The 97th Academy Awards

[libgirl2]

32 minutes ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

The James Bond tribute was just dumb. I was texting with my sister during the show and said, "If this doesn't end with the new Bond reveal..." Golden opportunity missed but of course, Bezos wouldn't allow another conglomerate to steal his moment. 🙄

Personally I found the In Memoriam beautifully executed. Tasteful orchestral music with the focus solely on those who have passed rather than a performer or some interpretive dancers. 

Conan was...fine. 

 

I didn't care for the Bond tribute. I didn't see the point. 

The In Memoriam was nice. I was so glad there were not distractions. They did miss a few people as always, but I get it. 

I liked Conan. 

[MicheleinPhilly]

I personally never care who gets included in the In Memoriam and who doesn't. I mean, if they had left out Maggie Smith or James Earl Jones, sure. But other than friends and family of the deceased, I've never understood why people get salty over omissions. It's a limited segment and personally I'm fine with them just sticking with people who where somehow involved with Oscar-nominated films. 🤷‍♀️ 

[SnarkAttack]

3 hours ago, tv echo said:

Conan O'Brien was better than I expected. I usually find him to be silly and not that funny. But his silliness was restrained and he actually made me laugh several times. However, his "won't waste time" song-and-dance number just seemed like unnecessary filler. (I get that was the point, but why do it at all?) Also, I loved the John Lithgow bit, but I'm not a fan of Adam Sandler.

If they're going to devote so much air time to live musical performances, then I'd prefer that they just go back to doing live performances of the nominated songs. Good or bad, at least we'd have a better idea of the competition. The James Bond tribute seemed like more of an excuse to have live musical performances than a real tribute. Did we really need three songs performed - which, incidentally, seemed to last ten times as long as the clip montage from Bond films. If they really needed to have a James Bond tribute, why not do a reunion of surviving cast members?

Ugh - many acceptance speeches were just too long. I wish they'd just mute the mics after a certain period of time, but tell the nominees ahead of time and give them a 15-second countdown warning on the teleprompter. Also, so many winners this year felt compelled to hug at least five people before even making their way to the stage. Also, when the winner is several people, do they decide ahead of time who will speak or does one person just hog all the time?

Gal Gadot looked like an Amazon (pun intended) standing next to Rachel Zegler. Mark Hamill and Goldie Hawn looked good. Meg Ryan and Miley Cyrus were unrecognizable to me.

Overall, I thought the show was enjoyable, even though the winners were predictable - with the exception of Best Actress (I thought Demi Moore was going to win) and Best International Film (I thought Emilia Perez was going to win).

I love Goldie Hawn, but too much messing with her face.

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, SnarkAttack said:

I love Goldie Hawn, but too much messing with her face.

Agree, it isn't a good look. 

[blackwing]

I know that Oscar obviously isn't awarded on sentiment, but it seems clear that sentiment sometimes comes into play.

Based on performance with some sentiment thrown in, I wish the Oscars had gone to Ralph Fiennes, Demi Moore, Edward Norton, and Isabella Rossellini.

I must be getting old, because I would have loved to have seen these longtime veterans get recognised.  Especially Fiennes and Norton, they are so overdue for an Oscar.

[wonderwoman]

11 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

To me, the Adam Sander bit was a stupid, pointless waste of time.

so did i, until i realized that it was a subtle (perhaps, too subtle:) jab at the while house complaining that zelenskyy didn’t wear a suit. 

[slowpoked]

9 minutes ago, wonderwoman said:

so did i, until i realized that it was a subtle (perhaps, too subtle:) jab at the while house complaining that zelenskyy didn’t wear a suit. 

It was fine, if that was indeed the point. But like your typical SNL skit, it just went on for too long. And it didn’t help that Conan then went on to do his not wasting time bit, instead of going to the first presenter. 

[Luckylyn]

Anora subverts the Pretty Woman romance, and I think it’s a great movie.  Annie thinks she’s being loved but she’s being toyed with.  As a result she’s put through a heartbreaking experience.  Her performance was so fantastic.  She’s jaded and pragmatic but there’s that bit of romantic in her that Vanya gets her to show just for his family to stomp on her vulnerability.  It has dramatic and comedic elements.  The performance of the actor playing Igor who is the only person who recognizes that Annie is a human being is amazing work.  He has so little dialogue and so his performance has to express so much.

[ProudMary]

1 hour ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

I've never understood why people get salty over omissions. It's a limited segment and personally I'm fine with them just sticking with people who where somehow involved with Oscar-nominated films. 🤷‍♀️ 

I agree, and that's why I was surprised by the omission of Mitzi Gaynor. She was a big star in the 1950s and had the lead role in South Pacific, which was an Oscar winning film. 

Edited 6 hours ago by ProudMary

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

I agree, and that's why I was surprised by the omission of Mitzi Gaynor. She was a big star in the 1950s and had the lead role in South Pacific, which was an Oscar winning film. 

Wow. I didn't even think about her. I know another name mentioned was Olivia Hussey. She was in Romeo and Juliet which was nominated and won a couple of awards. 

[tv echo]

Oscars Snubs and Surprises: Mikey Madison Scores, ‘I’m Still Here’ Shocks and Diane Warren Has 16th Straight Loss
By William Earl   Mar 2, 2025
https://variety.com/2025/awards/news/2025-oscars-snubs-surprises-1236319091/ 

Quote

Snub: Supporting acting as an art form

With absolutely no offense to best supporting winners Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin, it’s disappointing that the night’s least surprising wins were category fraud. There is no universe where these two performances aren’t co-leads who carried their films. Is the lead actor category super competitive? Well, submit it anyway because it’s correct — and if you don’t win, it wasn’t meant to be. In its most compelling form, a supporting actor adds a much different spice to a movie than a lead, and we might as well axe the category if the distinction isn’t respected.

 

• Surprise: Mikey Madison wins over award season darling Demi Moore
• Snub: Original Song performances nixed
• Surprise: “I’m Still Here” takes best international feature over “Emilia Pérez”
• Snub: Supporting acting as an art form
• Surprise: “Flow” takes best animated feature
• Snub: Diane Warren’s losing streak continues
• Surprise: Sean Baker wins best editing
• Snub: Michelle Trachtenberg, Tony Todd and the other big names omitted from the In Memoriam
• Surprise: “Emilia Pérez” tied for biggest Oscar loser of all time.
• Surprise: “No Other Land” wins best documentary, even without U.S. distribution
• Surprise: Adrien Brody asked for the music to stop during his best actor acceptance speech…and it did!
• Surprise: Young Hollywood delivered fashion wins after a drab awards season

Edited 5 hours ago by tv echo

[wonderwoman]

one more surprise: mick jagger presenting best song —  loved seeing him have so much fun!

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, wonderwoman said:

one more surprise: mick jagger presenting best song —  loved seeing him have so much fun!

I was totally surprised. And they guy looked good! 

[slowpoked]

Despite the loss, I do hope Demi Moore will end up working in more movies, or TV, in this renaissance of her career. I hope this Oscar run is more of a new chapter rather an epilogue. I look to Nicole Kidman who has reinvented herself as this powerhouse girlboss in both film and TV production at this stage of her career. And I hope Demi gets some of that similar arc.

[slowpoked]

3 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

didn't care for the Bond tribute. I didn't see the point. 

To Molly McNearney’s point - a perfect example of a lengthy production bit that didn’t have a payoff. And the only payoff would have been the introduction of the new Bond.

Margaret Qualley would have been better off as a presenter.

[mariah23]

Adrien Brody broke an 82-year-old Oscar record: the longest acceptance speech ever at 5 minutes, 30 seconds (?) beating Greer Garson who won for Mrs. Miniver.

[dmeets]

Looks like Adrien "not my first rodeo" Brody set the record for longest acceptance speech at 5 minutes 30 seconds, beating a record held by Greer Garson since 1943! (Edit: GMTA @mariah23)

Edited 4 hours ago by dmeets

[KittyQ]

I kept thinking that Demi Moore is looking more and more like Courtney Cox, especially in some angles. 

I like Anora, but it didn't seem like a Best Picture winner to me. Not the first time that a film beat out the more likely competition, though. 

Similarly, I didn't think that Mikey Madison was so much better than Demi Moore, although she certainly was more flexible. 

[Crashcourse]

The only thing I'd seen Mikey Madison in was when Leo DiCaprio flamed her in the swimming pool in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  I look forward to seeing her in Anora.

[absnow54]

3 hours ago, slowpoked said:

It was fine, if that was indeed the point. But like your typical SNL skit, it just went on for too long. And it didn’t help that Conan then went on to do his not wasting time bit, instead of going to the first presenter. 

I typically love Conan O’Brien’s humor, but the pacing for the opening was all over the place. There was no cohesive payoff, just a bunch of punchlines thrown at the wall. 

[slowpoked]

3 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

Anora subverts the Pretty Woman romance, and I think it’s a great movie.  Annie thinks she’s being loved but she’s being toyed with.  As a result she’s put through a heartbreaking experience.  Her performance was so fantastic.  She’s jaded and pragmatic but there’s that bit of romantic in her that Vanya gets her to show just for his family to stomp on her vulnerability.  It has dramatic and comedic elements.  The performance of the actor playing Igor who is the only person who recognizes that Annie is a human being is amazing work.  He has so little dialogue and so his performance has to express so much.

Sean Baker’s work has focused on the plight of sex workers - prostitutes, strippers, porn stars, etc. He finally gets his breakthrough when he penned a love story.

[ProudMary]

1 hour ago, mariah23 said:

Adrien Brody broke an 82-year-old Oscar record: the longest acceptance speech ever at 5 minutes, 30 seconds (?) beating Greer Garson who won for Mrs. Miniver.

 

1 hour ago, dmeets said:

Looks like Adrien "not my first rodeo" Brody set the record for longest acceptance speech at 5 minutes 30 seconds, beating a record held by Greer Garson since 1943! (Edit: GMTA @mariah23)

I'm not sure that's the case. Greer Garson's speech was actually seven minutes long, but only just under four minutes of archival footage of the speech exists. It makes sense that there would be some confusion.

The story behind the longest Oscars acceptance speech in history

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/oscars-longest-acceptance-speech-greer-garson-b2696159.html

Her acceptance speech remains, to this day, the longest in the history of the Academy Awards. While today’s winners are asked to keep to 45 seconds (although they frequently go beyond, at which point a music cue lets them know it’s time to wrap up), Garson spoke for a comparatively generous seven minutes.

The speech, sadly, wasn’t preserved in full. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which organises the Oscars each year, says it has newsreel footage of “only portions” of Garson’s address – for a total of three minutes and 56 seconds.

[MicheleinPhilly]

When he was droning on and on and on and on making himself sound like a washed up starlet, I actually thought, for about 5 seconds, that he would apologize to Halle Berry for his behavior last go-round.

Alas, that would have required him removing his head from his ass.

EDIT: And literally 2 minutes after posting that, I saw that she "got him back" on the red carpet so it looks like she doesn't harbor any feelings of ill will.  

Edited 2 hours ago by MicheleinPhilly
Context

[libgirl2]

Another thing I wasn't so into was the Quincy Jones tribute. First, I didn't think that was the best song. Second, I would rather have seen a montage of the songs he wrote/produced. This and the James Bond were odd music moments. 

[Quickbeam]

The best laugh I got last night was the Conan line about Cillian Murphy….”we’re the exact same gene pool and, well….” 

[slowpoked]

11 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

The best laugh I got last night was the Conan line about Cillian Murphy….”we’re the exact same gene pool and, well….” 

My favorite joke of Conan was, aside from the Russian (which wasn’t a joke, I guess), was when he used the excess usage of the f word in Anora to segue to Karla’s PR nightmare:

”You tweeted WHAT?!?!?!?!?!”

”If you’re going to tweet about the host tonight, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.”

It was a great way to reference to her scandal without directly wading into the specifics of the scandal (homophobia, racism, etc.).

A joke that didn’t land for me was that joke about Nicole Kidman and Antonio Banderas. Just doesn’t have the same punch if the butt of your jokes aren’t present.