Oscar's at My House

Last Sunday, 3rd of March 2025, gave us…

Some Good Fashion

Kicking it off with a few looks which stole the show: Emma Stone, Zoe Saldaña, Penelope Cruz, BLACKPINK’S Lisa, Raye and Timothee Chalamet. I will stick to the brief and not get carried away analysing these looks, as we have a fair bit to get through, but my award for best dressed female goes to Stone and best dressed male to Chalamet. No one screamed Hollywood more than La La Land’s leading lady, Emma Stone, in her custom LV, scoop neckline garment, adorned allover with sequins. She continued to dazzle us with her pixie cut, parted finely with a tooth-comb; an ode to 20s glamour. Chalamet was the ray of sun that shone upon a dingy crowd of black tuxedos. Call it bold, call it overstated, I applaud a male celeb for refreshing our feeds with a splash of citrus yellow rather than opting for the same old same old black tailored suit. 

A Man Who Made History

Sean Baker. Imagine being the second person after Walt Disney to win four Oscar trophies in one night. As an independent film supporter, I was thrilled at Anora’s success on Sunday night, and particularly the director's (Baker’s) call to filmmakers to carry on with their contributions to the big screen; because seriously, a future without cinema is unimaginable. 

Daylight Robbery 

Are you telling me that my favourite plasticine duo didn’t bring it home this year? I would like to personally thank Aardman Animations and the BBC for bringing an extra 79 minutes worth of tea-toasting, gardening crises and crazy inventions, led by my favourite Wigan born-and-bred partners in crime, to our screen at 6:10pm on Christmas Day. They deserved better.

Opps…

If you didn’t skip Jonathan Ross’s coverage, maybe you found one particular member of the panel’s pessimism as grating as we did at our Oscars viewing party, hosted at my house. I’m not ‘anti-criticism’, but how can one inject so much negativity into an event dedicated to celebrating and meriting filmic achievements? Shaming Doja Cat’s dress as toilet roll-like was also so out of line. 

Some more highlights:

• Conan’s mini musical: Pure show business. It would only be appropriate for Hollywood to put on a show about not wasting time for 1 minute and 24 seconds but making it as Broadway as possible. Conan was the perfect showman, not to mention the female burlesque troupe, display of dance canes, Putting on the Ritz-esque set and sandworm on the keys. 

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• Guess the film game: Playing guess the movie was fun pre-award ceremony during the montage of classics. A few recognisable examples were The Green Mile, The Wolf of Wall Street and Rocky, but what was most enjoyable about this experience was being in a room filled with pretentious Letterboxd patrons who were feigning nonchalance about their filmic expertise (me included). 

  
  

• Celeb sightings: So many stars aligned and I was so excited overall by the choice of presenters at this year’s Awards. We got Tarantino, Goldberg, Winfrey, L. Jackson, Stiller - a golden opportunity to fangirl over some of my favourite American idols. 

  
  

• Kieran Culkin’s speech: There was something so human and heartfelt about this. His delivery was so well-paced, he brought humour to the stage with his heartwarming little gags and gave the most beautiful ode to his wife, framing the overall message of his speech as the importance of family. 

• Paul Tazewell: My biggest applause goes to Paul Tazewell - the first black man whose expert design work in Wicked won Best Costume Design. The role of costume itself is a visual language and artform, integral to the film’s blockbuster success as a record-breaking hit. Grande’s bubble dress in particular, and its otherworldliness, was one of the things that made this film such a magical escape for me, enticing me into a fictional wonderland.