Respect the balance: The highs and lows of the 2025 Oscars

One of the most anticipated nights of the year happened. The 2025 Academy Awards aired on March 2 was interesting, to say the least. It was not one of the craziest, but it had its moments.

Let’s start with some highlights. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the show with a beautiful medley of songs from “The Wizard of Oz,” including “The Wiz,” and “Wicked.” The two nominated actresses started the show on the right note–no pun intended.

Then our beloved host, Conan O’Brien, enters by referencing the best picture nominee, “The Substance,” by climbing out of Demi Moore’s body. His opening monologue was good, but nothing spectacular. It included a short comedic musical number which was very much like Conan of him.

He also made a Kendrick Lamar and Drake joke halfway through the show, which was funny and a risk, so props to him.

Nick Offerman was also the announcer during the show, which was a nice surprise. He would throw in some lighthearted jokes that keep everyone on their toes.

Throughout the show, they highlighted crew members, like costume designers. For those categories, they brought out an actor from each nominated movie and they said kind words about the nominee.

Speaking of costume designers, Paul Tazewell made Oscar history by being the first Black man to win Best Costume Design for “Wicked.” He was previously nominated for Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.”

One of the big surprises of the night was that “I’m Still Here” won Best International Film over “Emilia Pérez.” Despite the controversies, “Emilia Pérez” swept at a lot of the award shows this year, so a lot of people assumed it would also be taking home plenty of Oscars. So, seeing a film get the recognition it deserved was nice.

“Anora” was the big winner of the night with five Oscars including Best Picture. Mikey Madison also won Best Actress for her role as Anora.

Going into the show, people believed Demi Moore would secure Best Actress for her role as Elisabeth Sparkle in “The Substance.” Moore was great in her film, but Madison fully enchanted the audience in her film. 

Now let’s talk about some of the lowlights of Hollywood’s biggest night.

There was a random James Bond tribute that featured singers Lisa, Doja Cat, and Raye. Not that this was bad, but there was no specific reason why they did this.

There was no Bond anniversary, to be celebrating despite there being a new Bond film in the works. I thought they were going to announce who will be the new Bond. There have been talks about Aaron Taylor-Johnson taking on the role, but no. They just did a song and dance number for fun, I guess! 

The “In Memoriam” tribute left out Michelle Trachtenberg in the montage, only days after her death. It also featured a choir singing Mozart’s Requiem, which I thought was a little harsh and for lack of better words, tone-deaf. 

Towards the end of the night, Adrien Brody took home the Best Actor for “The Brutalist.” This was upsetting after information was leaked that AI was used to make his accent in the film more authentic. 

I mean, isn’t using AI not making it authentic? 

Whatever. This was also upsetting because the favorite-to-win was Timothee Chalamet for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” If Chalamet won, he would break the record for being the youngest winner in that category. 

And who holds that record currently? Adrien Brody. What a rush that would have been. 

During Brody’s acceptance speech, he yelled at the music pit to stop “playing him off” because he wanted to finish his speech. And they listened to him but again, it felt very tone-deaf. 

Here is this crazy, rich actor who is telling the workers to stop doing their job so he can finish his speech, which by the way, the internet hated his speech. 

But the Superbowl for my fellow pop culture fanatics is over, unfortunately. For Hollywood’s biggest night, it was pretty tame. No one slapped each other in the face or kissed anyone on stage. 

The next closest thing we have to look forward to is probably the Met Gala. But for one of the most prestigious nights of the year, was it a success? I’m not sure, but I had fun. 

Madison McKernan is a writer for The Setonian’s Opinion section. She can be reached at madison.mckernan@student.shu.edu.