The Oscars returned last night (March 2) to the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, for the 97th annual Academy Awards – but plenty of viewers were not pleased by the night’s proceedings
The 97th annual Academy Awards has proved unpopular with fans as they call the event “the most boring in history”.
The event closed off the awards season with Sean Baker’s dramatic comedy Anora emerging as the night’s big winner, taking home five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress for star Mikey Madison. Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the show kicked off with a heartfelt tribute to LA after the devastating wildfires, and featured a special film package and a rousing performance of We Love LA by Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Later on in the show, some of the first responders were invited onto stage and made jokes about some of the nominees. Netflix’s musical-crime hybrid Emilia Pérez led the night with 13 nominations, while Wicked and The Brutalist followed closely behind with 10 nods each.
However, while there were many entertaining moments – such as Adam Sandler storming out and a stage malfunction for Ben Stiller – many viewers at home were left more than a little disappointed.
“That was the most boring Oscars I have ever watched,” one critic said on X. “The Oscars are the most boring award show. Only time they were lit was when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock,” added another.
“Same old boring Oscars. Too long (almost four hours). Too political (Middle East banter and Putin b*******). Too many phoney smiles from the losers. Too many phoney Hollywood dorks who voted for Harris. BTW, funny how these actors can memorise movie scripts but need notes on stage,” complained a third.
One of the biggest snubs of the night was for Demi Moore’s nomination for Best Actress.
She appeared crushed as Mikey Madison beat her to the coveted Best Actress award at the 2025 Oscars, on a night when Anora dominated with five wins including Best Picture.
Demi had appeared a front-runner after a successful awards season and the admission that she had never won before this year. Demi could be seen with a clenched jaw as her name wasn’t called, but she did appear to say “nice” to herself as she applauded Mikey’s big win.
She was up for her movie, The Substance, but missed out to Madison, who portrays an escort in Anora, an independent film with a $6million budget for which Sean Baker won Best Director.
Elsewhere, Timothee Chalamet missed out on Best Actor for his role in A Complete Unknown in favour of Adrien Brody. The actor, who won for his role in the Brutalist, was surrounded in controversy after their editor admitted to using AI to enhance his Hungarian accent in the film.
The night was not short of a few political comments either, with winning director Basel Adra being heckled as he delivered a critique of Trump’s foreign policy on stage. His speech related to the Israel-Palestine crisis.
He won Best Documentary for his film No Other Land, which showed the plight of Palestinians throughout the ongoing war with Israel. But, as he slammed “this administration’s foreign policy” for preventing peace, a member of the crowd shouted “get rid of Hamas,” according to a Vulture reporter who heard the interaction.
Host O’Brien even said between awards: “Anora is having a good night. Two wins already. I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
