Episode 118 - What's the Buzz with Oscar? (The Recap)

On today's episode, I recap who won what on Oscar night and see how I did in the prediction game. (Hint: Pretty good!)

It was exciting night with very few surprises, some amazing fashion, a hilarious opening, and a beautiful In-Memoriam tribute, but mainly it was a night to celebrate the films that delighted us, scared us, made us cry, and helped us escape into another world.

Did you favorites win? Did you enjoy watching the faces of the winners? What about the non-winners? Most importantly, did you put on your red Aunt Gladys wig and cast a spell throughout the night ensuring that your favorite took home an Oscar? Drop me a line at quirkyartelmtreesinge@gmail.com

As always, don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome back! Hello all, it's me, Eric McKeever. I'm a writer. Two exciting things on that front, by the way. I recently accepted into the Pre-Rainbow Pages WGA mentorship program, and I was recently named a second rounder in the ISA Fast Track Fellowship. So doot doot do-toot up my own horn there. Anyway, I'm also a podcast producer and your host for What's the Buzz with Oscar, a podcast where I break down all the things award season. Welcome to episode 18, the last episode before we take our break. This episode is called What's the Buzz with Oscar? On this week's episode, we're going to talk about the winners of the 98th Annual Academy Awards. Who won? Who looked amazing? Who couldn't contain their sourpuss of a face when they lost? No names. Let's get to it. Let's begin with Animated Feature. Now it should come as no surprise that K-pop Demon Hunters won. It was a huge cultural phenomenon over the summer and into the fall with the kids, and even the most cynical of adults that have seen it have fallen in love with it. Also, it won so many precursor awards that I think people behind the film would have come out swinging if it hadn't won the Oscar. Now I didn't really cover this over the course of the season, but I wanted to give a shout-out to Sentimental Value for being named the Best International Feature film. The movie had all the right stuff with all four of its stars being nominated for acting Oscars, a nomination for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and it also was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year. So congratulations, Sentimental Value, for your Best International Feature Film Academy Award. Now we're going to jump into the screenplay categories. And as a writer, I was really thrilled, and again, not surprised at all, that one battle after another won Best Adapted Screenplay, and Sinners was named Best Original Screenplay. It was a wonderful night for both Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Kugler, and also really inspiring because as a writer who's just at the very beginning of their career, to see these two fine writers after years and years and years of hard work win Oscars, it was inspiring and made me want to get back to the computer and write. Moving on to the supporting actor race, this was one of the most fascinating races of the season because it seemed like Benizio del Toro was a shoe-in to win. But then something happened. As Delroy Lindo caught fire during the race, the momentum also seemed to shift for Sean Penn, whose performance in one battle after another picked up steam. I'll bet the vote count was incredibly close with all of the supporting actor nominees, and truthfully, I'm just glad to see that such a variety of different performances were actually nominated. So congrats to Sean and all the nominees. Now, I don't know about you, but when Conan O'Brien opened the show dressed as Aunt Gladys from Weapons, I knew in my gut that Amy Madigan was probably going to win. Actually, I probably knew before that because she basically won so many precursor awards. Also, she's just an actress that has managed to navigate Hollywood and always turns a superb performance. So, you know, in this instance, it's the meeting of the right actress with the right role and the right bright red wig. Congratulations, Amy, and you scare the bejesus out of all of us. Moving on to the best actress, surprise, surprise, it went to Jesse Buckley. And frankly, I think we all knew that was going to happen, right? While Roseburne was her biggest competition, the Hamnet star just gave one of those performances that resonated so deeply with actors, movie critics, and the Academy that had she not won, uh, you know, Aunt Gladys probably would have come out and done harm to weaponize somebody to make that happen. However, I do want to point out that Roseburn is an extraordinary actress. I mean, did you hear that fake Australian accent that she put on when she was reuniting with her bridesmaids co-stars? I'm sorry, what? She is actually Australian. Are you kidding? Oh, oh, apparently Rose Byrne is actually Australian and puts on the American accent. Oh, well, even more impressive, Rose. No, actually, I knew that. I just thought that would be a funny joke. Anyway, Rose, you're brilliant. But a huge shout out to Jesse Buckley. Now you all know that trying to predict the winner for best actor felt like being on a looping roller coaster. Sometimes certain actors were climbing up while some actors were flipping out or at least acting a little weird. And sometimes things shifted and changed faster than the drivers in F1. But after a wonderful season where it seemed like it could be Timothy, Leo, Wagner, or even Ethan, the Academy awarded Michael B. Jordan Best Actor for his role as twins in Sinners. Now, as a writer of color who loves seeing success of women, marginalized and queer people alongside all the successful other people in Hollywood, this win really was special. Also, his incredible and gracious speech, acknowledging the many who have paved the way before him, is a testament to his understanding that we not only represent ourselves, but when we win, we create a path for others to follow. And no, I'm not gonna talk about whose face looked cracked and on the ground when they did not win best actor, but I will tell you there was a lot of discussion about it online. Anyway, we're gonna move on. Now, last week I predicted that Ryan Kugler would win best director. I was wrong. I went with emotion on the fac rather than the facts that Paul Thomas Anderson had racked up so many precursor wins, but I did really want Ryan to win. However, Paul Thomas Anderson went from being a multiple nominee over the course of several years to a three-time Oscar winner, taking the prize for directing, adapted screenplay, and surprise, it's coming up, best motion picture of the year. But here's the thing that was so exciting for me. Ryan Kugler and Paul Thomas Anderson won because they made films that sparked conversation, that people wanted to see over and over again, and that told big, bold, exciting stories. And years from now, when we look back on the films of 2025, we'll say, wow, they made some great stuff that year, didn't they? Speaking of great stuff, one battle after another earned its place in Oscar history by winning Best Motion Picture of the Year. But I really thought it was exciting to see the diversity of films nominated for Best Picture. You had F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Train Dreams, Bugonia, and The Secret Agent. All proving that filmmaking can take on a host of stories that range from operatic to the most devastatingly quiet. I love movies not only for their entertainment value, but because they can ask deep questions that we don't often want to answer. They show us stories of people we know and understand, while simultaneously making us look into the lives of people with whom we don't think we share anything in common with, only to discover that the human story is a universal one. And finally, I love movies because even the smallest film requires hundreds of people from writers, crew, actors, producers, executives, costumers, set designers, makeup and hair designers, editors, and so many others to create a single two-hour visual, auditory, and emotional experience that often lives with us for years and years. So let's give a toast, a cheers, a shout out to movies. I'm Eric McKeever, and this has been What's the Buzz with Oscar? I want to thank you all so much for listening, and please do me a favor and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. It helps us get heard by more people. What's the buzz with Oscar is Elmtree Singer Creative production. Check out Elmtreesinger.com for links to other podcasts to see what writing must do, and just to see what else is going on in the world of Eric and Keeper. Elmtree Singer Creative, where quirky art.