Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 11:00PM by Nathaniel R
FLOW is first in two different ways!
UPDATED WITH MORE STATS (03/06/25 1:30 PM EST)
With another year ending we can now look at new stats and trivia from the year that was and acknowledge records that weren't broken, too, but are of note. If you have anything to add to the list share it in the comments, please. Herewith some things to ponder in regards to Oscar trivia...
Monday, March 3, 2025 at 1:45PM by Nathaniel R
Conan O'Brien hosts the 97th Academy Awards. Photo © Myung J. Chun for the Los Angeles Times
It was one of the great livery-stableman's most masterly intuitions to have discovered that Americans want to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it.”
-Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence
Another cinematic year has ended. Another eagerly awaited Oscar night's credits roll over clips of the key moment. Out there in the dark, at home and at Oscar parties, everyone immediately wishes to put it all behind them. I am also that livery-stableman, but shouting "Wait, wait! There are a few things we should talk about before we depart!" So please bear with us, dear reader, as we think aloud at you and with you (should you choose to join in the conversation) and wrap up this cinematic year and twisty awards rollercoaster. We'll try to 'get away from (this) amusement' within a week's time and move on to 2025 (and other years as we do for mini celebrations). That's the goal.
So let's talk Oscar night's highs and lows and wtf moments...
Sunday, March 2, 2025 at 11:20PM 
We'll talk about this year's Oscar ceremony over the next couple of days but tonight, sleep! You can see the complete list of winners on the Oscar Chart Index. Sean Baker's sex worker comedy Anora was the atypical Oscar favourite, winning five Oscars (four of them for Sean Baker himself who wrote, directed, edited, and produced) and losing only only one of its categories: Best Supporting Actor.
The only shock amongst the acting awards was Anora herself, Mikey Madison, who took Best Actress over the long-time frontrunner Demi Moore (The Substance) and the rising Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here).
More soon...
Sunday, March 2, 2025 at 9:16AM The penultimate Oscar Volley. This morning, Abe Friedtanzer, Eric Blume, and Nathaniel R discuss the category at the top of the Academy mountain.
NATHANIEL: "BEST PICTURE!" He shouts with horror, as Team Experience reaches the final day of Oscar season with this category not yet volleyed. By now readers have had a chance to see all of our Predictions, and my own multiverse grappling with what might play out tonight along with most of my own alternate ballot. Best Picture may well be the last award presented on regular Oscar nights, but it's far from the least. In fact, one could argue you should always BEGIN with Best Picture in your discussions since all awards are affected by it. "Trickle down" is a scam in economic turns, but it's very real at the Oscars where voters have historically voted for their favourite in as many 'lesser' categories as they can justify, often with ridiculous results in terms of the nominations and statuettes in craft categories. Because we have reached the end of the season, apologies to the filmmakers behind Dune Part Two, Nickel Boys, I'm Still Here, Wicked, A Complete Substance, and even nomination leader Emilia Perez... but I think we can safely say that none of these films have a prayer in hell of taking the top prize.
ABE: Nathaniel, I think you meant A Complete Unknown, not A Complete Substance, but I think that speaks to how that those films aren't going to be major players. I think that, prior to Karla's tweets coming up, Emilia Perez could have competed, and both Wicked and The Substance could have been in play too had they done better on nominations day. But it's down to the three you mentioned...
Monday, February 3, 2025 at 10:30PM 
Over the past few weeks, we've heard news from the Academy about the 97th Oscars ceremony. For example, none of the Original Song nominees will be performed, a break with tradition that has caused some uproar within the industry. We'll also get to see the return of the Fab Five format for presenting the acting categories, where past victors introduce the year's nominees. In some ways, it feels like a welcoming of new faces to the Circle of Winners, though using these celebratory mini-monologues isn't to everyone's taste, especially when they came at the expense of proper Oscar clips. However, I confess that I am a fan, and just like last year, I invite you all to a game of conjecture. Let's see who'd be the perfect pairing for each nominee…
