Tarmac Online

By Andrew Bourke ’27

After years of mostly mediocre movies and similarly mediocre Academy Awards ceremonies, 2025 was a welcome change. Not only was 2025 easily the best year for film of the decade, but the introduction of Conan O’Brien last year as host significantly increased the watchability of the ceremony after years of unfunny shows with Jimmy Kimmel. This year’s ceremony was almost guaranteed to be a great watch with O’Brien’s return and the outstanding nominees.

The ceremony started with a bang, with Conan dressing up as Gladys from the supernatural mystery horror film Weapons and being chased by a group of children through scenes from all ten Best Picture nominees. In his opening remarks, Conan did not shy away from poking fun at Best Lead Actor nominee Timothée Chalamet, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, or the state of the world. However, his remarks may have gone on for too long.

The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress was presented by Zoe Saldaña. The nominees were Elle Fanning from Sentimental Value, Igna Ibsdotter Lilleaas also from Sentimental Value, Amy Madigan from Weapons, Wunmi Mosaku from Sinners, and Teyana Taylor from One Battle After Another. Taylor was expected to win, but in an upset, Madigan took the award. Having gone 40 years since her last Oscar nomination, Madigan said, “What’s different? What’s different is I got this little gold guy.”

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was presented by Will Arnett and Channing Tatum. The nominees were Arco, Elio, KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2. As expected, KPop Demon Hunters took the award.

Paul Mescal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chase Infiniti, Wagner Moura, and Delroy Lindo, from the nominated films, presented the inaugural Academy Award for Best Casting. Cassandra Kulukundis won the award for her work on One Battle After Another and dedicated it to the casting directors who “never got a chance to get up here.”

The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor was presented by Kieran Culkin. The nominees were Benicio del Toro from One Battle After Another, Jacob Eldridge from Frankenstein, Delroy Lindo from Sinners, Sean Penn from One Battle After Another, and Stellan Skarsgård from Sentimental Value. The award was won by Sean Penn, who was not in attendance.

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans presented the Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay. Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Adapted Screenplay for One Battle After Another, saying, “I wrote this movie for my kids, to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them.” Ryan Coogler won Best Original Screenplay for Sinners.

The Oscars In Memoriam honored many industry legends lost over the past year, among them director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, Catherine O’Hara, Diane Keaton, and Robert Redford.

The Academy Awards for Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects were presented by Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver — but not before a surprise Grogu cameo (the poor thing can’t even clap). Best Production Design was won by Frankenstein, its third award of the night, while Best Visual Effects was unsurprisingly won by Avatar: Fire and Ash.

The Academy Award for Best Original Score saw a reunion of the cast of Bridesmaids. Ludwig Göransson won his third Academy Award and said, “My dad bought his first blues album in Sweden, 1964. Even though it was on the other side of the world from a place my dad had never been, and a place he could not relate to, the music was so powerful it changed my dad’s life.”

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography was presented by Demi Moore. Autumn Durald Arkapaw won for her work on Sinners, becoming the first woman and first African American to win the Oscar for Cinematography. Following a performance of “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, Lionel Richie presented the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In a tight race between “Golden” and “I Lied To You” from Sinners, “Golden” won.

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya presented the Academy Award for Best Director. The nominees were Chloé Zhao for Hamnet, Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme, Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value, and Ryan Coogler for Sinners. Paul Thomas Anderson won his second award of the night — and One Battle After Another‘s fifth overall. Anderson dedicated the award to Adam Somner, his longtime producing partner who died in 2024.

The Academy Award for Best Leading Actor was presented by Adrien Brody, who took a moment to mock his own long acceptance speech from last year. The nominees were Timothée Chalamet from Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio from One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke from Blue Moon, Michael B. Jordan from Sinners, and Wagner Moura from The Secret Agent. Jordan won the award and thanked Ryan Coogler and his family.

The Academy Award for Best Leading Actress was presented by Mikey Madison, last year’s winner. The nominees were Jessie Buckley from Hamnet, Rose Byrne from If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Kate Hudson from Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve from Sentimental Value, and Emma Stone from Bugonia. Buckley won for her role as Agnes Shakespeare, becoming the first Irish actress to win the award.

Best Picture, presented by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, saw nominees Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, and Train Dreams. In a close race between Ryan Coogler’s Sinners — which accumulated a record 16 nominations — and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Anderson won.

At the end of the night, the films with the most awards were KPop Demon Hunters with two, Frankenstein with three, Sinners with four, and One Battle After Another with six. The final stretch of the ceremony featured a parody of a scene from One Battle After Another with Conan O’Brien, which “confirmed” that MrBeast will host the Oscars as the show begins streaming exclusively on YouTube. As for my take on the awards themselves — Conan did a great job hosting, and the awards (aside from Best Original Song) were well deserved.