You can take Conan O’Brien out of late night, but you can’t take the late night out of Conan O’Brien. It was so fun to see this comedy legend just revel in being his goofy self during his hosting stint at the 97th Academy Awards. I mean, just his “I Won’t Waste Time” musical number at the start of the show alone evoked the Music Man-inspired medlies that have permeated his career, namely with his “Monorail” song from the “Marge vs. the Monorail” Simpsons episode. Bringing out a guy in a Dune sandworm costume for two fun gags also harkened back to all the wacky characters Conan had show up in elaborate costumes on his late night programs.
Conan getting to be unabashedly Conan (right from the start when he did a Substance-inspired bit where he lost his shoe in Demi Moore) encapsulated a lovefest Oscars where people got to strut their stuff and demonstrate their talents. It was an Oscars, in other words, that didn’t feel like it was pandering to people who hate the Oscars, a common problem with recent ceremonies.
None of the wishy-washy apologies for loving cinema and the weird attempts to go viral (like that autotuned Oscar nominees bit from the 83rd Academy Awards or Glenn Close dancing from a few years back) that weighed down the other Oscars were apparent here. Instead, this was a lovefest Oscars that wore its heart on its sleeve. Everyone from L.A. firefighters to the city of Los Angeles itself to the medium of animation got extensive glorious shout-outs. This was a night of people declaring their affection for the world, not cowering behind snark. Only a lengthy James Bond tribute stood as redundant in the lovefest simply because the Oscars tipped their hat to the secret agent three years ago!
What was really making the love feel tangible, though, was that this Oscars lathered on the love for true blue independent cinema. As someone who watches this ceremony every year, I was staggered (and excited!) to see how much major American movie studios were left out of this year’s Ocars. Yes, Netflix garnered a trio of Oscars (including two for Emilia Perez), but look at the rest of the movies that dominated the ceremonies. A feature from the Brazilian film industry about resisting authoritarianism. A tiny Latvian animated film made with Blender. A documentary about the Palestinian genocide by the IDF that no U.S. studio would dare touch. And, of course, a $6 million budgeted comedy about a Brooklyn sex worker and her whirlwind unexpected romance.
These titles were made far away from the American studio system with teeny tiny crews and no intent on fulfilling rules about what’s “marketable.” They broke all the rules in the process just by existing, especially No Other Land, which keeps proving how disgracefully shameful it is that no distributor would pick up this vital and harrowing documentary. This year belonged to the folks daring to make stories that would never get picked up by an algorithm or franchise-oriented major studio. After all, a silent animated film about critters uniting to survive a flood isn’t a production rooted in countless past successes!
Despite that reality, Flow beat out Pixar and DreamWorks Animation features at the Oscars without breaking a sweat. I’m Still Here, meanwhile, won Best International Feature and scored Brazil its first Oscar win ever in the category! Parabéns a Walter Salles e companhia por esta conquista gloriosa e histórica! And then there was the wondrous Anora, which became the rare comedy in the history of cinema to take home the Best Picture Oscar, not to mention an equally rare non-period piece to secure that trophy. In a category often dominated by The English Patient, The King’s Speech, Argo, and Green Book, Anora joins Parasite, Nomadland*, and Everything Everywhere All at Once as exquisite Best Picture winners firmly rooted in the 21st century.
I saw Tangerine in a mostly abandoned Angelika Dallas auditorium ten years ago back in August 2015 with a pal of mine who also turned out to be a trans woman. Watching this Baker film was a life-changing experience for both of us in multiple ways, including in Tangerine’s willingness to depict trans women just living and being there for each other. I never would’ve imagined Tangerine’s auteur would be up in the Dolby auditorium accepting an Oscar for Best Picture ten years later, but what a joy that was. Especially exciting was him winning an award for another indie film! Sean Baker didn’t have to compromise his artistic proclivities nor his fascinations with the working-class and sex workers or even his penchant for women protagonists to get Oscar glory. Woo-hoo!
As if I couldn’t have been beaming enough over this victory, Baker’s acceptance speeches crusaded for three elements that have proven so formative to me: sex workers, independent cinema, and theatrical cinema. It was so awesome to hear Baker and Anora leading lady Mikey Madison all championing sex workers in their respective acceptance speeches. What a welcome contrast to the Emilia Perez crew forgetting to thank trans people in any of their acceptance speeches! Meanwhile, Baker’s speech crusading for the importance of theatrical cinema and his emphasis on how many theaters we’ve lost the last few years was magnificent. If only they’d cut to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos during the speech to see his reaction…
I’m not sure I’d ever hear artists openly talking about the humanity of sex workers at the Oscars nor the words uttered during the acceptance speech by the No Other Land team. In the latter speech’s case, actually hearing artists talk about the U.S.’s role in ethnic cleansing, calling out apartheid in Israel, and other atrocities was astonishing to witness. It’s hard to imagine any feature from a major studio or streamer would be allowed to speak so openly and recognize human rights violations happening before our eyes. This is what happens when indie art is elevated and rewarded. Reality gets highlighted. Often erased lives are emphasized in front of the whole world. Captivating works that upend the status quo are rewarded rather than just handing out awards to Eddie Redmayne.
All of that was told through a ceremony that moved at a good clip and with both a passion for cinema and a terrifically lively Conan O’Brien, who needs to become the modern Billy Crystal and host this again. I’m sure in the days to come snarky folks like Bill Maher or Jimmy Kimmel will whine about “why don’t the Oscars pick movies people actually watch?!?” However, the 97th Academy Awards provide a hopeful portrait of the ceremony that expands people’s purview of what cinema can look like and accomplish. After all, tonight's swarm of artists on-stage celebrating a Best Picture win included not folks clamoring to thank Harvey Weinstein, real-life strippers and sex workers Lindsey Normington and Luna Sofía Miranda got to grace the stage. “Long live independent cinema”, as Sean Baker said at the end of the ceremony, and long live more Oscar ceremonies that actually have passion for cinema. Oh, and long live more award shows that let Conan revel in his late night weirdness. Hopefully next time he's allowed to bring in Vomiting Kermit or WikiBear.
* = Yes Nomadland technically takes place in 2009/2010 right after the Great Recession, but it’s still a 21st century-set movie.
** = I learned after the show that the "Segment Director" for this year's Oscars was none other than Scott Gairdner, a veteran of not only Conan's TBS show but also the co-host of my favorite podcast, Podcast: The Ride!! Yay Scott Gairdner, baby Aladar would be proud!