The Oscars Were Good...Again?!
The best film sweeps the biggest awards, and more good stuff about the 97th Academy Awards.
After my cynical critique of the Oscars, the 97th Academy Awards went ahead and completely proved me wrong. For a second straight year, it was actually a satisfying show!
Since the best things come in threes, and 2023 was the year that hot dumpster fire of a film Everything Everywhere All At Once swept the awards for all the wrong reasons, we’ll need to wait until next year to know if there truly is a sea change in the culture. For now, I just want to bask in the moment’s glory of the feeling that the most popular film awards felt more significant than a popularity contest or a political sideshow.
Yes, it was still way too long, it featured a weird and mediocre James Bond tribute that made absolutely no sense and A Complete Unknown is way too good of a film to walk away with nothing. But, that’s okay. Timothee Chalamet may have been robbed this time, but that boy is destined for Oscar glory.
Despite these imperfections, the Oscars really pulled it off last night. Here’s why:
1. Actual Best Films Won the Big Awards
Small, independent and fantastic feline-led Flow beat out big studio favorite The Wild Robot in the first surprise of the night. Later on, the great I’m Still Here beat the terrible Emilia Perez for Best International Film.
And in between it all, the little film that could, a Quixotic tragicomic love story about a stripper, a spoiled kid, and a goon with a heart of gold won five of the biggest awards of the night, including Original Screenplay, Editing, Directing, Actress (condolences to Demi Moore, who was the favorite) and Picture.
Anora’s win feels like a vibe shift - more so than Parasite in 2019, or CODA in 2021. Writer-director-producer-editor Sean Baker walked away with four statues. That is insane! The fact that an auteur picture which cost less than $10 million, made outside the studio system, can win so big is truly remarkable and so, so, refreshing. It just happens to also be my favorite film of the year so the fact that more people will now discover it is an extra kick.
2. Love of Movies Drowned out the Noise of Politics
From the host, to the presenters, to the acceptance speeches (barring one, very relevant, exception) there was just about no trace of any politicking going on. Jimmy Kimmel’s bouts of Trump Derangement Tourette’s was not missed, and apart from one clever-ish comment on Russian leaders and a softly spoken, quickly forgotten ‘Slava Ukraine’ from Darryl Hannah, there was no grandiosity, no political filibustering, no “I have to use this platform to raise awareness about this thing that has nothing to do with movies” cringe moment.
That just left room for the love of movies to dominate. Independent movies beating big studio fair, Baker’s beautiful message about the importance of watching movies in movie theatres, and humble speeches about the love of the craft and the Hollywood community. That’s what it should be all about at the Oscars.
3. The Most Important Award of the Night
No Other Land winning Best Documentary was the exception to the rule of no politics, and rightly so. The film is, after all, depicting the devastating true story of what’s happening in real time in the West Bank - Israel’s illegal settlements and gradual ethnic cleansing of Palestinian population.
The filmmakers, Palestinian Basel Adra and Israeli Yuval Abraham gave heart-wrenching speeches, bravely calling out one of the biggest international crimes that the US is very much complicit in. The two young filmmakers are shining examples of how it’s possible for people to work together as long as they respect and value one another. “Can’t you see that we are intertwined?” Yuval says at one point, word that still break my heart, just as the film did.
I hope this win - a welcome shock given the dominant pro-Israeli environment and context of Hollywood- can bring a little more attention to this ravaged corner of the world.
4. Conan Nailed It
One of my favorite comedians, Conan O’Brien, did not disappoint in his first (and hopefully not last) hosting gig. He was his self-deprecating, hilarious best - with many laugh out loud moments.
From telling Timothee Chalamet that he won’t get hit on his bike tonight because of how he's dressed to poking fun at the Karla Sofia Gascon’s controversy, and telling us, the viewers, that if we’re still watching the show we have “something called Stockholm Syndrome” - he was brilliant.
He also played into the Oscar tradition of wasting time with a ridiculous song called “I Won’t Waste Your Time” which was more entertaining than any other live performance. And he kept it apolitical, like a good ol’ regular entertaining master of ceremonies should. I want him back!
5. Most Nominations Doesn’t Mean Most or Biggest Wins
Collectively Emilia Perez, Wicked and The Brutalist had a massive 33 nominations to start the night, and ended up walking away with just 6 wins. Not only does this make Anora’s sweep even more special, it goes to show that getting the most nominations doesn’t necessarily mean the film will get the most or the biggest wins.
Of the six they did win, Best Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldana) and Best Actor (Adrien Brody, who stole it from Chalamet but I digress) felt like the biggest ones. The Brutalist also picked up Cinematography (stolen from Nosferatu) and Score (that’s deserved), and Wicked picked up a couple of predictable technical ones (Costume and Production Design). Anora triumphed over them all for the biggest prizes.
And so it ends, on a pretty wonderful note. If next year is as satisfying as this one and the previous one, I’m going to start getting really worried. How do you make fun of something that’s actually…pretty good?