Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Mar 9, 2025
Table of Contents
The Oscars shows fof the 2020s so far have had very drastic ups and downs with the first two years seeing many upsets and difficulties in performance. However, the more recent shows have seen better results and it is gratifying to say that the 97th ceremony that took place last Sunday March 2nd at the Dolby Theater can safely join the previous two shows as a easy going night to give out awards and celebrate movies, especially considering how much controversy surrounded many of the nominees leading up to the ceremony. With Conan O’Brien as the host, the ceremony last Sunday was a nice watch with many deserving wins and endearing tributes to the art of moviemaking.
The film that emerged most victorious in the night was Sean Baker’s romantic comedy-drama ‘Anora’ (2024). Coming off of winning the Palme’Dor at last year’s Cannes, the film took home five Oscars, all of which in major categories, them being Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, Best Leading Actress for Mikey Madison, and the coveted Best Picture. Baker himself won four of the Oscars, making him tied with Walt Disney as the most number of Oscars won at a single ceremony. In a year where ‘The Brutalist’ (2024) was gaining attention as the most likely Best Picture winner and ‘Emilia Perez’ (2024) swarming 13 nominations, the $6 million ‘Anora’ with its grounded story about a sex worker in a heavily independent style was a refreshing win for all who were involved.
The other acting wins were for Zoe Saldana, Kieran Culkin, and Adrien Brody receiving his second win for Best Leading Actor, the latter making the longest Oscar speech in history. Besides Baker’s Original Screenplay win, Peter Straughan received the Best Adapted Screenplay win for ‘Conclave’ (2024), based on the Robert Harris novel.
For the technical awards, Lol Crawley won Best Cinematography for ‘The Brutalist’, deserving for the film’s striking VistaVision images and composition carrying the audience through the film’s three and a half hour runtime. The film also took home the Best Original Score award for Daniel Blumberg, also worthy as the music that plays is grand and intimate, just like the film itself. ‘The Substance’ won Best Makeup and Hairstyling, the clear best choice considering the film’s gut wrenching (literally) Elisasue monster character. ‘Wicked’ (2024) ended up taking a surprising number of the technical awards including for Costume and Production Design. Unsurprisingly, ‘Dune Part Two’ (2024) received the awards for Visual Effects and Sound.
The most controversial, yet still deserved win of the night was Mikey Madison for Best Leading Actress. No one in upset holds any negative feelings for Madison herself as her performance is spectacular, carrying the film’s pace and emotions. Yet, many saw the loss of Demi Moore for her role as Elizabeth Sparkle in ‘The Substance’ as an injustice. Her win would have been a great tribute to her more than 30 year career in the industry, honoring her performance that acts as a bookend for it all. But, she holds no resent over the loss and is happy that Madison’s talent was recognized by the Academy.
The film which saw the most loss was ‘Emilia Perez’ which won only two of its 13 nominations. Many factors have led to its unceremonious performance including controversy regarding old tweets resurfacing from lead actress Karla Sofia Gascon, director Jacques Audiard saying that he made little to no on the subject matter that his own film was about, and overall growing dislike toward the movie from general audiences who criticized it’s story, music, and authenticity. It appears that rather than risking any kind of upset over a win for the film, voters decided to refrain from awarding it any of the major awards it was not guaranteed to win.
It feels right to recognize the Best Picture nominees who received little to no awards. ‘Nickel Boys’ (2024) which while having powerful performances and unique cinematography, did not take home any Oscars. Despite receiving 8 nominations, James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’ (2024) took home none. ‘I’m Still Here’ (2024) was awarded Best International Feature over ‘Emilia Perez’ in a surprising move, but besides that lost Fernanda Torres’ powerful performance to the other heavyweights in competition. All of these films are worthy of more attention from general audiences and will hopefully continue to gain recognition after their muted performance at the Oscars.
This year, there were no big moments that draped themselves over social media. No celebrity slaps or overly questionable wins or major mistakes in the show’s production. One odd, yet hilarious moment was of Adrien Brody tossing to his girlfriend Georgina Chapman a piece of gum from his mouth only for it to land on the floor as he walked up to deliver his five and a half minute Oscar speech.
Conan O’Brien’s hosting led to many hilarious moments including one bit regarding Adam Sandler’s supposedly unprofessional outfit at this momentous event and edgy references to Drake. O’Brien’s style of comedy is a welcome addition to this ceremony which has seen not much variety between past shows. Hopefully, upcoming Oscar shows will see a wider variety of hosts bringing in different comedic voices.
On the topic of representation, ‘I’m Still Here’ became the first Brazilian film to win an Oscar and the recipient of Best Documentary Feature, ‘No Other Land’ (2024), became the first Palestinian film to win an Oscar. Paul Tazewell is the first African American man to win in the Costume Design category for his work on ‘Wicked’. Finally, ‘Flow’ not only marks the third time a non Disney film has won for animated feature, but the first film from Latvia to win an Oscar. Lots of recognition from groups that have previously seen little to no recognition by the Academy.
Perhaps the most questionable moment in the entire ceremony was during the In Memoriam segment which began with a nice tribute from Morgan Freeman to his fellow actor, the late Gene Hackman. But when the actual tributes began, the orchestra played Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor, also known as Lacrimosa. For a section of the Oscars that is meant to pay tribute in an honoring way to the talent who passed the previous year, the inherently dark music for the segment was a strange choice to say the least especially when titans such as James Earl Jones and David Lynch were among the deceased. Furthermore, the Academy faced controversy for failing to recognize several significant names such as Bernard Hill and Olivia Hussey.
To close on a more hopeful note, the greatest moment of last week’s Oscar show was undoubtably the recognition of the firefighters who have been battling the devestating fires in Los Angeles county, signaling that the true heroes of Hollywood are the men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to mitigate destruction. In short, the 97th Academy Awards ceremony was a refreshing experience with no majorly controversial moments, awards, or losses. The hosting of Conan O’Brian was a great touch and the triumph of ‘Anora’ is a historical win for independent cinema. It likely will not go down as one of the most triumphant ceremonies in Oscars history, but was also a graceful far cry away from the show’s embarrassing moments in the past. Here’s to good luck with the next Oscars following in this year’s appreciation for talent in the filmmaking industry.
By Elijah van der Fluit
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
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