I like Conan O'Brien as the Oscars host and thought he did a great job again. He's always been willing to be goofy and off-beat, which means some jokes might not land, but it makes for a less predictable and more lively show. The cold open was a fun bit with him made up as Amy Madigan's creepy character Gladys from the film Monsters, chased by kids through several of the nominated films, with perhaps the funniest being a slow, somber interlude with him speaking Norwegian with Stellan Skarsgård. His opening monologue was strong. (His post-credits sequence was pretty dark, and a spoiler if you hadn't seen One Battle After Another.)
Several other prepared bits were strong. An ad for fake company "Ventura Crossroads," cropping classic movies for a vertical format to create recuts such as Two Angry Men, was funny and also disturbing for cutting too close to the truth. Conan also did a funny, painful bit trying to summarize Casablanca for younger viewers. (The relentless real ads for Burger King during the broadcast were much less welcome.)
I'm not a fan of individual tributes for nominees, because they typically drag and get way too gushy. But it made some sense when awarding the first Oscar for casting, because the general audience wouldn't be familiar with the nominees (all women) and what their job entails, so it was an effective way to honor them all.
The montage of death/memoriam segment was much less effective than usual because it used text too small to read on a TV screen, and probably too small in the actual theater as well. It made sense to single out Robert Redford for special recognition (by Barbra Streisand), because in addition to being a movie star actor and quite a good director, he founded the Sundance Institute and Film Festival, which have launched many careers and leave an impressive, ongoing legacy. I thought Robert Duvall, one of the best actors of his generation, should have gotten a little more time. Rachel McAdams gave a nice, brief tribute to her costar Diane Keaton, and also mentioned Claudia Cardinale, Diane Ladd and fellow Canadian Catherine O'Hara.
The best awards presenters were probably Kumail Nanjiani for best live action short, who joked about shortening various movies (It's a Wonderful Month, No Country for Old Man, Some of That Jazz, etc.) and gracefully handling a rare tie. Adrian Brody wisely mocked his interminable, self-indulgent acceptance speech from the previous year. The Bridesmaids cast were funny presenting the awards for Best Score and Best Sound, even if they did go on a bit long.
It was nice to see Amy Madigan win Best Supporting Actress for Weapons – she's been good for a long time, and she's unrecognizable and memorably creepy in the film. I was rooting for Delroy Lindo to win Best Supporting Actor for Sinners, but winner Sean Penn was admittedly fantastic in One Battle After Another. Michael B. Jordan gave a gracious speech for winning Best Actor for Sinners, and Irish actress Jessie Buckley was charmingly overwhelmed for winning Best Actress for Hamnet. Joachim Trier , who won Best International Feature Film for Sentimental Value gave the usual thanks to his family, but also celebrated his cast, crew, and fellow international nominees. (He also quoted James Baldwin, "who makes us remember that all adults are responsible for all children, and let's not vote for politicians who don't take this seriously into account.") Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who won Best Cinematography for Sinners, became the first woman and first woman of color to win the category, and celebrated all the women in the industry for their support and example. Ludwig Göransson won his third Oscar for his score for Sinners, and gave a short and generous speech. The score and soundtrack for the film were superb and easily the best of the year.
Relatedly, the show had performances for only two of the nominated Best Songs. I preferred the blues tune "I Lied to You" from Sinners, and the show recreated a key sequence from the film on stage. But there was little doubt that ubiquitous tune "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters was going to win, and the winners were thrilled.
The show wasn't too political, apart from some of Conan O'Brien's quips, remarks for Best Documentary Feature winner Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Joachim Trier's diplomatic remarks about talking care of children, and Javier Bardem say "no to war" and "free Palestine."
The best moments were probably a salute to Los Angeles firefighters and first responders (who justifiably received a standing ovation) and a tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner led by long-time friend and collaborator Billy Crystal, who was joined by many other Reiner actors and actresses on stage.
The big contest of the night was between One Battle After Another and Sinners. I thought both were excellent and would have been happy with either winning Best Picture. Appropriately, they won the two screenplay awards for Best Adapted and Best Original Screenplay, respectively. (The screenplay awards often go to the actual best film of the year even if it doesn't win Best Picture.) I thought One Battle After Another was a bit better and more timely, and Paul Thomas Anderson has made several excellent films over a few decades, so I was glad to see him win. (He joked that the Academy really makes you work for an Oscar.) Anderson also gave nice recognition for veteran first assistant director Adam Somner, who died late in 2024 and posthumously shared in the Best Picture Oscar; One Battle After Another was dedicated to him.
As for the other films, I intend to watch Sentimental Value, Train Dreams, and The Secret Agent, as well as Hamnet after I read the book, although I know the real life story behind it. I did see Frankenstein, Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Writer-director Guillermo del Toro loves Frankenstein and owns several originals of Bernie Wrightson's stellar illustrations for the book, which del Toro homages in the film. The movie has some great moments, but some of del Toro's choices seem bad and inexplicable. A slavish adaptation would have had problems, but in several spots, he would have had a stronger film if he just followed the essence of the book more closely instead of inventing weaker substitutes. If nothing else, he needed more scenes between Victor and the Creature to show how the relationship progressed – when Victor hears the Creature speak for the first time, he doesn't even show surprise or wonder, just disdain. Superman was fun, especially because he wasn't invincible as in some other films, and an interview scene between Superman/Clark and Lois that goes on and off the record was wonderfully written, directed, and performed, telling us about the characters, their relationship, and setting up the stakes of the film, all while being funny. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best film of the quartet to date, although that's a low bar to hurdle. I thought setting the film in the 60s when the first comics came out was a good choice. I really wished Pedro Pascal had shaved his moustache to play Reed Richards, though. I did appreciate the recognition for Jack Kirby, who created the characters. The movie ends with a quotation from him, there's a character representing him briefly shown in the film, and "Earth-828" is a reference to his birthday. (And his family was invited to the premiere.)
I still need to catch up on my films from 2025, and 2026 had a number of tentpole movies. Happy viewing.
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