The 97th Oscars took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Many fans felt that some movies were robbed and that there were better nominees who should have won. With the Grammy controversy and now the Oscars disappointments, fans wonder how accurate the votes actually are.
The star of the Oscars was “Anora,” which won Best Picture and Best Film Editing. Mikey Madison won Actress in a Leading Role for her part in “Anora.” Sean Baker won Directing for his directing of “Anora.” While the film did win the most number of awards that night, fans believe that it was not good enough compared to other nominees such as “Wicked,” ”The Brustalist,” “The Substance” and “Dune Part ll.” In reference to the unfair and questionable choices, English and Photojournalism teacher Austin Sibel called [the actors] “posers.”
Many fans say that “Wicked” was stabbed and robbed of awards. It was nominated for five awards, including Best Picture and Film Editing. Both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were nominated for their roles in the movie musical but, unfortunately, didn’t win. “Wicked” did win Production and Costume Design and was nominated for many more awards that it should have won. Both of those awards went to “Anora,” which viewers can describe as a pathetic, embarrassing, revolting and superficial nonsense movie. On the other side, “Wicked” was spectacular and a visually stunning experience that captivates viewers with its unbelievable hair, makeup, costumes and set design.
Another movie that was snubbed is “Inside Out 2.” It was nominated for Animated Feature Film but was beaten by “Flow.” “Flow” was not as emotionally relatable or anticipated as the other nominees. Watching “Flow” was dull compared to “Inside Out 2” or “Wild Robot,” which should have won the award. Both movies were highly anticipated and better received than “Flow.” Overall, “Flow” feels AI-generated and does not keep viewers’ attention.
“The Brutalist” won Cinematography in a close race with “Dune Part ll.” It was also nominated for Directing, Production Design and Visual Effects. Adrien Brody won Actor in a Leading Role for his role in “The Brutalist.” The movie is an extraordinary piece of cinema and a powerful story. However, there was a slight snag in this story’s popularity. It was found that the filmmakers were using AI in a few ways. One instance of their AI use was in the characters’ voices. According to Vanity Fair Dávid Jancsó [the editor of The Brutlist] revealed that the production used Ukrainian software company Respeecher, which specializes in AI voice-generating technology, to make Jones and Brody sound more authentic when they spoke Hungarian in the film. They also state that “the end of the film features renderings of László Tóth designed blueprints and their completed buildings. The article [from RedShark] says those were also partially AI-generated.” Brady Corbet is pushing back against claims that AI was used to generate the renderings of the buildings and blueprints. But despite all this, they still keep their award as deserved.
Moving on from AI, Kieran Culkin won Supporting Actor in a Supporting Role for “A Real Pain.” He beat Guy Pearce in “The Brutalist” and Yura Borisov in “Anora.” This surprised many people as “The Brutalist” was a fan favorite, and “Anora” seemed to be a winner according to the Oscars rather than the people. Culkin is the brother of the “Home Alone” star, Macaulay Culkin, and Culkin seems to be following in his brother’s footsteps.
Overall, there were many good moments to balance the bad. The controversy at events like this is growing, leading viewers to question the votes and wonder what really goes on behind the scenes.
