MJ's Oscars After Party: "The Good, the Bad and the Chalamet."

Did you stay awake? Last night's Oscar show was another hodge podge of fun, whimsy, tedium and surprises, and clocked in at 4 hours, 19 minutes. I've noted a few highs and lows for your post-Oscar pleasure:

THE HIGHS

Questions about whether the Oscars would even be held this year ran hot during the recent LA wildfires. With some ceremonies and announcements (including the Oscar noms) postponed and others cancelled, it was unclear if the Dolby theater would be available or whether the ceremony would go on.

But, like any good show, the Oscars went on as planned, but with a few changes to the traditional program: no Best Original Songs were performed. Instead, a "tribute" to Los Angeles would highlight the show. That tribute opened the show with a beautiful montage of movies that featured Hollywood: iconic moments flashed on the big screen, culminating in the images of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling dancing up to observe a stunning LA Skyline from 2017's Oscar-nominated La La Land.

A grand start that segued to Ariana Grande singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" before her Wicked partner Cynthia Erivo joined her for a "Defying Gravity" duet. I liked the idea of honoring a Hollywood classic and then pairing it with its contemporary counterpart (for the uninformed, Wicked is the backstory of the Witches in The Wizard of Oz), it felt like the opening song went on a bit too long.

For instance, Grande didn't need to sing the entire song which kind of lost its nostalgic glow by the time she finished. Let Erivo, which clearly has the more more powerful, evocative voice, get the chase: that now-familiar climatic aira that defies gravity. I would have trimmed the length of the opening medley to about three minutes and then let Conan start the opening monologue.

On the subject of Oscar hosts, monologues and such, Conan O'Brian didn't embarrass himself. He was, in fact, quite sharp and spot-on with several zingers. I especially appreciated the way he recognized the publicly shamed nominee, Karla Sofía Gascón, the victim of a social media smear that will likely be a topic of conversation for years to come, for its impact on frontrunner Emilia Pérez.

After a memorable acceptance speech on behalf of the film at this year's Golden Globe Awards, Gascón was mostly absent from the remaining ceremonies due to the media backlash against racist tweets she allegedly posted ten years ago. Despite her denial about the accusations, animosity toward the first transgender Oscar nominee intensified, and Netflix removed her image from all of the movie's Oscar campaign materials.

But her invitation to the ceremony (fortunately) was never revoked, and she quietly solidified her historic nomination attending last night's ceremony. O'Brian made a clever quip comment about the number of times "fuck" was used in Anora being second only to Gascón's publicist when her old tweets were exposed. Applause erupted, but then turned to appreciation as he acknowledged her work and her presence at the ceremony. A nice, if somewhat sad moment, another reminder that, as much as Oscar professes to honor "greatness," politics, popularity, and the whims of AMPAS voters have as much influence as recognizing great artistry.

There were some memorable acceptance speeches last night: Kieran Culkin's now expected riff on all things personal and professional was refreshingly funny and genuine. Director Sean Baker's impassioned plea for people to keep going to see movies in the theater was heartfelt and touching. He's my new favorite champion of keeping movies in the theater and not straight-to-streaming.

But the most stirring speech came from the makers of No Other Land, recipient of the Best Documentary, a movie no distributor offered to pick up, given its controversial subject and its Palestinian-Israeli collaboration: the four filmmakers are activists in what they describe as "an act of resistance on the path to justice during the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." Hearing how the ongoing conflict affects personal and global matters from two of the movie's creators was powerful in its simplicity, a raw call to world leaders to work more diligently toward peace.

And then, of course, there was Mick. Jagger. Of the Rolling Stones. Making an unannounced appearance to present Best Original Song, Jagger worked the audience the way only Mick can, joking that he was subbing for Bob Dylan who "didn't really want to come" and suggested they get somebody "younger" (Jagger is 81; Dylan 83).

I received multiple texts when Mick appeared, from well-meaning friends who figured his presence would be my favorite part of the night. He brought a much-needed energy about half-way into a very long show... so, close but not quite. There was another moment I'd call my favorite.

My favorite moment of the night was the unlikely pairing of Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn to present the Best Animated Feature. Granted, there were other interesting duos: Miles Teller and Miley Cyrus waxing rhapsodic about sound, and the reunion of Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal from 1989's When Harry Met Sally to present Best Picture.

But the rationale between matching Garfield and Hawn as presenters wasn't clear until Garfield interrupted the introduction of nominees to tell Goldie how much she meant to his mother, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2019:

Goldie, can I tell you something really quickly? There is a person who

gave my mother during her life the most joy and comfort – and tonight,

I feel very lucky because I get to thank that person from the bottom

of my heart. That person is Goldie Hawn.

Hawn was clearly surprised and genuinely touched by Garfield's heartfelt admission, giving the usually stilted presenters' banter a moment of honesty and truth. The power of cinema, for sure. May as well have dropped the mic after that.

THE LOWS

Despite O'Brian's quick wit and solid efforts to move the show along, the ceremony itself still ran over four hours. That's right. Over four hours. Even if the Oscars is your Super Bowl, you had to feel the length dragging by the third hour.

Why so long? One noticeable thing that slowed the action down was overlong (and unnecessary) musical production numbers. In addition to the aforementioned opening which included an over-lengthy Wizard-Wicked-Wiz showstopper, there was a silly little ditty that closed Conan's opening monologue. Maybe the producers felt they needed something to tie the jokes to the awards, but the result was superfluous and uneffective.

Then there was the James Bond tribute, complete with dancers and former Oscar-winning Best Original Songs. These songs were performed in place of this year's Best Original Song nominees, perhaps because none of the songs this year were memorable outside of their respective films. What a concept.

Finally, there was the homage to Quincy Jones, whose contributions to music and film were immeasurable, but whose work was reduced last night to Queen Latifah singing "Ease on Down the Road" from The Wiz. No shade on the Queen, but I think something got lost there.

In addition, there were unusually long introductions to some of the nominees. I knew we were in for a long night when Robert Downey, Jr., appeared to present the first award of the evening - Best Supporting Actor - and proceeded to give his personal assessment of each of the candidates. That he knew each one personally was great, so the comments seemed genuine, but when Da'Vine Joy Randolph was called upon to pass the torch to Best Supporting Actress awhile later, she obviously did not have the same personal relationships with her peers as Downey.

The result was that she read some lovely, if someone stilted, comments on each of the nominated actresses and their respective roles, and it sounded forced. Not that Randolph did a bad job, but her lack of familiarity with the nominees made for a more awkward appraisal of their performances.

Could we return to letting clips of the performances speak for themselves and avoid the contrived, fake congratulatory introductions? That might alleviate what sometimes follows...bad acceptance speeches.

And then there were some of those, notably Adrien Brody's long (Confirmed: the longest acceptant speech ever in the history of the Oscars), and pompous attempt to show how sensitive and relevant he is. Brody rambled on and on, trying to punctuate his win with a profound message, but when the orchestra started to play him off, we might have gotten a glimpse of the real Adrien Brody: "Please stop the music and let me finish. I've been here before [a reference to his 2003 win for The Pianist]...this isn't my first rodeo."

Really, Adrien? How do you really feel? No acknowledgement of his fellow nominees. Just faux references to how his personal life was connected to his character in The Brualist. Brody, whose father is Jewish and mother is Catholic, was not raised in any Christian or Jewish tradition, according to his bio, so his attempt to create some cultural connection to his cinematic alter ego seemed forced and arrogant. But, you know, Hollywood is as enamoured by charlatans as claims to celebrate truth and beauty, so maybe I should be used to the smiling fakery that passes for real emotion.

THE CHALAMET

Okay. I'll admit last night was a bit of a downer after Timothée Chalamet lost Best Actor to Adrien Brody. Not that it was unexpected. Brody had been winning pretty much everything all season. But when Timmy snagged a SAG award last week, I was hopeful that maybe he'd gained some late momentum for what is sure to be remembered as a transformative performance as Bob Dylan in James Mangold's nontraditional biopic, A Complete Unknown.

I do hope that the "ammo," the fuel Chalamet said he felt after winning the SAG will propel him to another nomination soon. His aspiration to greatness may seem arrogant to some, but his resume of strong performances has been growing since 2018. I can't wait to experience the next iteration of Timmy.

Another disappointing takeaway from the 2025 Oscars is the reaffirmation that Hollywood just can't deal with older women and the characters they play. Demi Moore's had a great run this awards season, and her performance in The Substance was definitely Oscar-worthy. But last night it felt as though Hollywood still regards Demi as a "popcorn" actress who got as far as she could (re: fell short of an Oscar).

Instead, the award went to a 25-year-old newcomer whose character is yet another iteration of Hollywood's storytelling through a male-dominated male gaze, one that lacks depth, nuance, and maturity. Not that I have any oppositions to movies about sex workers, but consider this: Mikey Madison is the twelfth actress to win an Oscar for playing some variation of a prostitute. Are there no other believable (re: winnable?) roles for women? I'm curious what the Oscar will do for Madison's career. Where does she go from here?

Even if Madison rode on Anora's coattails and the Oscars are beginning to show the impact of its more diverse AMPAS membership, meaning European and International voters tend to favor smaller, independent movies over big budget productions, there were other, better independent films than Anora. Emilia Pérez, Nickel Boys and A Real Pain are just three examples of richer, smarter, more layered stories that should have received far more love from AMPAS last night.

As it stands, the Oscars were dispersed among a few nominees: Emilia Pérez, Dune, Wicked and The Brutalist with two each, The Substance and Conclave with one. Conclave is a much better film than its Oscar wins indicate, but the fact that A Complete Unknown and Nickel Boys got nothing is nothing short of a shame.

Of course, the Oscars don't promise to award the "best" - there are too many other intervening circumstances and factors to allow for the final vote counts. A history of America cinema and a history of the Oscars will probably never be aligned, and the latter will never fully capture the impact of movies on American culture.

Perhaps, the best we can do is celebrate those who were recognized with a nomination and hope that the great work done will continue to inspire and provoke meaningful dialogue. And that Sean Baker will consider to advocate on behalf of seeing movies in a theater, as they were meant to be seen. Movies are, after all, an important art form that deserve to be experienced in their natural habitat.

Oh, and one more non-cinematic thought:

Between Lil Timmy Tim and fellow nominee Colman Domingo - and let's add Bowen Yang this year - Hollywood's male actors have become as interesting on the Red Carpet as their female counterparts. Cheers to the male actors for continuing to shine on the the Red Carpet, expressing their individuality and savoir faire., proving that the Red Carpet isn't just for Vintage Dior gowns anymore.

And now for the final wrap-up, echoing the one word from Adam Sandler as he left the Dolby theater clad in shorts and a hoodie, "Chalamet!"