By Valerie Milano
Hollywood, CA (The Hollywood Times) 3/3/25 – The Academy Awards have seen its share of controversy. The Will Smith B-slap, The Kevin Hart mess, 2017’s La La Land debacle, not to mention Jack Palance’s famous one arm push-up routine. 2025 saw Oscar do nothing wrong except being utterly forgettable. Conan O’brien served as host.
This year sees a Hollywood community with tired spirits. The near extinction-level fire event in Malibu and Pacific Palisades. Not to mention the incineration of nearby Altadena. The election of Donald Trump was another chilling gut punch to a predominantly liberal industry town.
Darrell Hannah gave a brief attaboy to Ukraine. Adrien Brody pleaded for peace, love and understanding for quite a long while. A few other oblique political jabs were thrown; but nobody went hard to the paint. Where have you gone Jimmy Kimmel? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
The show was briskly paced by Oscar standards, and the producers were in full play-off mode for all second-tier winners. The staging was scaled down and (ok I’ll say it) a bit drab.
Here are some Oscar hits and misses:
The triple Diva treatment of James Bond movie themes was surprisingly flat (both literally and figuratively). However, Doja Cat was mesmerizing in a sparkly, see-through, lattice-work dress that was truly jaw-dropping.
Penelope Cruz gets the ‘best old Hollywood’ fashion award. Her dress was white, simple, elegant with trails and shoulders to die for.
Oprah and Whoopi did a nice tribute to Quincy Jones. Strange that when listing his accomplishments, the words Michael and Jackson were never uttered.
Presenters Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan gave (us boomers) a bittersweet taste of the epochal rom com When Harry Met Sally. Both uplifting and sad; it only served to remind us that life will never be that sweet and uncomplicated again.
Bob Dylan wisely took a hard pass on attending and presenting. Mick Jaggar filled in and did a cute riff about adding a shot of youth to the proceedings (Dylan is 83. Jaggar is 81).
Sorry, Edward Norton (in the role of Pete Seegar) was robbed.
The Sandworm from Dune was good for one comedic bit. Not two.
The L.A. Fire Department was rightfully honored by the community they tried to rescue. O’brien wisely outsourced his best wildfire joke to one of the first responders; “All of our hearts go out to those who have lost their homes. I’m talking about the producers of Joker 2”.
In Memoriam had many scratching their heads. Lots of technicians and industry back-benchers were honored. However, Shannon Doherty, Martin Mull and Morgan Spurlock failed to make the cut. Wha??
After carting home two armfuls of Oscars, Sean Baker will have to come to terms with the fact that these are the good old days.
Anora was a true Indie surprise, nabbing 5 Oscars. Including Best Picture.
I feel for Oscar. Tough gig. The glorious pantheon of pretend trying to entertain an audience of fatigued, besieged souls. Conan gave it all he had, but we needed the acidic PH balance of a Kevin Hart, Chris Rock would have been a deliciously subversive choice. How about swinging for the fences with Ricky Gervais?
Oscar went for a safety. Can’t say I blame him. Let’s get this crappy year over with and try again in 2026.
