The 2025 Oscars: ‘Anora’ Has the Greatest Day

24:51We got to watch out for this. This keeps happening. How close do you think it was? Probably really close. Yeah. Probably really close. Do you think, and head to head, do you think Mikey Madison still wins or do you think Fernanda Torres is pulling some votes? I think she pulled a lot of votes from older voters away from Demi Moore. Yeah. I think that we had not yet seen a race with these five actresses competing in this way, which we mentioned in the pre-show as well. And Demi Moore and Fernando Torres, both veteran performers, two very different kinds of actors, two very different kinds of movies.

25:20But, you know, the biases are real. Younger people are going to vote for younger people. Older people are more likely to vote for older people. Mikey Madison won. Do you think there's any just kind of people only watched Enora? Like, I'm wondering, seriously. Out of all the movies? Yeah. I mean, how much of that is just kind of, well, I think I'm Still Here was late breaking and the substance is a tough sit. Yeah. And the substance, you know, it had been rumored as like a potential best screenplay winner a couple of months ago. That didn't happen. It did win makeup, which is a feat unto itself and it deserved to win makeup.

25:54But you've heard me say a hundred times at this point, forget about a Nora being a strange Oscar movie. The substance is the least Oscar movie that's ever been nominated for an Oscar. So I'm sure that was working against her in some respects. respects. Pretty interesting though. I mean, she gave great speeches all the way through every interview I heard from her. She was really good. It's tough. Yeah. And you really, I mean, and she had the full winner dress. I actually looked great. Seated the front row. You know, I just, there's something, CAA was, you know, thanked a million times tonight as it always is.

26:25Would you like to thank them right now? And, you know, they did have a lot of winners, but I'm just imagining like the angry phone calls and yelling that's going on in a certain wing and the wrath that, and the way those people are going to talk to each other about what happened, that it just makes me really uncomfortable. I don't know what else you can do other than just tip your cap to the Enora wave. I mean, that was just something. Well, I don't think anyone employed at CAA is going to do that. Perhaps we'll hear from them. Best actor. Yeah. I was feeling a little shaky on this one, but not that shaky.

26:56I was, you know, I heard the SAG, kept hearing the SAG stat in my ear, but it never really seemed like Timothee Chalamet. Timothee Chalamet will return. He will compete again. I'm not really worried about him. He seems to be on the path. I mean, he is Leo, right? So he's going to have to wait a while and then sleep in a bear suit or whatever. Yes, they are going to make him earn it. And then he's going to get a million dollars from Rolex, which I'd like to come back to that at some point. We certainly can. I had that on my list as well. Watched that commercial many times. Adrian Brody won again.

27:21He adds himself to the very short list of two-time Acting Academy Award winners. In fact, we just lost Gene Hackman, which is something that we have not had the chance to talk about on this show. He, too, was a two-time Best Acting winner. and I wouldn't say that they're very similar performers. So that's kind of where the comparisons end. They have different energies. But Adrian Brody is remarkable in The Brutalist. He gave a very long speech that was simultaneously, I found, touching and self-regarding, which felt very old school Oscars to me. What did you think of his speech? I noticed that it was silent in our viewing room, but also just the Oscars.

28:00And he was speaking in a very drawn out, you know thoughtful or long manner and he does have a presence Adrian Brody and so everyone was just kind of there waiting on his words exactly and in much the same way that you know the brutalist just at some point he is drawing you in emotionally that is like a lot of the work I so I found myself moved by it even though it kept going you know and then I liked it when he told them to turn the music off that's you know I've been here before. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's respect, you know? And that's when the Hollywood starts peeking out. And he drove around to the message of love, not hate.

28:47But he got there in the end. He did. And I agree. I think he ran a very sincere campaign. Wasn't telling a lot of jokes in his interviews. I talked to him. He was very similar when we spoke. He was very, very thoughtful and deliberate in every answer. but took every question he received very seriously. And he's just an amazing actor. And it's clear that Hollywood forgot for 20 years in part because of the parts he took or the parts he was offered or whatever may have happened in his career over that time. But when he gets his hands on the right role, he can do something interesting. I thought it was interesting the way that he located the arc of an actor's career, especially a successful actor, the way it ebbs and flows, which is something that you and I talk about all the time.

29:31Right. This person's hot. They're on our list. They're not on our list. They're a box office success. This movie was a flop. Adrian Brody has kept himself relevant, obviously, by appearing in Succession, being great in Wes Anderson movies. But as I've said, he's really been in pretty small genre stuff for the most part for the last 15 years. And he literally in the speech was like, I'm going to make this a step in a redemption story. I'm now going to pursue something more, something bigger. I'm going to try to do more and succeed again. And it was almost like he was pumping himself up during his own second best actor acceptance speech.

30:07And I think still also wallowing a little bit in what he clearly felt was the wilderness of the last 20 years. You know, as he was speaking, and I think he said this is a reminder, things can go away, but you can also get them back. But something to that effect. And I was just thinking about the person who did not win in his category, Timothee Chalamet. I don't think it's going to go away for him. No, he'll be okay. He'll be fine. So even as he didn't win, I was like, well, it's going to be okay because I don't think he's going to have an Adrian Brody wilderness period. You never know. You never know.

30:43Coming out of The Pianist, his win for The Pianist, when he was the youngest winner of all time, you would have said, this guy is the next Al Pacino. He's the next Robert Duvall. Right. He may not be the most beautiful movie star of all time, but when he is given a part he can crush it. You know what I mean. Yeah, no, no, I know. He's a 70s movie star. He's not a 2000s movie star. Nevertheless, the win I think we both saw coming for a very long time. Good speech. Zoe Saldana once again gave a very emotional speech. Yes. Talked about her parents as immigrants. Talked about how she was the first person of Dominican descent to win an Academy Award.

31:21You know, Amelia Perez has been the black dove of this entire award season in many ways. But Zoe Saldana has never wavered. She's won everywhere. This is probably one of the biggest steamroll, best supporting actress campaigns of all time. Shows up looking amazing, totally prepared, dynamite speech every single time. So, I mean, you know, and she really, she projects to the rafters. Sometimes when races get settled like this early on, I get annoyed. I think often of the very odd Renee Zellweger Judy run, which I was very cranky about throughout that entire season. I felt both of the supporting actor and actress races were like this this year, where everyone just sort of landed on something and there was no room for discussion.

32:06But I don't really have anything bad to say about Zoe Saldana. When I saw that movie, she was really the only thing I could think about from that movie. And she's very talented. And she does a lot of blockbuster movies, and some that we even like. So credit to her for that. No question. Yeah, she's great. Also learned tonight that she also has a son named Psy. And I didn't know that. Did you get a spelling? It's C-Y. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, shout out. Another Psy mom. Psy twins. Yeah. That's nice. So, we've got the suit and we have Psy's in common. Yes. And so many other things. And a love for the film Center Stage.

32:40I hope she loves it. I've probably seen it more times than she has, but... Yeah. And also a love for Pyakon, the whale from Avatar, The Way of Water. I like sea creatures. Is that true? You don't like birds? Yeah, I'm freaked out by them. Okay, let's keep that in mind for future discussion. Okay. What other awards popped out to you that were really notable? We talked about director. We've talked about the big six at this point. What struck your fancy during this telecast? Well, let's just actually, let's say for the record, I predicted 17 out of 23. You predicted 15 out of 23. 16. 16, 16 out of 23.

33:15Which is not bad. It's not great. The shorts really, really messed us up. Yes, I went 0 for 3 on the shorts. Did you as well? I also went 0 for 3. So that's not ideal. Animated feature. Let's talk about that one. I find that one very interesting as well. You predicted that one correctly. You predicted Flow. I did. Flow, of course, was strong this year. It was also nominated in an international feature. And it beat the Wild Robot, which is what I predicted. And I consider this once again a sign of the old days are gone and the Academy Awards. It's Flo, is Flo the single smallest movie to have ever won a major award at the Academy Awards?

33:54And when I say major award, screenplay, acting, picture, and then the three, international, documentary, and animated. Is it the single smallest? I mean, I think less than 15 people worked on this movie. It's, the budget is minuscule. No dialogue. It has no dialogue. it is made on software that anyone can download that is free called Blender and it just won Best Animated Feature overcoming Universal Disney Aardman and Netflix it's just an amazing thing it's a beautiful movie people really love that cat and the capybara I'm happy for Mallory Rubin I'm happy for Chris Ryan who's seen the film Flow you know his first animated feature yeah so there we go good for him congratulations Chris best documentary feature No Other Land won yeah and the recipient you know I made a mistake on the predictions episode I said that the events in the film take place in Gaza I meant to say West Bank yeah which is which the filmmakers I thought spoke quite eloquently about yes and why they chose to make this movie and why this movie is important and it was the one of very few moments in the night where someone who won an award or a host or a presenter openly acknowledged world events.

35:15There was like an ooh, aren't I naughty moment from Conan O 'Brien about standing up to Russian power. Right. And why Anora was doing so well. Yes. But occupation and the destruction of homes in the West Bank and in the community that is portrayed in that movie. I thought both filmmakers spoke very eloquently. Yes. It was not the booing and hissing that some feared because of, you know, some of the... Right. Though, you know, I suppose the letters haven't been written yet. No, and I'm sure that they will be. I'm sure that they will be. I'm sure there will be. It was very quiet in the room. And not as much, no standing ovations.

35:53No standing ovation. Very, very polite. I was looking very closely at Selena Gomez and Samuel L. Jackson, who introduced this award. And Selena Gomez, I would say, gently clapped. And Samuel L. Jackson had his hands in his pockets. Yes, but I also, with respect to Selena Gomez, I think that it was sort of like the auto clap where she was trying not to... It seemed polite. We can't read intention into their actions, but I was looking because it's very rare that you see extremely famous people have to have a reaction to a moment like that, like a real world issue that actually matters to people.

36:28And to the winners actually speaking to the people in the room and to this country and to our foreign policy and the ways that it is failing. And so, yeah, I mean, it was an amazing and fascinating moment that most people seem to just want to lean on. And that's another one where I noticed that the production, they were not cutting to anyone. No, although I was wondering if they would cut to Guy Pearce because Guy Pearce very notably was wearing a free Palestine pin, which is something he has been wearing throughout award season. But they did not. I assume ABC was attempting to be very careful during that moment.

37:02Nevertheless, interesting to see that it happened and that that group and the body itself actually went for that movie because it upended whatever our questions or concerns were about that when we talked about the category. International feature. You held on to Emilia Perez. Listen, I was trying some things. You can't be great if you don't try some things. I agree. And you know who else would agree with that is Jacques Audillard. You know, he tried to do something great and he did not succeed with the film Amelia Brez, which was the odds-on favorite for many months in this category in particular.

37:34And it lost to I'm Still Here, the Brazilian entrant, the Walter Salas film starring Fernando Torres. He gave a nice quiet speech. Walter Salas, very good filmmaker. He, of course, does not get this award. The Nation of Brazil receives this award. Listen, I think that they are at least appreciative. The whole nation? Yes. Or their government? I think, well, I'm not getting into that. I just said that the people on the internet who are excited about Brazil get this award in my mind. And I'm happy for them. Sure. Yeah. Kind of a weird category. They need to rethink this whole category. This one country gets to submit a film.

38:11Makes no sense. It's well-intentioned because they don't want like five French films because they have a thriving film industry. And that would have been a problem 20 to 30 years ago. But now because the Academy is so much more international, you have more international features making it into Best Picture on a regular basis, which is great. And way more access to world cinema. So I think that I'm sure that this has been discussed ad nauseum inside the Academy. They just need to change this. It doesn't make sense. I'm Still Here is a good winner, but it's a bit strange. The music categories, quickly.

38:43El Mal won for Best Original Song, which is one because you wore this suit tonight. You look wonderful. Thanks so much. I'm very proud of your bravery. Thank you. Who is more uncomfortable in their suit tonight? Me or you? Did we get any clarity on what Almal means? Did you get any feedback? Didn't hear from anyone. No one was reaching out to me during the show. Best score, of course, we got Daniel Blumberg. Wait, wait, wait. So it means the evil, as I was correct. The evil, the bad. No, no, no, no. We were going to have to talk about the acceptance for original song. Oh, right. Yeah. Well, I guess we're starting the lowlights portion of the conversation early.

39:24Do you want me to, you just wanted to talk about winners and then we can have like the airing of grievances? Yes, I think that's a good idea. In general, this prize was given by Mick Jagger. That was cool. And honestly, Mick looked great. He's 81 years old. He made a joke about being younger than Bob Dylan, who did not show at the award show. No surprise. Shout out to you, Bob. Thank you for everything you've given me. and Mick just smiling through the whole thing Jaunty just laughing he was having a great old time Chalamet seemed to enjoy that and he gave a prize to Elmall best score Daniel Blumberg he won for the Brutalist which is a magnificent wonderful score completely deserving they had the the Academy Orchestra play snippets live I would have liked to hear more and from the Brutalist I would have liked to hear the bum bum bum bum I guess they did get it when he won yes but it was cool to have them overall throughout the night they did a good job thumbs up to the orchestra the orchestra did well yeah best sound and best visual effects went to Dune part 2 there was some speculation a complete unknown might come in on best sound I expressed some confusion also the explanation that I shared on the predictions episode about the difference between sound mixing and sound editing apparently was completely wrong okay and I've been scolded by members of the sound community and to them I'd like to say I do not apologize I'm an idiot and everyone knows this Dune Part 2 winning a couple of awards something occurred to me which I also shared on social media there was a film once upon a time called The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers this film was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and it won two prizes it won Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects it was the second film in a trilogy much anticipated this year Dune Part 2 was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, and it won two, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.

41:22Dune Messiah, I ask? I love you and your numbers, and I need you to Google the plot of Dune Messiah. I don't want to. Anora just won Best Picture. Everything, everywhere, all at once, won Best Picture. And still I say to you, Sean, I need you to understand what's going to be happening in Dune Messiah. The Shape of Water won Best Picture. And yet again, sir, I say, you know it's fine let's see how long I can go without spoiling it for you you will never spoil it for me it will be spoiled for me when I sit to watch the film no I know but like at some point I'm just gonna yell out something you know I can't do it it's like at the tip of my tongue right now I'm not going to get Bobby in here with a track gun but I'm just saying they haven't even started filming yet it's gonna be like four years of you being like this will definitely be Lord of the Rings Return of the King and I'll just be like well here's what I'm putting a circle around all I'm saying is worms I'm putting a circle around the fact that this is what Hollywood thinks it's doing.

42:14Okay. It thinks it's prepared, because Hollywood is also not Red Dune Messiah. You know who's Red Dune Messiah? Nerds. No one I know. No, that's not true. A lot of people here at The Ringer have read Dune Messiah, and they too have said it's very weird, but I don't think that the folks voting for the Oscars really know that. And so they're gearing up to award a film that may not deliver on the promise the way that The Return of the King did, which was a very triumphal, satisfying, not tightener of a final installment. They destroy Soron? Yes, the eye. The eye. Yeah, that was me doing the eye. Thank you.

42:48This is the eye. Poor Denis Villeneuve had like a middle seat way in the back. It was so disgraceful. You think they stood up to let him go to the bathroom? Brady Corbet was definitely seated like in row Z or whatever. Same with Sean Baker. Why are these people sitting so far back? At least they had aisle seats, you know? They did. They did. So they had easy access and also just like... Well, then he didn't have to get up for anything. Well, I know, but it's just... It's insulting. I'm not sure I totally understand the Sean. Did they not want to give away the game by not seating Sean Baker too close?

43:18Why was he in the 19th row when he had to go up there four times? I think he was like in the third or fourth row. No, that's not true. You think he was all the way back? Yeah, definitely. He was at least in the center on the aisle. He was like center aisle and Corbet was on the right aisle. Let's stop recording, drive to the Dolby Theater, and we'll map out the whole room. and then go to Johnny Rappas any other what other notable awards did we have this evening not too many more production design of course went to Wicked as did Best Costumes we talked about that I thought Paul Tazewell's speech was wonderful yeah the costume designer for Wicked also great fit he looked fantastic yeah that does raise a question though which is one of my real pet peeves do you want to start do you want to start bitching do you want to start saying here's what sucked and here's what I didn't like what do you think I don't know how much more positivity I have we've gone through all the good stuff Anora was my favorite movie of the year and it won so good job Academy that was great I want to shout out June Squibb and Scarlett Johansson very funny their presentation together was amazing apparently June Squibb is the star of ScarJo's forthcoming directorial debut she did a great bit about how she's actually Paul Skarsgård in makeup to present the makeup Oscar that was very very funny Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn.

44:36Just absolutely. Andrew Garfield on the run of a lifetime. The role of a lifetime. I'm not seeing anything like this in my life. Simultaneously, cougar bait and the most desirable 40-year-old man in Hollywood? The glasses were there. The pendant. He was wearing a pendant. I don't know if it was the exact same. Looked great. Another velvet suit, right? Yes. Escorting Goldie Hawn, supporting Goldie Hawn. A plus stuff. That was nice. Congratulations to him. You think he makes it into the gold party tonight? Why would he not? I don't know. I just, you know. Andrew Garfield? He hasn't won an Oscar.

45:15He was Spider-Man. Not the best one. Well, that's debatable, you know. He's not in the best movies. Okay. But did he really embody Peter? I like him very much. I do as well. I wish him all the best. And if he's actually dating Monica Barbaro, salute to you, sir. Yeah. I thought Amy Poehler was very funny presenting. Ringer podcaster Amy Poehler, she had some of the best lines of the night. She presented animated feature and animated short. Is that right? No, that can't be right. No, she presented both screenplay because they were jokes about how terrible writing is. Yes, we didn't mention Peter Strawn, one for Conclave, which had been much predicted.

45:54Nice bit with his daughter in the sweater. Yes, it was for her, but not hers. Yes. Which is something I can relate to. Most of the objects in my bedroom are for Alice, Yes, but they do not belong to her and never will. I don't know. The Quincy Jones tribute? Not bad. Not bad. Not anything. Listen, I'm always happy to see Whoopi and Oprah. A lot of energy at a moment when we on the day. Queen Latifah then performed a song from The Wiz. Yes, the second song from The Wiz performed that night. There's a great moment about halfway through before the rest of the crowd really got into it. But Coleman Domingo, who is seated, I believe, right next to Demi Moore, or maybe one other, but front and center.

46:35He was vibing. He knew to stand up and just dance immediately. And he is bringing the right energy to all of these. Agreed. He also looked great. Yeah. I thought the Fire Department tribute was nice and I liked them giving the roast jokes to the officials from the Fire Department, particularly the Joker 2 joke, which was super funny and raw. There was a Rolex commercial that I enjoyed featuring several masters of cinema. It aired again. Yes. While you were... A second time. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Martin Scorsese was at the center of this commercial. Leonardo DiCaprio was in it. Yeah. Was Inaritu in it?

47:15Big Jim was in it. Big Jim, James Cameron. With a great shot of Big Jim in a rattan chair on the set of the Titanic with the water. Yes, with the Omega right on his wrist. I enjoyed that. And yeah, normal stuff. just guys on$20 million sets, directing$300 million movies, wearing$80 ,000 watches. Yeah. Who among us? There was another Rolex commercial before, at the very beginning of the show, and I don't know where you were. You make it sound like I was on my paper route. Where did I go? No, you were outside. You weren't in the theater. And it was your more traditional, I mean, there was a lot of Roger Federer, which obviously caught my eye.

47:57Some Tiger in there. I believe Coco Gauff was in the mix. And so it was like athletes. And then sort of surprisingly to me, ended on Leo. And like the very last image, which that director's commercial actually does end on Leo. So if Leo's in his Rolex era, good for him, I guess. Yeah. I mean, these one battle after another, budgets aren't going to pay for themselves. I guess so. Okay, let's go to the Black Lodge. Let's go to the Dead Space. Let's go to the place where all things go to die. Okay. There were some unfortunate things during this telecast. What would you say was the most unfortunate thing that you witnessed?

48:34Well. Amanda's hater corner has commenced. So I think that there were two incidents during which you felt the need to share with the world your displeasure at being so close to me. That's not entirely true, but okay. And so the first was actually not the nadir of the night. I thought it was in the moment, but there was worse to come. But we will start with the James Bond tribute, which I love James Bond. You do. And I didn't want any of this. And it was not made clear why we were saluting James Bond tonight of all nights. Like, I don't think it was like, hey, Amazon took over, so I guess we got to throw awake here.

49:21My understanding was that it happened because Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were honored by the Governor's Awards. And in identifying who were the recipients this year, which included Richard Curtis, Juliet Taylor, I'm forgetting one other really important person. Nevertheless, they were also acknowledged and they used that as a segue to perform what felt like an in-memoriam for James Bond. It was sort of like a weird, sexy funeral dirge. The other person was Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones. So he did actually get, yeah, later. Yeah. So it started with Margaret Qualley of The Substance performing a dance number with many other dancers.

50:09And she was good. I thought that was appropriate because Bond is famed for casting the young, beautiful woman. and she seems like the kind of actress you might find in a Bond movie in the future. I wouldn't stun you if it was like Margaret Qualley is Dr. Alexandra Snakepit. Yeah. Don't steal that name, Amazon. Dr. Alexandra Snakepit is copyrighted here by the show. I feel I have said this before on previous post-Oscars broadcasts, and I admire dance and even dance in cinema. but very often there's a ballet on my oscar stage for absolutely no reason including an in memoriam one year and it's at some point you have to ask yourself why is this ballet happening on my oscar stage and i don't know if there was a good reason for the for for this particular one well it got worse exactly you know it wasn't just that there was a brief ballet it turned into a musical review.

51:12Yeah. Which I am not the bondologist that you are, but to these, these virgin ears. Yes. It was not good. Not, not, there was, these were not good choices. There are many good, you know, bond themes. Of course. Some, some of our greatest living artists have, have written and performed songs. Like Sam Smith. Well, I didn't endorse that one. Um, but first we had Lisa from Blackpink, performed Live and Let Die. Yeah, currently starring on The White Lotus. Oh, yeah. I started season two. I gotta... Congratulations. Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna get there. Speed it up. We're on to season three, lady. That was two years ago.

51:55Okay, so Lisa was doing Live and Let Die. Yes, an amazing song. Yeah. First of all, where was Axl Rose? That's really my question. Right. Like, okay, Paul couldn't do it. He just did SNL 50. Sure. He's in his cryo chamber. He's got a power up for another 75-day tour. I understand. I respect Paul's the goat. Yeah. Let's get Axl. Okay. Let's put Axl in a mankini. Let's just get him out there. Great. He's still smoking it. Okay. Okay. Not done. So that goes on for a long time. I also just want to note that all these performers were allowed multiple verses. That's true. That was weird. So then out comes Doja Cat to sing Diamonds Are Forever.

52:33Yes. In a key different than the key being performed by the accompanying orchestra. We'll leave it at that. I won't leave it at that. She was out of tune and it was a train wreck. Well, that was... That was very weird. And again, and it went on and on and on. And we're talking like eight minutes of like James Bond review at this point. And it's not done. And then they start playing the strains of one of the great Bond anthems and one of the only good original song winners in our time and someone other than Adele is brought out to perform Skyfall, I was so angry. I was just absolutely yelling at the top of my lungs.

53:17This is when I sent out a missive about being concerned about being so close to you. And she got a second verse too. Yeah. What are we doing? I actually didn't think Ray was that bad. But she's not Adele. No, she's, what do you think Adele was doing tonight? Is she still in Vegas? Is she with Chris Paul? I don't know. Chris Paul? Yeah. No, Rich Paul. Oh, Rich Paul. Sorry. Chris Paul is a basketball player. That would be shocking. Now, that would be a headline. Okay. If Chris Paul started dating Adele, she left Rich Paul at the aisle? Okay. That was really tough. It was really bad. It smacked of weird 2010s Oscars, you know, where it'd be like, and now a tribute to cars on film.

53:56Do you like driving in cars like we do? Here's a man dressed as a car performing the Bolshoi Ballet. you know it's just really weird now I'm just imagining how psyched Knox would be what's that man doing it does but it wasn't even like weird enough it wasn't weird you know when you when I think about 2010's Oscars I think about Anne Hathaway and James Franco like train wreck or whatever that Seth MacFarlane like show us your boobs number or all the you know bad decisions that I didn't enjoy but at least I wrote that song you and Camille we'll get there it's coming I'm just warming up but this was just like boring and bad it was it was you know it felt like two things at once it felt like a feint towards younger listeners like or younger watchers like don't turn off the telecast Rey is coming up kids did you not go to Anora in the theater perhaps you'll want to listen to Doja Cat sing a 50 year old Bond theme so that was weird and then on the other hand it also felt like and this is entirely clearly speculation, but it felt like perhaps the Broccoli family was like, hey, guess what?

55:07We sold Bond. Bond is dead. So tell everyone Bond is dead. And this new thing is not Bond. What we were doing was Bond, but we sold it. And so let's honor what it was. Now you can make the case that because of the ending of No Time to Die, it was not the worst idea to honor Bond, but that movie was two and a half years ago. So why didn't we do it then? So you think that this was like Barbara Broccoli programming and sending out a subliminal message of like RIP my family's entire history here's Doja Cat? Uh frankly I do. Okay well. Well I mean otherwise why would the telecast do that? I have no idea.

55:43It was baffling. Okay. It was. I'm searching for answers. Okay so that wasn't the worst thing that you saw. You were yelping a bit during that period but not No I think I was like actively yelling. Once once they gave Rey a second verse with all respect to her I was just like this is not Adele. You will not do this to my beloved Skyfall. What's your favorite Doja Cat album? I just, it was very long. And in general, there was just a lot of singing at this Oscars. As I said to you at some point, it felt like the Tonys. But it was the Oscars. We're careening around Amanda's hater corner to the other side of the corner.

56:23Now, what lives on that corner? What do you mean? I'm just trying to set you up for explaining the next one. Oh, original song? Yeah. Okay. I was just like doing some geometry. Wait, where am I? And I was like, which corner? Did you drop a pin? Do I have to come up with a new name for the corner? Yes. So Camille and the other French guy won for El Mal from Emilia Perez. Yes. And they got up and gave a whole speech and it was about how El Mal is about, you know, corruption and other stuff. And that was fine. And they talked for a long time. And then just as the music was starting, Camille started singing.

57:04She was attempting to lead a sing-along with the crowd. Unfortunately, none of the songs in Emilia Perez are memorable. And everyone now hates that movie. But she also kept going. And for some reason, the music, which I thought for the most, they were responsive. You know, they were reactive. But the music did not drown her out. And it just kept going and going and going. and I was just curled up in a fetal position. It was absolutely awful. It wasn't good. It wasn't good. It's not a good category. No. I think they need to rethink that category as well. I do, as you know. Unfortunately, even under my new rules for the category, which would be it has to be a song that is in the text and in the story of the film.

57:54It can't just be tacked on at the end. Okay. Elmall would qualify. However, under my new rules, you would also have to vote for good songs. So in that sense, it would be a no. Who is allowing you to institute new rules? Well, I'm now in charge of the Academy because that comes with the access to your ADU. So congratulations to me. We're going to have to go back maybe later this week and just replay what it is I actually agreed to. because now I think there's some fanciful notions of what's actually going to transpire in that space. I mean, what else? What else from this show? Conan had very few kind of pre-taped bits.

58:36He had Cinema Streams was really the only one of note, which also featured Martin Scorsese, which was very funny, but felt more like an SNL sketch. Kimmel would do some of those from time to time in the last few years as well. Very few presenter bits, which can really go both ways. that you can sit through some really tough ones. On the other hand, when done right, they are a pop of celebrity, of humor. You know, they're memorable and you get to see some famous people. I guess we didn't really see that many like big movie stars besides the nominees. No, and there were some, none of these, there's nothing wrong with any of these people, but Miles Teller and Miley Cyrus or Daryl Hannah by herself just seemed like kind of an odd collection.

59:20I thought it was very nice when Quentin Tarantino came out to give Best Director a prize he has not been given at the Academy Awards. And as soon as he walked out, I knew Sean Baker was going to win because Sean and Quentin are friends. And Sean frequents Quentin's movie theater. And there is a nice synchronicity there. And I thought Sean was very sweet about what Quentin's movies are and what they've meant to him. But it was just kind of an odd group of presenters. and some of it was like, sure, everybody's shooting the Nolan movie and some of it was like, okay, maybe the Oscars are no longer Hollywood prom.

59:54Right. And some of it was just like, were these purposeful choices? I couldn't really figure it out. I did like Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan at the end. I thought that was a very inspired choice and they were both good. Yeah. And they used the When Harry Met Sally IP for good instead of for mayo. They used to sell, oh, yeah, if they have commercials. What kind of mayo is it? I don't remember. As you know, I don't eat mayo. I will have an aioli. Yes, yeah. I'm on the record about that. Are there any flavors of aioli that you turned down? Because they're just too mayo. They're not, they aren't like far enough on the spectrum towards aioli.

1:00:28Like cat litter flavored or like sewer flavored. I'm not really into those. But you know, your lemon aioli, your garlic aioli. Yeah, lovely. I'm in. They were very nice. It was nice to see them. 35 years ago, Billy said, was his first time hosting the Oscars. Yeah, I think I might have mentioned that I enjoyed listening to Crystal on Conan's pod a few months ago. And they talked a lot about the Oscars, in part because Conan was getting ready. And I wonder, with Conan now, I mean, he no longer has a talk show. I think he still has a series on Max, which is more of a travel show. And he has kind of settled into this emeritus, we can all agree that this guy is fun role.

1:01:11He podcasts, right? He of course has a huge podcast. Yeah, I was going to say, excuse me. No, but I mean, in terms of like, aside from not that podcasting isn't a very important work, it should be honored at the Academy Awards. He is our peer. Frankly, if you ask me, he is our peer. Many people are saying I'm peers with Conan O 'Brien. He certainly feels like somebody who could host this show five times in a row. I really liked it. I don't know if he would have the same magic as the first time, but he just is very well suited to this kind of thing. And it's a hard job. Yeah. And it's been hard for them over the years to find people.

1:01:40One of the reasons why they've gone back to Kimmel so many times is because he's one of the very few people who not only can do it, but is good at it. So I don't know. I thought that was nice that all of that worked out. The telecast still being a little under four hours. Even I, who loves this shit, was like, this is dragon in the middle. Yes. Too many performances there. We spent a lot of time on almost everything. And, you know, I actually really liked the Fab Five presenters for both costume design and cinematography. That was where I wanted to end this. Thank you for reminding me. And I liked that because instead of, you know, I believe last year it was used in the acting categories.

1:02:20And this year, actors from each of the films came and spoke to either the costume designer or the cinematographer who had worked on the film in that. and was able to illuminate, and I think a very specific way, why, what those, what those individual people do to the film, and, and what it means to the, to the larger product that you see. So I thought that was great. I really liked it. That obviously does take more time. And you're doing, if you're doing that in the craft categories, but you're not cutting down, because you're, we got a lot of clips. And so you're getting clips in other categories.

1:02:57and then you're just not turning the dial off on some speeches that just went way, way too long. And I'm not talking about Adrian Brody. I'm talking about, you know, I don't need to single people out, but there were just some people that didn't stop talking. So... Yeah, I mean, that's always the case, right? There was just, there was no place, there were no cuts at any point. I think this is obviously a really hard show to produce and it always goes to somewhere between three hours and 20 minutes to three hours and 50 minutes Because things like that happen. People talk too long. Some bits don't work as well or performances longer than it was during rehearsal.

1:03:36This year was yet another year in which like someone like Adrian Brody, who's winning one of the four or three biggest awards of the night, is getting cut off after 90 seconds or 75 seconds. And my reaction to that is always like, why the fuck are we even here? Yeah. Like this is the best actor of the year. Why are we cutting this person off? Like what? How does this make any sense? If people are watching the show right now, they're not going to turn it off because Adrian Brody went 45 seconds too long before Best Picture. That's fucking idiotic. But it's because the shows are so front loaded and they're not managed properly.

1:04:10This happens every year. So I'm not like casting aspersions on this year's producers. It always happens. Nevertheless, the presenters thing, that's definitely one of the reasons why it was longer. I liked that particular strategy that you highlighted, which is bringing out people who are associated with the film, who are actors, who are good at reading lines. who can speak to the craft, but not make it boring. I didn't like the weird inconsistency with the acting performances where we had Dave Iandara Randolph and Robert Downey Jr., both of whom are great and I thought did fine jobs at this, but basically kind of like gave little mini speeches about each nominee in the supporting categories.

1:04:47But then in the actor and actress category... Yes, but we know exactly why. But is it only because of Carla Sophia Gascon? Yes, it is, because you turned to me... That's fucking stupid. Well, a lot of things are stupid at the Oscars, But you did also turn to me, I think, during David and Joy Randolph's presentation to say, so they're just going to have Emma Stone come out and say this about like and speak about Carla Sophia Gascon like nothing happened. And you were like, they can't do that. Right. They didn't do it. They didn't do it. They had to make a choice. I, you know, I agree that it was.

1:05:14Weird compromise, though. So, like, we saw clips for the best actor and best actress, but we didn't see clips for the supporting actors. Why? I don't know. I don't know. I didn't like that. As you know, I want clips. People really thought that there were going to be clips. And then there ultimately were. Right. But not in the acting categories. Not in the acting categories. But there were like in screenplay, for example. Well, not in supporting, but there were in actor and actress. Yes. And in screenplay and in a bunch of others too. I don't know. You know, there were a lot of inconsistencies.

1:05:40It honestly felt like there were a lot of fixes in this. Whether it was substituting for people who couldn't be there to present or sit in the front row trying to fix things like who actually wants to present best actress. like they were patching it together and to their credit like there weren't any obvious problems in the show no it was just a little strangely paced I think they didn't give out a single award until 4.30pm PST so that's 30 minutes into the show which that's a long time yeah two and a half hours in they had nine awards to get out left that's not the best pacing but it's not it's not that big of a deal to me it's more like you could feel the seams almost entirely maybe because of the Amelia Perez thing which just kind of threw everything into a wrinkle.

1:06:30And I think like attendance just seemed a little low in terms of non-nominees. I don't think there were very few people not affiliated with a nominated film who you recognize in the audience with the exception of Andrew Garfield. That's a great point. Yeah. And certainly your Leo, Ben, Matt Cruz, Denzel, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, that whole, this is the third year in a row we've been saying, like, these people do not go. No. They do not. There's not a reason to go for them anymore, which feels different, right? It doesn't feel like prom in the same way. And I think maybe that doesn't matter for younger audiences who, like, don't care that much about seeing Meryl Streep or whatever.

1:07:19But to me, one of the appeals of the Oscars has always been like all the famous people in a room together having to interact. And we don't really we didn't see them really interacting very much just because that's not the way the telecast was scheduled. And people weren't they weren't cutting back and forth. And it seemed like there weren't that many people there beyond the cast of Anora and the cast of The Brutalist. And Conclave, I guess, a few people were there. But here, let's talk about Conclave for a second. which just, I guess it won one award. One award. And they were all there. But how do you feel about having worn a Pope's hat?

1:07:57Not a Pope's hat, a Cardinal's hat. I feel fine. Yeah. My long history with Christianity is documented on this podcast. It's a film I enjoyed. I think what happened is right. I think if it had won Best Picture, that would have been even stranger. No, I completely agree. But like four hours ago, we were like, no, no. it could be a lot of things I definitely thought there was a chance it could win and as usual I would love to know what the data could tell us about the voting results I don't feel that it is as close as it was given how many awards they won and the fact that Mikey Madison also won now I'm like good lord maybe Inor really significantly outpaced everything but that's the thing is like we were talking about like oh could a movie like the brutalist bagel it didn't A Complete Unknown did and Conclave only went won for eight or nine, whatever it was nominated for, which are not great showings.

1:08:53Even Amelia Perez won two Academy Awards. So, you know, better luck next time, Popes. Yeah. Seems like Pope Francis is in better health. Oh, I'm glad to hear. I actually, I forgot to check out from that. I spoke with him today. Okay, good. He said, hey man, good luck on the show. Hope you guys do well. Any closing thoughts? So you think it wasn't even close? You think it was just Anora all the way through? I mean, I tend to agree with you. Five for six. Yeah. Do you think that that suggests just a greater, like, people just really like Anora? Do you think that there were just a lot of Anora, like, first ticket ballots?

1:09:31Do you think? I think the general consensus, both among movie fans and people within the Academy, is that this is a fine, maybe even good year and not a great year. Completely agree. And that Anora is the film that everyone could most agree on, that they had a good time with, that had good craft, and had thoughtful ideas that you were presented with but were not solved. Which is something that the Oscars used to not like and now likes a lot. And I find that interesting. Yeah. Sort of like semi-ambiguous downer ending can now win you an Academy Award. And so I think it just, it succeeded in part because of who it was competing against, which is the case every year, right?

1:10:11Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I'm also wondering, do you think it was just the most widely seen in the Academy anyway? Because I'm, you know, imagining like a lot of people being like, well, I haven't watched that many, but here are Nora's, you know, kind of got some. I think it had the longest shelf life other than Dune Part 2 because it was rubber stamped at Cannes. Yeah. And that rubber stamping really matters. You know, we saw Anatomy of a Fall win a screenwriting Oscar last year. A movie that, like, in the past would never be competing at the Academy Awards. So, I guess we'll have to keep a close eye on what's going to win the Palm this year.

1:10:48You won't be there. And neither will I. You don't know that I won't be there. You're going to go? Well, listen, it's March. You should wear that suit to honor Jacques Audillard. This suit is not ripped yet. But I just have to, actually, that's not true. I have a change of clothes. It's 9.14. The night is young. Yeah. No, but I don't think I'm going to. What are you going to go do after this? It's a great question. I was not invited to any parties. So that's actually not true. I was invited. Nian invited me to the party, but I think traffic is going to be really tough. You were not invited to the Universal party, eh?

1:11:19No. They didn't. They invited you? They did, yeah. Oh, God. you know I also really I was not invited to the Wall Street Journal party with Harrison Ford the Wall Street Journal magazine even though I know the editor Sarah Ball who's a great editor Sarah I would have loved to come to your party what's the median age at that party 74 it looked fun it was at the Chateau I'll show up I don't care I can hang hard to believe you're not getting these invites well this has been a kind of fun Oscar season I missed you for the first three months I want to thank Joanna Robinson Joanna will be joining us later this week oh good on the mailbag to talk about her thoughts.

1:11:52Oh, I didn't know. In person? In person. She's here in Los Angeles. That's really great news for me. Which will be really fun. I'm very curious. I heard from her a little bit during the show, but she helped me out enormously while you were on leave, so that was great. She was wonderful. I'm really excited to see her. Also, I guess she's here for the whole... The White Lotus Run. I want to go get a drink with Joanna. I sent her a note. Yeah. I sent a note to her and Rob Mahoney that I've been very mixed on Severance, but I've been really loving their podcasts. They're wonderful at podcasting, even though Rob is my nemesis.

1:12:19yes we'll find some opportunities to ask her what she thought maybe she'll totally disagree maybe she'll say Anora is hot trash and should be deleted from all the hard drives of the world okay yeah do you think she'll say that yes absolutely okay I think that sounds exactly right Bobby Wagner any closing thoughts well one of my closing thoughts is that Joanna is going to be really disappointed that Amy Adams did not win for her performance this year in the film The Night Bitch or just Night Bitch no the there's no the social network style yeah lose the the it's just Night Bitch Mitch. I guess my final thoughts here are that, you know, I crunched the numbers a second time because you questioned my math earlier.

1:12:55I was so offended by that. All this hard work that I put into the big Oscar bet, what's that all about? Yeah. I never questioned you. I believe in you. So the final outcomes. Yes. Let's get some great graphics work going down here as I get my close up. We're trying to get this episode up as quickly as possible so we will not be getting great graphics work going. Amanda's going Marvel executive moment. Like, We just got to get back with some more CGI. Just more Red Hulk. Just take it apart. More Red. Final predictions, outcomes. Amanda, you predicted 16 of 23. I predicted 17 of 23. Right. But we didn't, like, there's no consequence to that.

1:13:35Well, the consequence is you lost. And for the big Oscar bet, you scored 43 points and I scored 40. I did. And it all came down to Sean Baker over Brady Corbett. In Best Director. and best director yes it did so you win whatever that prize is which we'll have to listen to on maybe Wednesday's episode of the show okay I'm so thrilled thank you so much we did it we did what thank you everyone well speaking of that Wednesday episode people can submit questions for it right our post Oscars hangover mailbag thank you Bobby very good point what is the email address that people should send questions to bigpickmailbag at gmail.com yes B-I-G-P-I-C mailbag at gmail.com.

1:14:21Let's just say I don't think the ratings will be super high for this telecast. We will talk about that. Are you going to lose any sleep over that? No. As I said, I've kind of let go of a lot of that stuff. But it's relevant, I think, to what we do. And we'll talk about if there's any blowback from the parties. What do you think? I mean, it is only 9-17 here. So, you know, get in touch. I guess by the time people are listening to this, I'll be asleep. I've got a black car waiting to take me to the Chateau right now. So see you guys later. Thanks so much to Bobby Wagner, our producer, for his work on this episode and throughout awards season.

1:14:55Thank you very much to John Richter and Corey McConnell on the video side for taking care of us for the pre-show and for this episode. And for sitting through the entire awards show with us and listening to me yell. In lieu of Jack Sanders as well, who also was helping us throughout this season. This is not the end of the show, but it is mercifully the end of this season. Jack, bon voyage. Enjoy. Enjoy Sweden. and parts unknown. Thank you all to the listeners and watchers of this show. Two people in their 40s doing their best. We'll be back later this week.