'One Battle After Another' comes out on top on a mostly surprise-free Oscar night
Paul Thomas Anderson won his first, second and third Oscars on a night that was choppier than last year, but still better than average.
I remember the days when I almost always ended Oscar night angry, whether because I was so unhappy with the results, or because the show had been so shoddy and overdone.
But just in time for my making peace with the mantra that “the Oscars are never fair,” it seems like the longtime Oscar problems have been somewhere close to solved. For the third or fourth year in a row, the show wasn’t a disaster, and the Academy has also made good choices for (most of) its winners. That’s how it’s gone for the last three years, first Oppenheimer/Barbie/Poor Things, then Anora/The Brutalist, and now Sinners/One Battle After Another.
Not to say that it was a perfect night, as it wasn’t nearly as smooth a show as last year’s. But I ended Oscar night happy, on a night when there were no massive surprises among the winners’ list.
The big story going into the night was One Battle After Another vs. Sinners, and at the end of the night, OBAA had six statues and Sinners four, which is about right, I think. Ryan Coogler won his first Oscar, for screenplay, and I imagine he’ll eventually win for Director and/or Picture.
As for Paul Thomas Anderson, for all the great movies he’s made, he went into the night Oscar-less, but now he has three, for writing, directing, and Best Picture.
On the show itself, Conan O’Brien did a great job hosting, and the opening bit, with Conan spliced into various movies, was fantastic, recalling the opening bits from back in the Billy Crystal era.
Credit to Conan, also, for avoiding the sort of lengthy, deathly crowd-work bits that Jimmy Kimmel used to always do. However, the show did have quite a bit of comedy that didn’t land, especially nearly all of the banter between presenters, most of which was stiff and awkward. I have no idea what Robert Downey, Jr., and Chris Evans were attempting, but whatever it was, it didn’t work.
And of course, the In Memoriam was probably the best I’ve ever seen in all my years covering the Oscars. Yes, it was long. But the Reiner tribute was beautiful, as were the honors for Diane Keaton and Robert Redford.
(Per the Academy’s photo caption, the people on stage for the Reiner tribute were: Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jerry O'Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga. Not Corey Feldman, though.)
And yes, some people were left out of the In Memoriam, because some always have to be. They can’t always include everyone, and there always has to be room for people who weren’t actors or household names. James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane and Malcolm-Jamal Warner were known much more for their TV acting than their movie work. Sure, I’d have included Bud Cort and Brigitte Bardot, but it’s not up to me.
Gene Hackman, who died before the Oscars last year, had a tribute then.
And I really loved that closing bit with Conan and Jim Downey, and I’m so glad Downey, after all this time, is finally a recognizable-enough figure for that joke to even make sense:
A few more thoughts on Oscar night:
