Last night was the 98th Academy Awards, and it more than delivered. While it wasn’t a perfect night (granted, what Oscars is?), watching it at a free watch party at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara was very cool to be a part of. My mom and I sat through the whole three hour-long ceremony, which proved to be very rewarding and only slightly tedious.
I was planning on bringing a notebook and a pencil to take notes on who would win during the ceremony, but I decided against doing that because (1) it was too dark and (2) I wanted to watch as a spectator, and not a critic. After all, that’s essentially what the Oscars is all about–enjoying the miracle of cinema, and rewarding those who have brought their absolute best to our screens this year.
Did it work out that way this year? Let’s check it out. Here is the good, the bad, and the whatever of the 98th Academy Awards.
The Good: Conan O’Brien back as host
I don’t know if we deserve Conan O’Brien. After his successful stint last year, Conan truly embodied what makes the Oscars a fun night to watch. His cold open was simply amazing. Him cosplaying Aunt Gladys and inserting himself into the nominated films via the Kuleshov effect was hilarious, especially when he entered the animated world of KPop Demon Hunters and ended up pulling a Flynn Rider-esque smirk.
He also managed to nail some extremely ballsy jokes, at least by Hollywood standards. From describing Agnes’s forest birth scene in Hamnet as “American healthcare” to Britain saying “at least we arrest our pedophiles,” there wasn’t one joke that wasn’t followed by laughter. (Okay, there were at least two, but still.) He hit it out of the park with the skits as well. Mom and I were laughing hard at the skit where he and Sterling K. Brown recreated a scene from Casablanca, but where all the subtext had to be spelled out in the style of Netflix content. Sure, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was there to laugh at them, so the effect was kind of spoiled, but Conan hit his marks and then some.
The Bad: Sean Penn winning Best Supporting Actor and not showing up
Okay, to be fair to Sean Penn, he was in Ukraine supporting President Volodymr Zelensky, so it wasn’t like he had nothing going on.
Rather, it was the fact that while Penn upset a lot of predictions in the Best Supporting Actor race. Stellan Skarsgard was in a prime position to win the award for his role as Gustav Borg in Sentimental Value, especially after a long career in Hollywood that’s spanned several continents. To me, Gustav Borg was a more dynamic role that tied all the threads together than Lockjaw. It wasn’t that Lockjaw wasn’t a complex character, but I always felt that Lockjaw worked better as a symbolic character than one that you could see in real life. I know there are a LOT of men like Lockjaw, but there are also a lot of men like Gustav, who are so focused on their careers and their lives that they sidestep the people they love.
I wasn’t too upset about Jacob Elordi not winning for his role in Frankenstein, but then again, he was utterly breathtaking, and not just because he’s gorgeous. But I’m still thinking about the missed opportunities. There was Benicio del Toro, also from One Battle After Another! And Delroy Lindo in Sinners! I’m not saying there should have been a tie, but Sean Penn was near the bottom of the list for me.
The Whatever: The Bridesmaids Reunion
Apparently Bridesmaids is an insanely funny movie that’s withstood the age of time, and is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, but the reunion with some of the cast didn’t do all that much for me. It didn’t make me want to watch it. It just made me more impatient for them to announce the next batch of nominees.
The Good: One Battle After Another and Sinners sweeping the floor
I was quite happy with this. Part of me wanted Sinners to win more because it was an original concept that managed to make a ton of money back and was full of complex and substantial representation, but I’m also aware that One Battle After Another makes more sense for today’s current moment.
But I feel like One Battle and Sinners each won the awards that made the most sense. PTA’s denouement won Best Picture, Best Director for PTA, Best Editing (by UCSB grad Andy Jurgensen, no less!), Best Adapted Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson, and Best Casting for Cassandra Kulukundis, the newest category introduced by the Academy. As for Sinners, it won Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan (!!!), Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, making her the first woman and person of color to receive the prize, Best Original Score for Ludwig Göransson, Best Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler. Besides maybe Best Casting, I was satisfied with every one of those categories. They higlighted the best parts of each film, whether it was adapting a 1970 story for 21st century America, or channeling the experiences of people of color in the Jim Crow South. Both films are timeless and timely at the same time, and their awards represent this.
The Bad: The producers behind “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters getting cut off
Well, I guess it wouldn’t be an Oscars ceremony without one deserving awardee being cut off to “save time,” even if it was just a measly thirty seconds.
This was one moment that actually pissed me off. After winning the Oscar for Best Original Song, the people behind the chart-topping “Golden” took the stage, where an emotional EJAE thanked everyone. Then just as the other Korean artists were about to speak, the lights were lowered and the mic was cut off. What really makes me mad about this isn’t just the blatant disregard for the winners, but also for ignoring that “Golden” wasn’t one of the biggest moments in music last year.
If you’ve ever watched an episode of Todd in the Shadows, you’d know that pop music last year wasn’t exactly thrilling. But “Golden” was one of the few bright spots. It was catchy, it meant something, and it had a goal in mind and it accomplished it. Plus, it made people like me who were unsure about K-pop get interested in the genre. The Oscars had a chance not to make a dick move, and they failed.
The Whatever: The camera guy realizing “Shit, where’s Leo?”
It’s jarring to see at an Oscars ceremony, but you also have to understand that cameramen aren’t omnipresent on live TV. When Conan O’Brien gave a shout-out to Leonardo DiCaprio for his performance in One Battle After Another, the camera cut to a shaky found-footage that resembled a person’s perspective while falling down in the Backrooms.
Obviously he could have done a better job at an event being watched by millions of people, but they’re also operating heavy handheld cameras at a live event. I’ve been in that situation before. Give the guy a break!
The Good: Michael B. Jordan winning Best Actor
I was super stoked for this. Even before Timothée Chalamet made his disastrous comments about ballet and opera, it was clear his antic-filled press tour was getting on some people’s nerves. When Michael B. Jordan won his Actor Award a few weeks ago, I was hopeful someone on the younger side would win the award in his place. We don’t need another middle-aged actor to take home a Golden naked guy. That happens pretty much everyday in Hollywood anyways.
But when Adrien Brody announced Jordan’s name, everyone in the Arlington cheered. And not just because of his age–actually, it had nothing to do with how old he is. It was awesome because it was the guy who played two completely different people in one of the best films of the year. You can see two colliding visions of the Black experience in America onscreen coming from the same man. He more than deserved it.
It was also just nice to see an actor be completely humble while accepting his award. I feel like there’s some right to narcissism when winning an Oscar (it’s a freaking Oscar!) but it’s nice when you can tell an actor is genuinely doing it for the craft and not for the attention. In 2024, Cillian Murphy did it when he accepted his award. This time, it’s Michael B. Jordan doing the same. We need more actors like this who see performing as a religion, and not as a means to an end.
The Bad: Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor singing
This wasn’t so much as bad it was cringey. I felt like I was watching a drunken karaoke performance. I get it was for Moulin Rouge, but still.
The Whatever: Anna Wintour and Anne Hathaway introducing Best Costume Design
I saw a lot of ads for The Devil Wears Prada 2 throughout the ceremony, so I know it’s a highly anticipated event. I just wasn’t expecting Anna Wintour, the basis for Miranda Priestly herself, to show up with one of the stars of the film. I remember watching the clip from the 2007 ceremony where Hathaway and Emily Blunt were playing their characters from the film interacting with Meryl Streep from the stage, and it was so funny it keeps getting recommended to me on YouTube years later. But even though the jokes landed last night, you could tell Anna Wintour was out of her element. Overall, the segment was a bit of a dud.
The Good: Sentimental Value winning Best International Feature Film
When Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value was announced as the winner of the Best International Feature Film, I was a bit shocked. I heavily favored The Secret Agent to win, as I thought it truly encapsulated what was best about the category, which is showcasing how cinema transcends borders and connects us all.
Now I think about it more, Sentimental Value was a good choice. It’s a tearjerker, but one with enough humor and pathos to make the sadder moments worth it. Not to mention the stellar (pun intended) performances with Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, and Inga Ibsdotter Lileaas. Plus, Joachim Trier’s speech about how he started as a film nerd in Norway was quite endearing. As a fellow film nerd myself, it’s nice to know I have a future.
The Good: Mr. Nobody Against Putin wins Best Documentary Film
The only reason I didn’t put Best Documentary on my predictions post was because I hadn’t seen any other film in that category, and I thought since The Perfect Neighbor seemed destined to win I shouldn’t wager my bets too high. But I was completely blindsided and delighted when Pavel Talankin’s daring film won. Considering what it took to get this film made, he more than deserved it.
The Good: All The Empty Rooms, Two People Exchanging Saliva, The Singers, and The Girl Who Cried Pearls winning their respective shorts categories (plus a tie!)
I was super excited to see some of the films I saw on the festival circuit appear at the Academy Awards last night, especially All The Empty Rooms, which featured the grave yet necessary portrait of children’s rooms frozen in time after their lives were taken in school shootings. The best part about seeing documentary films winning awards is that you get to see all the heartbreaking and physical toll it requires to make a film about the world we live in be rewarded with industry recognition. When Conan O’Brien paused when the mentioned the Documentary Short Film category in his opening monologue, I felt pride. Documentary shorts kick ass!
Not to mention The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva tying for Best Live Action Short Film, which is an extremely rare thing to happen at the Oscars. I haven’t seen Two People Exchanging Saliva yet, but I have seen The Singers, and it’s such a work of art. If you haven’t seen it, it’s available on Netflix.
More Goods, Bads, and Whatevers
- GOOD: Autumn Durald Arkapaw winning Best Cinematography for Sinners. She truly transported us back to the 1930s Mississippi Delta. A well deserved win.
- GOOD: Frankenstein winning three awards, one for Best Production Design (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau), Best Costume Design (Kate Hawley), and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey). Seeing the wonderfully Irish makeup guy gush about Jacob Elordi being his mate was so cute to watch. Plus, seeing Guillermo del Toro cheering on his fellow craftsmen made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.
- WHATEVER: Josh Groban’s a great singer, but the whole operatic sketch at the beginning was a bit much. I could’ve done without it. Good dig at Chalamet though.
- BAD: Marty Supreme not winning anything. It sucks too because it’s a genuinely great film, but the competition was so tough this year. I don’t think it’s fair to blame Timothée Chalamet for its lack of trophies. A lot of people worked on this film.
- GOOD: AMY MADIGAN!! So happy for her. She’s been in the industry so long her last Oscar nod was in 1985. She’s like that aunt you rarely see but whenever you see her it’s like no time has passed at all.
Wow, what an awards season. I’m sad it’s over. I’m glad I can go back to curating my own weird cinematic corner, but there were a lot of great films this year. I’m thinking of writing some reviews of films by filmmakers who were nominated but didn’t win just to prolong it a little bit more. I’m thinking more of Kleber Mendonça Filho, Ethan Hawke, and Joachim Trier.
If you’ve read it this far, thank you so much for doing so. See you next year!
BEYOND THE FRAME 
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