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For Stars at the Oscars, a Night of Celebration and Selfies
The Academy Awards can be a fraught affair. When many of the world’s biggest stars gather to be validated for their artistry, the tension of parsing the winners from non-winners (not losers!) threatens to stultify the whole thing. But at Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony — where “Anora” (and Sean Baker) won big, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande belted big-hearted songs, and Adrien Brody kissed and was kissed — our photographer caught the stars in unguarded moments of joyful support and celebration throughout the night.Cynthia Erivo, whose rousing duet with Ariana Grande, “Defying Gravity,” opened the ceremony, waved to a familiar face in the Dolby Theater.Rumer Willis and Demi Moore, in the foreground, and Penélope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o, middle, chatting as Isabella Rossellini looks on.Colman Domingo, with his husband, Raul Domingo, taking a selfie. Ariana Grande, left, enjoyed a moment with her “Wicked” co-star Bowen Yang, center, and Matt Rogers, who co-hosts “Las Culturistas,” a podcast, with Yang.Jeremy Strong, nominated for best supporting actor for his role in “The Apprentice,” was saluted in a speech by his “Succession” co-star Kieran Culkin, who won the award.Mikey Madison celebrated winning the award for best actress for her role in “Anora.” “This is a dream come true,” she said. “I’m probably going to wake up tomorrow.”The nominees for best actor — from left: Timothée Chalamet, Colman Domingo, Adrien Brody, Ralph Fiennes and Sebastian Stan — huddled for an impromptu photo shoot.Emma Stone, last year’s best actress winner for “Poor Things,” poked her tongue at a neighbor.Margaret Qualley embraced her husband, the music producer Jack Antonoff, during a break in the show.Adrien Brody kissed Daniel Blumberg for winning best original score for “The Brutalist.” On the red carpet before the show, Brody had been surprised by a kiss from Halle Berry, who recreated their smooch at the 2003 Oscars.Sean Baker made history Sunday night, tying Walt Disney for most individual Oscars collected in one night, with four. His film “Anora” won five, including best picture.Fernanda Torres, a best actress nominee for “I’m Still Here,” connected with Colman Domingo. She was the second Brazilian to ever receive a best acting nod. Her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, nominated in 1999, was the first.Jeff Goldblum, left, compared cellphones with his wife Emilie Livingston.Cynthia Erivo with Ralph Fiennes, who starred in “Conclave,” a film about the intrigue behind the selection of a new pope that received eight nominations.After his best actor win for “The Brutalist” was announced, Adrien Brody soaked in the moment. He then tossed his gum from the stage to his girlfriend Georgina Chapman.Ariana Grande with Ethan Slater, her co-star in “Wicked,” which was up for 10 Oscars.Demi Moore, left, reached across Margaret Qualley, her co-star in “The Substance,” to greet Qualley’s husband, Jack Antonoff. Moore, a nominee in the best actress category, lost to Mikey Madison. More
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Sean Baker’s Oscars Battle Cry (and Mine): Don’t Abandon the Big Screen
The director of the best picture winner, “Anora,” urged viewers to keep seeing films in theaters. Our critic hopes the industry listens, and that Baker keeps his independence.Two minor quakes hit Los Angeles Sunday night, and I like to think that they were cosmically connected. The second earthquake was a small rattler (3.9) centered in the San Fernando Valley, just north of where the first quake hit inside the Dolby Theater when “Anora” won best picture. A pleasurable romp about an exotic dancer who runs off with the son of a Russian oligarch, “Anora” is the latest of several movies that its writer-director, Sean Baker, has made on sex industry workers. The first one that Baker did on the same topic was “Starlet,” a wistful, charming 2012 drama set in the Valley, long the center of the pornography industry.It was gratifying to see Baker win for “Anora,” which is the kind of scrappy, low-budget, independent movie that has been making the Oscars more interesting for, well, decades. Each victory for “Anora” also underscored the industry’s existential problems, in part brought about by large companies, including the remaining legacy studios, that have embraced expensive franchises and sequels to the exclusion of art. In the past 10 years or so, some of the best picture winners — the ones that stir up excitement and headlines, and help justify the continued existence of the Academy Awards — have been low-budget features that, like “Anora,” were bankrolled for $20 million or far less, including “Moonlight” and “Parasite.”There’s a romantic and comforting underdog narrative that accompanies the success of these movies, though as Baker recently pointed out at the Independent Spirit Awards, the economics of indie filmmaking are unsustainable. During the Oscars, Baker again turned the awards circuit into a bully pulpit on behalf of the movies, urging viewers to see films in theaters. “This is my battle cry,” Baker said as he held his best director award. “Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen.” At that point, the show cut to a wider shot that encompassed the award presenter Quentin Tarantino, another big-screen advocate. I wish they had cut to Ted Sarandos, the chief executive of Netflix, who recently told CBS News that he doesn’t “think it’s sacrilege for someone to watch a great movie on their phone.”The Academy Awards of course reflect what Academy voters like, but they also reveal what kind of story the voters want to tell about themselves. That story on Sunday was somewhat melancholic; among other things, one of the giants of cinema — Gene Hackman — recently died. But the entire industry feels bruised partly because of the lingering trauma of the conflagrations that roared through Los Angeles County in January. The show referenced the fires repeatedly, most movingly when the host Conan O’Brien introduced a group of firefighting personnel who were rightly cheered by the audience. Along with the pandemic and the 2023 labor strikes, it’s been a very rough interlude with no end in sight. Never mind that the worst issue remains the creative timorousness of the industry’s power brokers.As to the show itself, as a piece of television it was, well, fine; I didn’t yell at my set once, though I rolled my eyes during the two lengthy musical numbers that were effectively advertisements for those money-printing behemoths “Wicked” and James Bond. O’Brien was innocuous enough to get the job done, tossing out jokes that landed and others that didn’t, with very little overt reference to the reality that has filled headlines since President Trump was sworn in. The actress Daryl Hannah gave a shout-out to Ukraine before handing the best editing award to Baker, his second Oscar of the night (following best original screenplay). “I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian,” O’Brien said later, earning startled oohs from the audience as well as applause.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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Where to Stream the 2025 Oscar Winners, From ‘Anora’ to ‘Flow’
Most of the awarded films, including the winner of best picture, can be watched at home. Here’s a guide to catch up.In a resounding win for American independent film, “Anora,” Sean Baker’s rambunctious comedy-drama about the marriage between a Brighton Beach sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch, won five Oscars, including one for its lead actress, Mikey Madison, and a record-tying four for Baker, who took home statuettes for picture, director, editing and his original screenplay.“Anora” and most of the other winners are available to rent on major platforms or subscription services, and the three winning shorts are only a click away, too, though the full Oscar shorts programs are still circulating in theaters across the country. The only films currently only available in theaters are the best international feature winner “I’m Still Here” and the documentary feature winner “No Other Land,” an Israeli-Palestinian co-production that’s finding its way to art houses around the United States without official distribution.‘Anora’The writer, director and editor Sean Baker narrates a sequence from his comedy featuring Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn.NeonWon for: Best picture, director, actress, original screenplay, editing.How to watch: Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV+, Fandango at Home, Google Play and YouTube.The writer-director Sean Baker’s rambunctious film concerns the whirlwind romance between a sex worker from Brighton Beach and the son of a Russian oligarch. It somehow channels both the madcap energy of classic screwball and the unfiltered emotion of John Cassavetes. Much of that liveliness is owed to Mikey Madison’s firecracker of a performance as Ani, a stripper whose time with a handsome young party animal, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), at first seems like a “Pretty Woman” fantasy. But a quickie marriage draws attention from Ivan’s minders in the states and his parents abroad. Ani’s fight for their relationship, which turns literal at times, is alternately slapstick and touching.‘The Brutalist’The director Brady Corbet narrates a sequence from his film, starring Adrien Brody. The movie is nominated for 10 Academy Awards.Lol Crawley/A24Won for: Best actor, cinematography, score.How to watch: Buy it on Amazon, Apple TV and Fandango at Home.Just as the unity of form and function is the goal of any great architect, Brady Corbet’s epic about the architectural vision of a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor goes pointedly against the grain, from its 215-minute running time (with an intermission in theaters) to its use of VistaVision, a large-format process that hadn’t been used for a feature since 1961. As László Toth (Adrien Brody) emigrates to Philadelphia after the war and eventually finds work for a temperamental industrialist (Guy Pearce) with big plans for a community center, “The Brutalist” grows into a grand statement on the tension between art and commerce, and the compromise that often comes as a result. On that front, Corbet himself has unquestionably triumphed.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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On the Ground at the Governors Ball 2025 Oscars Party
Adrien Brody, with his best actor statuette, for “The Brutalist.”Zoe Saldaña, who won best supporting actress for her role in “Emilia Pérez.”Conan O’Brien, who hosted the ceremony. Paul Tazewell, the “Wicked” costume designer, with his Oscar.Kieran Culkin, holding his statuette, with his manager Emily Gerson Saines.From left, Sean Baker and Samantha Quan of “Anora,” holding Oscars, and behind them, Wolfgang Puck.Willem Dafoe.Brandon Wilson of “Nickel Boys.”A server, in the shadows.Basel Adra, left, and Yuval Abraham, winners of the award for best documentary feature film for “No Other Land.” The director Gints Zilbalodis, who won for his animated feature “Flow.”Guests at the party. More
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The Fairy Tale Night of Sean Baker, Director of Dreams Gone Awry
Baker’s four Oscars for “Anora” are validation of his sensitive portrayals of people on the margins who always seem to come up short.Sean Baker came equipped with extra speeches, and that was wise: On the night of the Oscars, he wound up onstage four times to receive four statues.That’s not just unusual. It’s almost unheard-of.Baker’s film “Anora,” about a sex worker in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn who marries the son of a Russian oligarch and then watches it all go sideways, earned five Oscars overall on Sunday. One went to its ingénue star, Mikey Madison, and four to Baker: best director, best original screenplay, best editing and best picture.By taking home four Oscars on a single night, Baker joins just one other luminary: none other than Walt Disney, who pulled off the same trick in 1954. That year, Disney won best documentary feature (“The Living Desert”), best documentary short subject (“The Alaskan Eskimo”), best cartoon short subject (“Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom”) and best two-reel short subject (“Bear Country”).But even Disney didn’t pull off Baker’s feat: earning four Oscars on one night for the same movie. Doing so requires wearing a lot of hats, and Baker, who started his career in ultra-low-budget independent films, has a deep hatrack.Movies are a collaborative art, and even the most hands-on filmmakers work with a team of artists and craftspeople. But writing, directing, editing and producing a film leaves a distinctive personal mark. Disney, who was heavily involved with his studio’s projects, certainly did so. Similarly, “Anora” audiences who know Baker’s work probably spotted his fingerprints from the moment the film starts. (And not just because Baker emulates John Carpenter, Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson by sticking with one typeface for the titles of all his films — Aguafina Script Pro, if you were wondering.)One of Baker’s hallmarks, the one people most often associate with him, is a focus on people who live on the margins of society, especially but not exclusively sex workers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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Sean Baker Wins Best Director Oscar for ‘Anora’
Whoever won the prize for best director on Sunday night was going to receive a first directing Oscar, but no nominee has labored as a filmmaker more single-mindedly for a longer time than Sean Baker, the creative force behind “Anora.”By winning the Oscars for director, original screenplay, film editing and best picture (as a producer), Baker tied the record for most Oscars won by an individual in one year with a very famous name. Walt Disney won four awards for four different films in 1954, none of them particularly well remembered today.“Anora,” a Cinderella story that foregrounds hot topics like class, immigration and global capitalism through the story of a stripper who initially accepts money for sex, is in many ways typical of Baker’s oeuvre. Like several of his past movies, including “Tangerine” (2015) and “The Florida Project” (2017), it blends comedy and drama, depicts sex workers sympathetically and makes copious use of nonprofessional actors.But “Anora” signaled Baker’s mainstream recognition. Nearly a year ago, the film won the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival; more recently, it picked up top prizes from the directors and producers guilds. On Sunday, the movie’s star, Mikey Madison, received the Oscar for lead actress.Baker beat out the directors Jacques Audiard, for “Emilia Pérez”; Brady Corbet, for “The Brutalist”; Coralie Fargeat, for “The Substance”; and James Mangold, for “A Complete Unknown.” More
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What to Watch For at the Oscars: ‘Emilia Pérez,’ Cynthia Erivo and More
From the most competitive races to the lasting controversies, here’s a guide to becoming an instant expert.The Best Picture Race Looks Wide OpenRalph Fiennes in “Conclave,” which is a top contender for the best picture Oscar. Its biggest competition: “Anora.”Focus FeaturesWhen the Ralph Fiennes-led papal thriller “Conclave” secured the highest honor at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards last weekend, it seemed like a strong indicator that it would prevail in the best picture category at the Academy Awards on Sunday night. After all, the last three winners of SAG’s top prize — “Oppenheimer,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “CODA” — all won the best picture statuette at the Oscars.But it isn’t exactly that clear cut.Those past three films had essentially swept their awards season, and aside from the SAG Awards, “Conclave” has won only one other best picture title, at the BAFTAs in February.“Anora,” the comedy-drama about a stripper (played by Mikey Madison) whose modern fairy-tale romance implodes, had several of the other early big wins this season, including two major industry prizes — from the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America — that almost always signal a best-picture Oscar up ahead.Also, Edward Berger, the director of “Conclave,” was not nominated for a best directing Oscar. Only six films in the history of the Oscars have won best picture without a best directing nomination, most recently “CODA” in 2022.Scandals Plague ‘Emilia Pérez’Karla Sofía Gascón in “Emilia Pèrez.” She is up for a best actress Oscar, but her chances of winning may have been derailed by recent scandals.Shanna Besson/NetflixJust a few weeks ago, “Emilia Pérez” was on top of the world. The Spanish-language musical out of France had earned 13 Oscar nominations, the most of any film this year (and nearly the most ever), and its lead, Karla Sofía Gascón, made history as the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, in the best actress category no less.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
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How to Watch the Oscars 2025: Date, Time and Streaming
Conan O’Brien will host the annual awards, which will be available to watch live on a streaming service for the first time.It seems like a lifetime ago that Sean Baker’s screwball comedy “Anora” first emerged as the favorite in the best picture race (no one was yet even thinking about holding space for “Wicked”).But we’re now right back where we started in the fall with both math and our Projectionist columnist, Kyle Buchanan, predicting that “Anora” will emerge triumphant. It’s by no means a sure thing — last weekend’s big Screen Actors Guild Awards winner, the papal thriller “Conclave,” could play spoiler.In the acting races, Demi Moore appears to be the one to beat after notching another win at the SAGs (though Buchanan says not to count out Fernanda Torres, who delivers a tour de force performance in the quiet Brazilian drama “I’m Still Here”).But could Adrien Brody, who plays a Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust in “The Brutalist,” be in for an upset from the 29-year-old Timothée Chalamet, who has embarked on a decidedly unconventional — and very online — Oscar campaign for his lead role in the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown”?Here’s everything you need to know.What time does the show start and where can I watch?This year’s show is again one for the early birds: The ceremony is set to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.On TV, ABC is the official broadcaster. Online, you can watch the show live on the ABC app, which is free to download, or at abc.com, though you’ll need to sign in using the credentials from your cable provider. There are also a number of live TV streaming services that offer access to ABC, including Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV, which all require subscriptions.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
