Before I get to it (here are the links for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024), a moment of appreciation for:
Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – c. February 17, 2025) was an American actor. In a career that spanned over four decades, he received two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
I arrived to the US in July 1986, and so let me start there. Here are the movies I saw in the theater when it released (rather than well after the fact, like The French Connection, The Conversation, Bonnie & Clyde, or the ones I saw in India, like Superman).
1986. Hoosiers. 1987. No Way Out. 1988. Mississippi Burning. 1992. Unforgiven. 1993. The Firm. 1994. Wyatt Earp. 1995. The Quick and The Dead. Crimson Tide. Get Shorty. 1997. Absolute Power. 1998. Enemy of the State. 2001. Heist. Behind Enemy Lines. 2003. Runaway Jury.
I was flying back to Pittsburgh from Atlanta – for a wedding, of a son of a first cousin, that had a Catholic wedding (at 2pm) and a (highly abbreviated, but retained the essence of it) Hindu (Kannada) one at 5 pm (a topic I will cover in a separate post), followed by a sparkling reception and dinner – and I was super happy that I could hop on an earlier flight that was a bit delayed so I reached home before the Red Carpet pre-show ended fully ready for the Oscars!
But before that, I had a great afternoon – a totally unexpected get-together with my PhD students Pinar Keskinocak and Feryal Erhun! Thank you both!
When I got home, I was touched to receive flowers from Cornell ORIE (Thank you!):
Now to the 97th Academy Awards.
Opening number by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Ervio: Good.
Conan’s monologue: unremarkable. (Bond joke a bit forced. Same with Bezos, and the bits with Adam Sandler and John Lithgow.). Okay: O’Brien’s “I Won’t Waste Time” musical number simply to waste time, with a dancing Deadpool and the sandworm from “Dune: Part Two” playing “Chopsticks” on a piano, was indeed a good self-referential inclusion.
Robert Downey Jr. intro: so-so. Keiran Culkin’s win: Expected.
Goldie Hawn and Andrew Garfield for:
Animated movie: Flow. (Latvia.) Animated short: In the Shadow of the Cypress. (Iran.)
Conan‘s Hindi speech: really poor. I could not understand it even with the subtitles on (except for the word nashta, meaning breakfast). Chinese: funny message, although I am not sure about the pronounciation.
Best Costume Design: Wicked. (No surprise.)
Amy Poehler: As always, pretty good.
Best Original Screenplay: Anora. (I thought the movie was overrated, but the best among the nominated for this category.)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Conclave. (Yes!)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Substance. (Agree.)
Halle Berry (with Bond Theme music playing) narrating the Governor’s Prize (awarded to Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, among others), that included a great – really, really enjoyable! – Bond montage with Margaret Qualley performing a tango to the James Bond theme song, followed by Live and Let Die (This is for you Appa!), Diamonds are Forever, and Skyfall.
That was 9 minutes of pure (Bond) heaven!
Daryl Hannah (with Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill intro) to present Best Film Editing: Anora (No! Sean Baker is having a great night, and having fun).
Da’Vine Joy Randolph to present Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldana (Well done!).
Ben Stiller (fun!) for Production Design: Wicked.
Mick Jagger for Best Original Song (“Bob Dylan was the first choice….He thought someone younger should present”): El Mal (from Emila Perez). Good choice.
Samuel L. Jackson and Selena M. Gomez for Best Documentary:
The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Short). No Other Land (Feature.) [Nice speech.]
Nice touch to bring the firefighters to the show.
Miles Teller and Miley Cyrus for Sound: Dune Part II (Nice!).
Gal Gadot and Rachel Zeigler for Best Visual Effects: Dune Part II (Nice!).
Ana de Armas and Sterling K. Brown for Live Action Short: I am not a Robot.
Morgan Freeman for Gene Hackman – co-starring in Unforgiven and Under Suspicion – kicking off In Memorium.
Cinematography award (presented by Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana and others): The Brutalist. (Unexpected?)
Penelope Cruz for Best International Feature Film: I’m Still Here (Brazil). [Front Runner.]
And finally a good joke by Conan about Anora already winning two awards:
Americans are excited to see someone finally stand up to a powerful Russian.
Mark Hamill for Original Score: The Brutalist.
Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg for Quincy Jones (28 Grammy’s + 7 Oscar nominations) with singing by Queen Latifah: Nice touch.
Cillian Murphy for Best Actor: Adrien Brody (I was rooting for Ralph Fiennes.)
Quentin Tarantino for Best Director: Sean Baker (Anora). [As soon as Quentin came up, I had the feeling that it was going to be Anora. Sean made a passionate case for Theatres vs Streaming (home): See The Price of Streaming.]
Emma Stone for Best Actress: Mikey Madison (Anora). [Not my pick.]
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal (When Harry Met Sally) for Best Picture:
Anora.
As I wrote in Three Strikes? I was not that taken by Anora – It did have a middle act that was laugh-out-loud funny for a while, so I give it that – but looks like the Academy was. The only positive thing is that their budget was only $6 million, a truly Independent Film. Congratulations!
