Notable Moments from the 2025 Oscars Ceremony
David shares some reflections on this year's Academy Awards.
It’s been a challenging time in Hollywood. Between COVID, the strikes, the recent LA fires, America’s overall declining interest in moviegoing, and collapsing TV ratings, one can’t be blamed for wondering whether it’s worth putting on an Oscars telecast at all.
Despite all that, this year’s Oscars producers managed to put on an overall entertaining show that actually had a point of view. Conan O’Brien acquitted himself admirably as host, the tributes to the filmmaking process were heartfelt and genuine, and there were no obvious catastrophes. I also love that, like last year, the show started at 4 p.m. Pacific, meaning it felt free to run super, super long and let its movie freak flag fly.
Below are a few moments I thought were worth noting from the evening. You can find the full list of winners here.
The Musical Opening
The opening montage paid tribute to Los Angeles as a location in movies such as La La Land, The Big Lebowski, and Mulholland Drive before transitioning into a medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, “Home,” and “Defying Gravity” performed by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. It was tasteful, beautiful, moving, and rousing. Probably one of the best Oscars openings in recent memory.
Conan Sets the Tone For the Night
After a very solid opening monologue that was full of Conan’s characteristic frenetic energy, Conan transitioned to paying tribute to LA while mentioning the ongoing LA fire relief efforts:
Any award show can seem self-indulgent and superfluous. What I want to do is remember why we gather here tonight. Yes, we will offer many beautiful and talented A-list stars. But the Oscars also shines a light on an incredible community of people you will never see. Craftspeople, artisans, technicians, customers. I can’t name them all, there are too many. Hardworking men and women behind the camera who have devoted their lives to making film. Yes, many people we celebrate tonight are not famous. They’re not wealthy. But they are devoted to a craft that can, in moments, bring us all closer together.
For almost a century, we’ve paused every spring to elevate and celebrate an art form that has the power at its very best to unite us. So yes, even in the face of terrible wildfires and divisive politics, the work continues. And next year, and for years to come, through trauma and joy this seemingly absurd ritual is gonna be here…the magic, the madness, the grandeur and the joy of film of film worldwide will be with us forever.
It was a wonderful reminder of WTF we’re all doing here. In fact, the night would then go on to feature some heartfelt and lengthy tributes to below-the-line categories like Best Costume, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Song. They really tried to show how much work goes on behind-the-scenes to put together this art form and it was lovely.
Conan then transitioned into a musical number explicitly dedicated to wasting more time in the already long-running telecast. Classic!
Everyone Gets Confused by the Bond Tribute
At about the halfway point, the telecast spent ~10 minutes celebrating the James Bond franchise, the rights of which have recently been acquired by Amazon. There was an elaborate song and dance sequence featuring the likes of Doja Cat and Lisa. Ostensibly this was to celebrate Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson’s recent honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards, but it left people feeling pretty confused. There was no special Bond anniversary (it’s been 62 years since the character was created), nor was there any announcement about the next Bond actor or film.
I’m just glad James Bond as a character is finally getting some recognition.
‘No Other Land’ Wins Best Documentary
No Other Land, a movie that still does not have US distribution, won the award for Best Documentary. I’m lucky enough to have seen the film, in which the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is told through the friendship between Yuval Abraham and Basel Ada, each of whom has a vastly different life experience. It’s powerful and affecting, and shows how the conflict reverberates through people’s lives on a micro and macro level.
Directors Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal accepted the award and Abraham delivered perhaps the most pointed plea of the evening:
When I look at Basel, I see my brother. But we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life, that he cannot control. There is a different path, a political solution, without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. And I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path. Why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way.
Conan Asks Los Angeles First Responders to Take Down ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’
I just enjoyed this bit because it’s classic Conan. About 2/3rds of the way through the ceremony, Conan brought on stage first responders who fought the LA fires. Not content to just present them for applause, he then asks them to read several jokes, one of which is about how catastrophically Joker: Jolie à Deux performed at the box office.
Sean Baker Makes a Plea for Indie Movie Theaters
In his win for Best Director, Sean Baker made an earnest plea for people to save indie movie theaters:
Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater. Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream in fright together, perhaps sit in devastated silence together. And in a time when the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home.
Right now, the theatergoing experience is under threat. Movie theaters, especially independently owned theaters are struggling. And it’s up to us to support the.m During the pandemic, we lost nearly 1,000 screens in the US and we continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.
Watching Anora at the SIFF Uptown Cinema was one of my favorite moviegoing experience of 2024, so I fully endorse this message.
Other Odds and Ends
“Please welcome four-time Oscar viewer, Conan O’Brian.”
I’m pretty bummed that I had to watch Mick Jagger present Best Original Song to the Emilia Pérez.
Morgan Freeman presented a tribute to Gene Hackman (RIP) followed by the In Memoriam segment that featured several iconic actors performing lines from their films. The use of Mozart’s Lacrimosa was pretty odd tonally when juxtaposed with the rest of the evening, though. Also: No Michelle Trachtenberg or Tony Todd?
I grow weary of seeing Zach Braff and Donald Faison advertising T-Mobile products.
It was lovely to see I’m Still Here (a brilliant film!) win for Best International Feature and I appreciated the director dedicating his award to Eunice Paiva, the woman on which it was based.
Conan: “You know Anora is having a good night. That’s great news. Two wins already! I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”
Hollywood before giving Adrian Brody the Best Actor Award tonight: Man, why isn't Adrian Brody in more stuff and winning more awards? He's obviously a brilliant actor. We even gave him Best Actor before!
Hollywood after Adrian Brody's speech for Best Actor: Oh yeahDid not expect Mikey Madison to beat Demi Moore for Best Actress. And while I’m very excited for Madison, who really deserves the acclaim for her incredible performance in Anora, I am pretty bummed that Moore didn’t win. A movie like The Substance doesn’t come around for very often and Moore clinching it would’ve made for a wonderful comeback story.
There were many deserving winners like Dune: Part Two for Best Visual Effects and Sound, The Brutalist for Best Cinematography, and Wicked for Best Production Design. But I particularly appreciated Sean Baker getting multiple awards for Anora, including Best Director and ultimately Best Picture. Baker has been making films about unconventional protagonists for years, often highlighting the plight of America’s underclass and sex workers, and with a style that has become easily identifiable. For him to finally get recognition felt like the Academy acknowledging young up-and-coming talent doing great work.
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Other Stuff David Chen Has Made
I’m having a blast covering Severance on Decoding TV this season. Be sure to check out the latest episode in which Patrick Klepek and I break down the lore-filled 7th episode.
On the Filmcast, we recently reviewed Captain America: Brave New World, which sadly was not very good (read Matt’s review here):
Thanks for the writeup. By the way you have a typo: it is Doja cat, not Dora cat.
Wow, this is a lightning fast write up, Dave!
Enjoyed your commentary on Bsky.
Conan was the hit of the night for me. I hope they make him a perma-host.