Looking back at Oscar history, we can see how often past winners were Huge A movie in the range. from World in 80 days In Gladiatorthe epic was the name of the game. It’s still a trend that appears (last year Oppenheimeras an example). However, the 2025 Academy Awards proved that Oscar voters really appreciate the smaller-range stories as well. aor It won the best photo along with four other major awards.
In fact, of the candidates this year, aor It’s not just one small story, it’s also a story that might perhaps be best described as a comedy. (Proof that things have Really Changed for Oscars. ) The momentum was so strong that it overwhelmed Demi Moore’s expected victory. material; Moore’s awards season story was powerful, but it was unable to overcome the Academy’s love for the story of Mikey Madison’s sex worker playing against Russian oligarchs.
Perhaps when host Conan O’Brien joked late in the evening, “people are excited to see someone stand up to the powerful Russian.” That joke was probably one of the very few of the nights that were politically themed for the record. Otherwise, what is happening in American politics today would have been left largely on the sidelines. Overall, the most political moments of the night came from the winner of the documentary feature film. There are no other landsHe spoke in their acceptance speech about “the heinous destruction of Gaza and its people must end, and the Israelites were cruelly filmed in the crime on October 7th.”
This year’s biggest victory in epic has been achieved A brutal person: Brady Corbet’s very long drama and The complete unknown Both were tracked for many years in the lives of male protagonists, and Adrian Brody eventually won Timote Chalametto for playing a fictional architect. In fact, perhaps the biggest loser of the night was Bob Dylan. Not only did his biopic win, but the legendary folk singer was also the butt of multiple jokes, including Mick Jagger, who pointed out that he was young all night.
Entering this year’s awards, there were many question marks as to who would actually win in multiple categories. The real pain. Otherwise, there was a considerable amount of wealth shared from an awards standpoint, with eight of the 10 best picture nominees winning at least one award. (Nickel Boys It was the only other shutout nominated for Best Picture and adapted script. ) This wealth sharing was especially true in the craft category. A brutal person Cinematography and scores, conclave I’m taking it evil Obtaining production design and costume design, Emilia Perez Win with the original song, Dunes: Part 2 Takes sound and visual effects.
As for the production, O’Brien didn’t run the ship tightly as he promised in the opening monologue (which included a cocky time-wasting music number about things that night wasn’t wasted either): the show ran for 3 hours and 45 minutes. At least it was scattered with bits of quality comedy overnight, like Ben Stiller’s presentation at the Bent Production Design Award (below).
Meanwhile, the Memoriam segment has not turned into a distracting dance party on stage, like in the past few years. Instead, the producers probably went in the most dramatically different direction possible. Requiem The deceased was recognized via montage. It was almost a touch Too much A burden; more emotional impact, Morgan Freeman’s homage to Heartfelt’s homage just passed away this week at the age of 95.
Still, the great touch from In Memoriam is that it shows the achievements of the artists below, and ensures that they specify films that work with talents they don’t know by name. In fact, O’Brien’s monologue recognizing hardworking men and women responsible for what we see on screen, and five presenter formats paying homage to candidates in cinematography, costume design and other categories, Oscar has shown much respect for filmmaking crafts at all scales.
Will another intimate film win the 2026 Academy Awards? There is a notable epic that is due to be released in 2025. However, in a year like this, the movies are aor You can win like this. Literally anything is possible with Oscars. I’m grateful for the magic of the movie.
(TagStoTRASSLATE) Oscar (T) Oscar 2025