Something you just have to embrace with with the Oscars it just how toe-curlingly cringe it can be at times.1 So it was fun watching it with my girlfriend – who has never watched the Oscars before – and finding her cringe at the exact same moments.
Me and my girlfriend put ‘bets’ on each category, which added a nice sense of occasion and suspense. She won.
Conan O’Brien as host was okay.2 I would say that the jokes and ‘bits’ were on the back burner this year – which is fine. Conan had his jokes, delivered them, and didn’t try and make it all about him – which other hosts have done. I always enjoy his energy, either way.
The theme of the night was Anora doing surprisingly well. I liked that film and found it great fun. For me, it’s the peoples champ.
Adrien Brody won best actor. His speech was awful. He sprinkled in as many ‘keywords’ as he could. But it was long and meaningless.
Mikey Madison winning best actress made me happy. I wanted her to win, but expected Demi Moore to get it. I was shocked to see how sweet and softly spoken she is in real life. You know you’ve done well as an actor when the audience just presume that the type of character you played has to be how you are in reality.
Zoe Saldana won best supporting actress. He speech was a bit much. But at least it was emotional, raw, and interesting to watch.
I’m a white guy, so I likely don’t have much right to comment on this. But I’m not a fan of how common it is to say things like “I’m the first winner of Dominican descent.” And “he was the first black man to be nominated for Best Sound Design.” Or Sam Smith saying he’s the first openly gay man to win an Oscars when he wasn’t.
I was happy Conclave got best adapted screenplay. I liked that film and it’s stuck with me.
I’m a big fan of the Oscars. I watch it every year and have copies of each show going back to 2001. I’ve even rewatched nearly every one multiple times. How good was 2025 in comparison? It was solid. It lacked two or three ‘wow’, controversial or interesting moments.