2025 Oscars: Where Did the Academy Mess Up This Year?

For anyone living under a rock this past weekend, Sunday night was the Oscars. Now that I have had some time to digest and process the awards, it’s time to highlight some the biggest surprises and highlights from Hollywood’s biggest night.

I want to start off by giving major props to Conan O’Brien. He absolutely killed it as this year’s host,  bringing back some much-needed levity that felt absent the last few years. His opening monologue was absolutely hilarious, and his bits with surprise cameos added some memorable moments. The note and snacks he left under each seat was a great touch as well. I hope this isn’t the last time we see him as host.

Now enough with that. Let’s dive into some of the big winners. Keep in mind that I am still making my way through some of this year’s nominees; I do have a full-time job and need sleep to stay alive.

Animated Feature Film – Winner: Flow

I haven’t seen it yet. I know. Great start for me here, that I haven’t even seen the winner of the first category I want to talk about. This is not a knock against Flow, but I felt that The Wild Robot was the clear-cut winner of this. I had it ranked as the third-best movie I saw in 2024. The visuals, story, score, and acting were absolutely phenomenal. I was so invested in every character and blown away by everything Wild Robot had to offer. The fact the director and writer made me care about a robot living with forest animals made me believe this was the obvious winner of this category. Regardless, congrats to Flow on coming home with this achievement. I’ll be back to conclude here once I have a chance to see it.

Best Directing – Winner: Sean Baker, Anora

I’m 0/2. I have not had a chance to see Anora, but it is next on my watch list. Congrats to Baker for winning this award. What I can confidently say is that this is a big step for independent films moving forward. I have nothing ill to say about this win; I have heard nothing but fantastic things.

However, here is where my beef lies: How did Denis Villenueve not get nominated in this category? Dune: Part II not getting the rightful recognition it deserved is an absolute atrocity and slap in the face. That he didn’t even get a nomination and Jacques Audiard got one for the monstrosity and pile of crap that was Emilia Pérez is absolutely horrendous.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Winner: Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Speak of the devil. In fairness, Saldaña was the bright spot of Emilia Perez. Still, I truly thought she wasn’t even that great. I know I am in the minority on this as most people loved her performance. But this movie was so unbelievably bad that I couldn’t even appreciate her performance. I was really hoping this movie would not receive recognition, and they only stoked my ire when it won best song, and the composers started singing said song during their victory speech.

LOL at the Emilia Perez "Best Song" winners singing the end of their acceptance speech and then immediately being played off with the wrap-it-up music pic.twitter.com/nn5lXROlww

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 3, 2025

However, I love Saldaña as an actress and was happy she got an Oscar. I just wish she had gotten one for a much better role. Felicity Jones deserved to win, in my opinion. I felt she was way more captivating in The Brutalist.

Best Actress in a Leading Role – Winner: Mikey Madison, Anora

Again – haven’t seen it, so this section will be brief. Big congrats to Madison for getting her first Oscar at 25. She is going to be an absolute powerhouse in Hollywood. Her meteoric rise since her appearance in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time Hollywood has been nothing short of remarkable. Baker admitted as much in his speech when he thanked Tarantino for introducing her to the world. I hope this is the first of many for Madison.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Winner: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Culkin was the huge favorite to win this award, and it was rightfully so. Hidden in his brother’s shadow, Kieran’s acting prowess went unnoticed for decades. After his breakout as Roman Roy in Succession, I knew he was ready to step into his own spotlight. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you should watch it as soon as possible. Culkin puts on a masterclass in this role, and it was his most inspiring work in my opinion. He deserved all the recognition he received for this role, and he gave us one of the more memorable acceptance speeches we have seen at the Oscars in some time. I truly hope this begins the reign of the other Culkin brother in Hollywood.

Best Actor in a Leading Role – Winner: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist

While everyone, myself included, was expecting Timothee Chalamet to win this award, Brody rightfully deserved it. His portrayal of Laszlo Toth, a roughened immigrant and one-time all-world architect, was incredible. He left it all out on the screen. I know people online are upset that golden child Chalamet didn’t win, but I highly encourage people to see The Brutalist to see why this was a no-brainer. Whatever AI shit people are mad about doesn’t take anything away from his performance. 

Chalamet will definitely have his winning moment at some point. However, in my opinion, it would have sucked if he had won his first Oscar as Bob Dylan. It wasn’t even his best performance of the year. I would be way more up in arms if he lost while being nominated for Paul Atreides in Dune II, as that still might be my male performance of the year.

Best Picture; Winner – Anora

Even though it was a surprise to me, big congrats to Anora for winning this award. This is why it’s next on my watchlist and why I am willing to pony up to rent it.

But for real. Can a streaming service just fork over all their money and get this thing going?

Also, Sean Baker made history with this award, and who doesn’t love to see that. He is the first person ever to take home Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture, all for the same film. And it was for a movie that people can’t stop raving about.

I did truly believe that The Brutalist was going to win here. If it weren’t for all the controversy around AI, it would’ve done so. It is simply a feat in movie making. While the plot was wonky at times, the script, cinematography, acting, and score were absolutely amazing. I’m happy it got some recognition from the Academy but thought it would pull this one out.

BUT, my real gripe is that the best movie of 2024 somehow had no shot at winning this award. I completely understand that Dune: Part II got fucked because it came out in January, but no movie came close to it this year. It should’ve cleaned house, and it seems like it’s going to get the Lord of the Rings treatment as long as Dune: Messiah sticks the landing. The Academy should be ashamed of themselves for snubbing Villenueve for Best Director, as well as the score for the year’s best. I’ll never get over it. Here’s my review of it from when it came out.

2025 should be another great year of movies, so get off your asses and go to the theatres. 

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