Going into the 97th Academy Awards ceremony, the Best Picture category was wide open. No real frontrunner. Still, it was a bit of a surprise when the small independent film, “Anora,” walked away with last night’s most prestigious award and four other Oscars. The comedy-drama story kicks off with a young female sex worker from Brooklyn, New York, who gets her Cinderella moment when she meets and marries the son of a Russian oligarch. The fairy dust fades when his parents find out and take action to have the marriage annulled. According to Box Office Mojo, since its release last fall, “Anora” has made around $16 million in the U.S. and $40 million worldwide.
Also, Demi Moore arrived at the ceremony as the frontrunner to pick up the Best Actress award for her performance in the horror thriller “The Substance.” Instead, the Oscar went to the star of “Anora,” Mikey Madison. Clearly, the voters of the Academy fell hard for “Anora.” Among the other snubs, the independent animation film “Flow” beating box office favorites “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2” in the Oscar race in that category.
Then you have “Wicked” with a nearly $730 million worldwide box office. It received only two Oscars: Best Costume Design for Paul Tazewell and Best Production Design for Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales. The musical fantasy went into the ceremony with 10 nominations. No matter. The two stars of “Wicked,” Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, opened the Oscars with a beautiful medley of “Wizard of Oz” favorites. The audience gave them a thundering standing ovation. The performance was unforgettable and will most likely be one that will go down in Oscar history.
Another shining moment was Zoe Saldaña accepting the Best Supporting Actress statuette for the Spanish language musical crime thriller “Emilia Pèrez.” In an emotional speech, Saldaña shouted out her immigrant roots and said, “I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last. I hope.”
The ceremony ran almost four hours. Comedian Conan O’Brien did a nice job hosting. His funny quips and jokes kept the show moving right along.
The list of all the winners and nominees here.
