History Made at the 2025 Oscars: Records, Firsts, and Surprise Wins

Favorite MomentsThe opening tribute to Los Angeles showing clips from iconic films set in Hollywood was very touching paying tribute to those who lost their homes and were displaced by the devastating wildfires earlier this year that destroyed tens of thousands of acresThe tribute led to a medley of songs from The Wizard of Ozinspired projects including Ariana Grande performing amp8220Somewhere Over The Rainbowamp8221 Cynthia Erivo singing amp8220Homeamp8221 from The Wiz and the two reprising their roles from Wicked for a soaring performance of the filmamp8217s finale number amp8220Defying Gravityamp8221 Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo absolutely knocked it out of the parkLater in the ceremony leaders from first responder teams of Los Angeles took the stage and received a standing ovation with a few of them delivering jokes from the teleprompter that host Conan Oamp8217 Brien said amp8220There are jokes even Iamp8217m not brave enough to tellamp8221 adding amp8220everyone in this audience has to laugh THESE ARE HEROESamp8221 Jokes were aimed at one of last yearamp8217s biggest flops Joker 2 Timothamp233e Chalemetamp8217s fantastic singing being amp8220so good he almost lost the partamp8221 of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown and a jab at Conan being rescued by firefighters after being stuck in a tree like a catWith the use of classic songs and film themes throughout the ceremony youamp8217d think this was the 100th Academy Awards giving a massive tribute to Hollywood Selections included Sinatra classic amp8220Fly Me To The Moonamp8221 amp8220Iamp8217ve Never Been In Love Beforeamp8221 from Guys and Dolls amp8220Some Enchanted Eveningamp8221 from South Pacific and themes from Breakfast at Tiffanyamp8217s Goldfinger Star Wars and Austin Powers to name a fewHistoric Firsts ampamp Records SetFLOW took home the Academy Award for Animated Feature Film and became the first film from Latvia to win an Oscar The independent animated film had a modest budget of amp836435 million compared to Universalamp8217s The Wild Robot 78 million budget and the filmmakers behind the movie thanked audiences for the amp8220warm reception the film has hadamp8221 adding amp8220I hope this will open the door to independent animation filmmakers around the worldamp8221Another historic win was that of Wickedamp8217s costume designer Paul Tazewell who made history as the first Black man to receive an Oscar for Costume Design amp8220Iamp8217m so proud of thisamp8221 he said to a standing ovation after acknowledging his historic win with visible support from Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Sing Sing star and nominee Colman Domingo and West Side Story star Rachel Zegler Especially touching was the bit from Bowen Yang coming on stage in his Wicked costume to highlight Tazewell during the presentation of nominees for Costume DesignAnora filmmaker Sean Baker swept across his nominated categories at the Academy Awards winning a historic four Oscars for a single film taking home trophies for Original Screenplay Editing Directing and Best Picture at the end of the night The latter of which was largely expected to go to The Brutalist which previously won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for Best Picture while Baker took the Best Picture BAFTA last monthBrazil celebrated loud and proud last night as Iamp8217m Still Here became the first Brazilian entry to win the Oscar for International Feature Film having lost its five prior nominations The filmamp8217s star Fernanda Torresamp160was also nominated for Actress in a Leading RoleAdrien Brody became the first actor to win both of his Actor in a Leading Role nominations previously winning in 2003 for The Pianist He also set a record for longest speech clocking in at nearly six minutes and even asking the orchestra to stop the playoff music amp8220this isnamp8217t my first rodeoamp8221 he laughed Despite saying amp8220Iamp8217ll be briefamp8221 multiple times he was notWhile she also belongs in the Sweeps category below weamp8217re putting Emilia Pamp233rez star Zoe Saldaamp241a under Historic Wins as she became the first person of Dominican descent to win an Oscar for her role in the critically divisive film Her heartfelt speech thanked her husband children sisters and parents and honored her late grandmother amp8220My grandmother came to this country in 1961 and I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hardworking hands I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award and I know I will not be the lastamp8221Sweeps Across Awards SeasonKieran Culkin took home the first Oscar of the night winning Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in A Real Pain which follows cousins Benji Culkin and David Jesse Eisenberg on a Jewish heritage tour in Poland after the death of their grandmother who was a Holocaust survivor For this role Culkin previously won a Golden Globe Critics Choice Award BAFTA and SAG Award so his win was not much of a surprise albeit a deserved one Culkin had one of my favorite speeches of the night calling out his wife Jazz Charton on a amp8216betamp8217 made about giving him a fourth child amp8220when you win an Oscaramp8221 which has happened The couple currently have two children and he made a similar joke at the 2024 Emmys after winning for the final season of Succession thanking her and his two children and saying amp8220I want moreamp8221 At the end of his Oscars speech he thanked her and hilariously referred to her as amp8220Ye of little faithamp8221Surprise WinsItamp8217s no secret that many were expecting The Substance star Demi Moore to win the Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role as sheamp8217d previously won the Golden Globe Critics Choice Award and SAG Award for the role So it came as a surprise when firsttime nominee Mikey Madison ended up winning for her role in Anora Probably the biggest surprise of the night but a welcome one as Madison delivered a truly electric performance as the titular stripperturnedwife of the son of a Russian oligarch whose life is turned upside down overnight Her win was made all the more heartfelt as she took the time to embrace each of her costars and writerdirector Sean Baker before approaching the stage to give her speech With her first nomination Mikey Madison is among the 10 youngest Best Actress winners in Academy Award history at just 25 years oldSadly due to a major oversight from Hulu the Academy Awards live stream on the streaming platform was cut short with no option to resume as the stream ended at its scheduled end time Audiences including myself did not get to watch the announcement and acceptances of Best Actress and Best Picture Thankfully videos of the speeches were uploaded to social media quickly after each awardDespite the setbacks it was a very enjoyable night full of worthy winners some minor disappointments and surprise but welcome winsAs was said many times throughout the night GO SEE FILMS AT YOUR LOCAL MOVIE THEATRE Whether you pay a monthly subscription like Regal Unlimited or AMC Stubs or go see one film a month it is more important than ever to continue supporting films especially independent film while they are in the theatreThank you and good nightClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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History Made at the 2025 Oscars: Records, Firsts, and Surprise Wins

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Juan Ayala

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