As Film and Television editors, our past weeks have been centred on the build up to the Oscars – who will win, who will lose, and who will slap Chris Rock this time? But are we actually over the Oscars? Is 2025 the year we give up our beliefs in the prestigious awards?
Nikola’s Take:
In spite of the often-seen apathy towards bolder projects outside the Hollywood mainstream, the Academy Awards have only further grown their rift from the zeitgeist of cinema by tilting further towards the commercial and the populistic. Last year’s Barbenheimer phenomenon, even though it inspired audiences to return (from the couch) to the theatre; was also a clean sweep for big-buck studios and industry veterans that left emerging talents like Celine Song coming home empty handed.
With these things in mind: how do we orient ourselves towards the Oscars? If it’s worth anything, I’d suggest the antidote to the malaise is an appreciation for artists, both individual and collective, and what the ceremony means for them and their careers. Sunday night, someone will see their hard work rewarded. A previously unknown creative may get the chance to stick Academy Award winner in front of their name, allowing them to get the funding for the next project. A reminder that the cynicism and frustration we may feel is directed at the politics and the establishment behind the ceremony, not the creatives who will wake up the day after as if nothing had happened and continue to work on films that we will love.
Audrey’s Take:
The Academy this, the academy that… there’s so much unexplained about what it all means. The allure of the Oscars feel like being back in high school again; with cliques and teacher’s favourites, and the quiet kids in the back of classrooms patiently waiting and begging to be noticed.
Regardless, I’m not going to pretend that I’m completely averted to the awards. Last year, I shamelessly coerced my friend into watching with me over a bag of popcorn, and my viewing experience consisted of a website acquired from the deep trenches of film twitter, and a screenshot of the Letterboxd ballot on my iPad by my side ready to be ticked or crossed off with every announcement. Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan’s wins mattered to me; It brought me to tears in knowing how hard it is to push into an industry where you are constantly having to prove your worth, like many others. Yet, Jamie Lee Curtis’ win over Stephanie Hsu left a bitter taste in my mouth.
More on why I have a bone to pick: Saoirse Ronan, Amy Adams, Challengers, the Moonlight mistake, Brokeback Mountain, the films that are stopped short from even scraping a nomination simply because they are not respected as horror, or too “indie”. Overall, my Oscars experience is best described as restless: rewarding when the statue lands in the right hands, yet most times, gut wrenching even when it predictably won’t.
Livvie’s Take:
Okay, here’s a short guide to all of my completely irrelevant thoughts on this year’s Oscars.
Conclave was full of divas – a brilliant sequel to Mean Girls. Anora had the perfect balance of intensity, accents, and Mikey Madison being gorgeous. A Complete Unknown was a dream for Chalamet devotees and an affront to Dylan purists. Everyone should watch A Real Pain or at the very least a compilation of Culkin’s acceptance speeches. Sing Sing—one of my absolute favourites—is a profoundly moving story, not of incarceration, but of rehabilitation, and it absolutely deserved a Best Picture nomination. I’m Still Here is one of the most important films of the year and I NEED it to get some more recognition. Challenger’s should’ve scored (get it?!). I don’t like Adrien Brody. I love Jeremy Strong. Monica Barbaro supremacy.
That’s all!
Illustration by Rebecca Tate, @rebi_draws on Instagram