It’s the middle of February, and we are soaring through awards season — BAFTAs, The Guild Awards, Golden Globes, CCA, you name it! To most people, these menial acronyms bear no significance. They might not even mean much to the average film buff. Nonetheless, we’ve made it through redundant nights of red carpets, semi-awkward interviews, lip reading in the background of camera shots, and dramatized gasps when that tightly sealed envelope is opened and read to the audience. The Brutalist! Demi Moore! Wicked! Why do we sit through these dense and drawn out award ceremonies? All for that one night of pure Hollywood cinematic elation, a completely facetious celebration of the stars we can’t help but devour despite its serious flaws — the Oscars.
Despite the recent devastating wildfires in the LA area, reports have debunked any discourse claiming that they were on the verge of being cancelled for the first time in its 96 year long history. Thus, come March 2nd at 5:00 p.m., we will be seated and ready to see host Conan O’Brien stroll on stage and kick off the 97th Academy Awards ceremony. Once again, the online film community will merge with the larger internet force as quips and reactions start to jump from ABC’s live TV airing to Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, to commiserate in the night’s most controversial moments (as we saw with Will Smith’s memorable altercation in 2022).
Now, the logistics — there will be 23 categories recognizing the best films that were released in 2024. With the exception of Best Picture, each group has five films or nominees that the academy voters have cast their votes on. The 82nd awards in 2009 made this change to expand the Best Picture choices from 5 to 10, a similar choice that they had made from over 50 years prior. I think this was a shift in the right direction, allowing more films to make it into the top race from more diverse backgrounds. The likely best film contenders this year include: Anora, Conclave, and until recent controversy, Emilia Perez and The Brutalist.
Well, in actuality, the drama has been brewing for much longer. Emilia Perez was nominated for 13 Oscars, making it into a rare club of just 10 movies ever to be nominated for 13 or more awards. For reference, fellow members of this club include Forrest Gump, Chicago, and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Not movies known for sparking largely negative and visceral reactions from across the world, like Emilia Perez. For boasting a movie with reformative transgender and Mexican narratives, people are upset by its “profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman” and misrepresentation of Mexico. As well, disparaging and hurtful tweets recently resurfaced from lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón. How public reception and Gascón’s past words will affect the movie come Oscars night is highly anticipated.
Another last minute controversy stemmed from the behemoth film that had been quietly soaring to the frontrunner spot — The Brutalist. Generative AI was revealed to have been used in the movie to enhance the main stars’ Hungarian dialects and speech. The director, Brady Corbet, issued a statement defending the authenticity of the main stars’ acting, saying: “[Adrien Brody] and [Felicity Jones’s] performances are completely their own.” How willing audiences are to believe him, and how willing audiences are to let AI seep into the film editing background, are divisive and volatile issues — two words you don’t want associated with your film mere weeks before Oscars night.
Despite controversy and drama, there are still wonderful films being recognized on film’s biggest stage on film’s biggest night of the year. For instance, Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers are being recognized for their jointly directed documentary No Other Land, detailing the resistance of Palestinian people as they are forced out of their homeland and the formation of unlikely friendships, which has been nominated for best documentary feature film. Despite not getting picked up from any American studios, there are still ways to watch this vital movie.
Whether you have any stake in these awards or not (I am personally rooting for Anora), the Oscars are the one chance for film enthusiasts everywhere to share our collective passion at the same time, witnessing how the movies we poured our hearts into over the past year fare on the dazzling silver screen, relishing for a brief moment in the best cinematic achievements and moving acting performances that shared with us new stories, before we retreat and wait all over again for that same electrifying feeling next year.
Watch the 2025 Oscars this Sunday, Mar. 2 at 7pm ET live on ABC or streaming on Hulu. Don’t miss it!