Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony proved that Hollywood’s biggest night can still surprise audiences after 97 years.
“Anora,” the Goliath to the film industry’s many Davids, was the big winner with five awards. Lead actress Mikey Madison won Best Actress in a Leading Role. The 25-year-old Madison beat out the favorite, 62-year-old Demi Moore, who’d won both the Golden Globe and SAG awards for best actress for her role in “The Substance.” Her Oscars loss was not without irony, since “The Substance” heavily emphasizes Hollywood’s treatment of aging women.
The director of “Anora,” Sean Baker, also took home an Oscar for Best Director.
“Anora” ultimately won Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, becoming the third-lowest budget film to win the night’s top prize when adjusted for inflation. The film’s $6 million budget pales in comparison to last year’s Best Picture winner “Oppenheimer,” whose budget of over $100 million ranks tenth-highest of all time among Best Picture winners.
One of the year’s most controversial films, “Emilia Perez,” won Oscars for both Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song. One of the film’s stars, Karla Sofía Gascón, has faced criticism for her past tweets about Muslims, George Floyd, and Oscars diversity. Host Conan O’Brien alluded to the drama during his opening monologue.
“Little fact for you: ‘Anora’ uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist.”
Some viewers were surprised that the film, which is about a transgender drug cartel leader, failed to draw mention of transgender rights during the ceremony.
“One thing I was surprised about was all the people that spoke about ‘Emilia Perez,’ when it did win Oscars, none of them mentioned trans rights. Absolutely none,” said freshman theater arts major Dawson Dettman. “You’d think ‘Oh, this is your opportunity to speak about trans rights,’ especially considering that’s a whole chunk of your movie.”
“The Brutalist” was another powerhouse during this movie season, nominated for 10 Oscars and taking home three.
Adrien Brody won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of a Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States. The film faced some controversy after it was revealed that AI was used to enhance the Hungarian accents of Brody and his co-star Felicity Jones.
Brody also came under fire for the length of his speech, which broke the record for the longest acceptance speech in the history of the Academy Awards.
Host Conan O’Brien dedicated a portion of the show to the L.A. firefighters who risked their lives during the Palisades and Eaton wildfires; a group of 12 firefighters stood on stage beside O’Brien and were met with a standing ovation.