UPDATED 6:28 PM PT MONDAY WITH RATINGS RESULTS.
There were some truly talented and photogenic people on display last night during the 97th Oscars. And there were enough high points and some genuinely engaging moments to keep me engaged and awake–well, the first three hours at least. Memo to self: never mix migraine medication and stomach soother on an empty stomach; your head and your belly will eventually thank you.
And, hey, I have enough respect and admiration for filmmakers and sex workers to appreciate and even endorse the choice of ANORA as this year’s Best Picture. It’s a tribute to the vision of Sean Baker, the ability of Mikey Madison to create a complicated, endearing character out of a role that on paper isn’t exactly uplifting and the ability of an independent upstart like Neon Films to upstage the industry. The ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Jake Coyle recapped it well:
In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, “Anora,” the Palme d’Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker’s tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch – unusually explicit for a best-picture winner – was made for just $6 million. In personally winning four Oscars on Sunday, Baker tied the mark held by Walt Disney, who won for four different films in 1954. On the campaign trail, Baker called for the return to the 90-day exclusive theatrical release. For a film industry that’s been transformed by streaming and humbled by economic turmoil, Baker and “Anora” epitomized a kind of cinematic purity.
“Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater,” Baker said Sunday. “Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen.”
If it were that simple–if enough of America could somehow embrace the values, relatability and call to action that going out to see a film like ANORA entail–then Baker’s wish might be all the more likely to come true. But for all of the accolade it received, the sobering fact is that its U.S. box office was just under $16 million and its global take a mere $41 million–and that’s with the help of an extended and wider theatrical window in the wake of the buzz it received when it was thrown out as an arthouse effort last October. At the studios and platforms that have the capacity to employ a lot more people like Baker and Madison, those kind of numbers are called adjustments.
And it’s not like there was consensus even among those who watched it and some other more esoteric winners stride to the stage to bask in their collective glory. The reviews of ABC’s effort were decidely mixed, and clearly slanted in favorability toward the more culturally sophisticated minority of passionistas. DEADLINE’s Dominic Patten was reasonably effusive:
More than we’ve seen in a while and with a spry 81-year-old Mick Jagger in the house brimming with Bob Dylan jokes, Sunday’s Conan O’Brien-hosted 97th Oscars was a celebration of cinema and the home of Hollywood. Building on last year’s show’s long-overdue efforts to be both traditional and forward leaning, this year had few of the annoying gimmicks of recent Academy Awards and no direct mention of Donald Trump.
And INDIE WIRE’s Ben Travers took that praise to an even higher level–perhaps showing his detachment from vox populi in the process:
(I)t was funny, and it was sincere — two facets O’Brien trusted to carry him through his first gig as Oscars host, and two attributes that helped make it one of the best Oscars telecasts in years. O’Brien’s vibe also fit perfectly with the night’s big winner — “Anora,” a gleefully hilarious film when it’s caught up in the fantasy and crushingly candid once reality settles in.
Travers is certainly entitled to his opinion, and it’s clear it was shared by at least a plurality of voters. But I’m not sure he curried favor with the likes of executives who were parts of recent earnings calls that had far more dour news to report.
And there were indeed many voices that were at the other end of the spectrum who weighed in both on the event itself and the presentation, including a couple with pulpits that are more closely aligned with what some may see as the inconvenient truth of how a plurality of the country see Hollywood these days. Unsurprisingly, FOX NEWS’ Elizabeth Stanton was given the bandwidth to amplify one:
“So many Oscar voters have told me the Oscars jumped the shark. They feel this is the end of Oscars in some ways,” Fox News’ contributor and host of the “Arroyo Grande” podcast Raymond Arroyo told Fox News Digital. “I think most people haven’t seen any of these movies to be excited about them,” he continued, citing films like “Emilia Perez,” “Anora,” and “The Brutalist” as some of the contenders bringing in awards at other shows this season that haven’t drawn the kind of excitement from regular viewers.
But do remember that those who are more likely to have access to something like Hulu are also all the more likely to have eschewed the theatrical experience for something like ANORA–and at the rate those services are increasing their prices, there’s a good chance they might not be flocking out so quickly for even the more populist fare planned for the balance of 2025. So maybe the Neon team and the zealots who love them are celebrating tonight (and, likely, this morning) but I’m not so sure the brand name entities are following suit. Which ultimately may mean fewer films like this get made, 90-day window or not. In which case, was this really a win?