… so hopefully that will work.

Nick Offerman was also really funny as the announcer. I have to start paying attention to the announcers now because last year it was David Allen Grier- this year it was Nick Offerman… both very funny and they did a great job and have memorable voices.

Who was snubbed

So last night I really noticed which movies deserved to be nominated and deserved to win.

The Last Showgirl was a great movie and I would have liked to have seen it nominated for a few categories. I think Pamela Anderson definitely deserved to be nominated, I also would have liked to have seen Jamie Lee Curtis nominated for best supporting actress again even though she won a few years ago. And Miley Cyrus also deserved a best original song nomination. I think Emilia Perez ate into these awards and there were some better movies that should have been nominated. I don’t think it deserved a best picture nominee necessarily but… Pamela Anderson deserved some recognition for sure. She really carried that movie and I would love to see her get nominated eventually. She’s really great and I love her.

Jon M. Chu is one of the best directors that there is right now. I think he should have won for all the choices he made to bring probably the most beloved musical to the big screen… I am hoping the academy recognizes Wicked more next year.

I think I mentioned this but I would have liked to see Jesse Eisenberg get nominated for a few more things. I think A Real Pain could have been nominated for Best Picture.

Also I’m surprised that Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow weren’t nominated for Conclave. I’m not disappointed in this fact because I think that’s what led to Kieran Culkin winning and I think we had some better nominees because of that but… I think in previous years those guys would also be recognized for best supporting actor.

And Michelle Yeoh could have also been nominated for Wicked. In previous years I feel like they both could have been nominated.

Okay those are my many thoughts about this years awards I probably have more thoughts but… this is it for now.

Bye!

-Shannon