Oscars 2025

I know that I am in the minority here, but I always enjoyed Jimmy Kimmel as the host for the Academy Awards. However, if you are going to upgrade, then Conan O’Brien is the perfect choice. He was able to bring his brand of humor, while letting us know that he loves movies like the rest of us weirdos who watch this award show. My favorite joke was the Babygirl orgasm line…perfect Conan self-deprecation. 

I enjoyed the opening musical number. Payton enjoyed Wicked (although she has never watched The Wizard of Oz and had no clue what song Ariana Grande was singing), so she was singing along to “Defying Gravity.” I also loved the Bond segment. I only knew one of the singers, but I thought all three crushed it. I just found out the other day that Lisa is some huge K-Pop star (I thought she was just some new actress on season three of The White Lotus). I don’t know who Raye is, but she crushed Adele’s “Skyfall.” I did not like that they removed the live performances of the best songs. My friend, Michelle, said that the Academy wanted to put more focus on the song-writers, which makes sense…but still sucks. 

My picks were terrible, 13-10. I finished behind Gideon & Sean. They were both 15-8, but Gideon must have won the tie-breaker. I only saw six of the movies nominated in all categories. There are a few of the movies I plan to watch soon. Probably should have watched them before I did my picks. Next year I will do better. 

One movie I did see was A Real Pain. And I agree with the Academy that Kieran Culkin was excellent. I loved his story and bet with his wife (although, I am sure there are people outraged that he is pressuring her to have babies or something). I am also not sure if Kieran is actually a great actor, or just being himself. I saw an interview with Jesse Eisenberg, and he basically said something similar. Granted, I do think his performance in A Real Pain was different enough from his character in Succession. I guess that is something great actors do, they incorporate bits of themselves into the role to make it feel more genuine. Roman felt real, Benji felt real…hell, even Fuller felt real. Yeah, Kieran is a great actor.

So what did you think of this years Oscars? What movies did you see? Any winners that you completely disagree with?