The show opened with a close-up of Dorothy’s ruby red slippers and her voice-over “there’s no place like home” during an homage to the L.A. fire victims. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo brought the house down with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the Wicked anthem “Defying Gravity.” Host Conan O’Brien was delayed getting on stage because he had to extract himself from Demi Moore’s body in the bathroom a la The Substance. Conan killed the monologue with his perfect delivery. “I didn’t want The Brutalist to end, and it didn’t.” “Mikey Madison said the F-word 479 times in Anora, that’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist.” The recognizable voice of Nick Offerman took over as the Oscars announcer.
The first award went to the traditional opening category, Best Supporting Actor. Instead of following that with the expected Best Supporting Actress, the Animated Feature came next. Anora came home with five awards. Its director, Sean Baker, left the Dolby Theater with four, becoming the first person in Oscar history to win four times for the same movie. The program continued the back-to basics approach of the last couple years, presenting all 23 categories (and not removing eight behind-the-scenes awards from prime time as they did in 2022), and the “All-Star” groups of five previous winners to present the four acting awards. Mick Jagger strutted out to a standing “O” to award the Best Song (the nominated songs were not played this year, but the ceremony still went over its allotted time, clocking in at 3:44.) The In Memoriam was streamlined to address the cluttered and overwrought presentation of last year. Morgan Freeman eulogized Gene Hackman.
And finally, just when you think you’ve seen it all, there was the gum toss. On approaching the stairs to accept the Best Actor award, Adrien Brody had a split-second decision to make regarding the gum he was chewing. Instead of swallowing or tucking, he took it out of his mouth and flung it overhead to his girlfriend, Georgina Chapman. In formal attire she jumped out of her chair (luckily, she was in the front row) and made what had to be the greatest and yuckiest catch in Oscar history.
Here are all the winners (I picked 16/20 again this year missing Best Actress, Original Screenplay, Score, and Animated Feature. )
- Best Picture: Anora
- Director: Sean Baker (Anora)
- Lead Actor: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
- Lead Actress: Mikey Madison (Anora)
- Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)
- Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldana (Emilia Perez)
- Original Screenplay: Anora
- Adapted Screenplay: Conclave
- Documentary Feature: No Other Land
- Animated Feature: Flow
- Cinematography: The Brutalist
- Visual Effects: Dune: Part Two
- Film Editing: Anora
- International Film: I’m Still Here
- Costume Design: Wicked
- Makeup and Hairstyling: The Substance
- Production Design: Wicked
- Sound: Dune: Part Two
- Score: The Brutalist
- Original Song: “El Mal” (Emilia Perez)
Trivia: Who is the only actor to win two Oscars for the same performance?
Answer below
Answer: Harold Russell won an Honorary Oscar and Best Supporting Actor for playing a Navy sailor in William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
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