This year’s Oscars were very straight forward with very few real suprises. Conan O’Brien did really manage to light it up this year and actually make it entertaining, through his many comedic digs and skits. It was a breath of fresh air after Jimmy Kimmel’s recent charisma-absent borefests and it made the waits between the awards much less tiresome. However, at the end of the day, everybody watched it for the awards. I’m going to share my thoughts on some of the bigger categories and give my own picks, from both the nominees and from what I think was well and truly snubbed.

Best Original Screenplay

Winner – Anora

An incredibly tough category. I would have liked to see Challengers amongst the nominees here but I have reserved myself the fact The Academy seems to be pretending that brilliant film did not exist. I would have put it in for September 5 as I felt that just was not even close to be strong enough for an oscar nomination. Apart from that the nominees are all exceptionally valid. For me, A Real Pain slightly edges the competition but I was not unhappy with Anora by any means.

Best Supporting Actor

Winner – Kieran Culkin

I was over the moon with this pick. Guy Pearce must have been very close because he delivered a truly devilish performance but I’m very glad the Academy went with Culkin to match my own pick. He was incredibly effective at showing a deeply pained character that had a side of joy and wonder and another of depression and self-hatred. A very special performance.

Best Supporting Actress

Winner – Zoe Saldana

Now I have not seen Emilia Pérez because I have only heard bad things. From what I have heard, Saldana was the best part of the film but still probably the worst nominee. The rest of the nominees are all very difficult to pick from. Ariana Grande was the only part of Wicked I would consider excellent so she stands out but I think Felicity Jones was fantastic in The Brutalist so that might just get my vote.

Best Actor

Winner – Adrien Brody

Brody has had a lot of controversy for his AI adjustments in his performance. I do not encourage this, however some slight adjustments to his Hungarian, which makes up a very small part of his dialogue, do not ruin what is an awesome performance. I can understand this pick but if you asked me on a different day, I would probably say Timothee Chalamet takes it. An incredibly tough choice as they were both so great.

Best Actress

Winner – Mikey Madison

It’s incredibly difficult to take this one away from Madison because she gives such a diverse performance from her boisterous outer core to her muhc more sombre and emotional side when she isn’t putting on a front. Demi Moore was brilliant though and she clearly gave her all to a role that was eeply personal to her. She just about gets my pick.

Best Director

Winner – Sean Baker

I liked Baker’s direction a lot. It brings all of Anora’s exceptional elements together to create one great piece of cinema and I have to give him props. The utter travesty that Denis Villeneuve was not nominated for Dune: Part Two is genuinely baffling and it is such a strange snub. A truly incredible film that fits like a glove on Villeneuve’s signature style showing that he is a true modern day auteur. Quite possibly the most assured pick all night for me but it was not to be.

Best Picture

Winner – Anora

Anora was wonderful and it was in my top five of the year. In my top 5, I had this, Dune: Part Two, The Brutalist, Kneecap and Nickel Boys (I’m very annoyed Kneecap didn’t get the attention it deserved). I would have been happy with any of these picks frankly and with the calibre of these releases, I do not know how anyone can say this was a bad year for film. It may not quite stack up to some of the all-time years for film but it had some great films, some incredibly unique and just generationally brilliant. Congratulations to Sean Baker and everybody who made Anora because it was one of a great year’s best features.