Heyyyy guys!!! Long time no see, but we are back! Sort of… Today we have a special guest’s opinion on the 2025 Oscars! Introducing, (drum roll please) Amanda Haenelt!! Get ready for Amanda’s full unfiltered opinions & welcome her to the Hot Takes family!!

Hi everyone! I’m Amanda, and I’m sooo happy to get to be on Hot Takes, and to be able to talk about my favorite thing…movies! Speaking of, the Oscars have come and gone, and this year’s ceremony was nothing short of eventful. After nominations were delayed twice due to the Los Angeles fires, the awards were finally held on Sunday, March 2, sparking both celebration and controversy. From shocking victories to “what am I watching” moments, here are my takes on the 2025 Oscars.

Actor in a Leading Role

It started with one of the biggest awards of the night: Actor in a Leading Role. The Best Actor category this year was stacked with some big names such as Timothée Chalamet and Sebastian Stan.  The iconic trophy went to Adrien Brody this year for his performance in The Brutalist. This one’s a little crazy! Not only did Brody toss his gum to his partner while walking to accept the award, but his speech was five minutes and thirty-one seconds long, breaking the record for the longest speech. He even had the audacity to tell the academy not to play the music over him. Ego much? He previously won an Oscar for his role in The Pianist. It’s crazy to see what two Oscar wins will do to a person. Many, including myself, don’t believe he deserved this win due to the controversy behind his role and the use of AI to enhance his performance. The award deserved to go to someone whose skills were not enhanced with the use of AI in their work. Maybe someone like Timothée Chalamet, who prepared for 5 years to play Bob Dylan.

Actress in a Leading Role

This one was also interesting. During the whole award season, it was clear that Demi Moore should and would win the Oscar. After a long career of being snubbed of awards, the general population thought that she would finally get her Oscar after years of hard work with her strong performance in The Substance. Nope! Mikey Madison won the Best Actress for Anora at just 25 years old, a true slap in the face for Demi. Do I have an issue with this? Kinda? Maybe? The Substance was weird, but Moore gave a killer performance that included intense prosthetics and a harrowing depiction of a character at war with herself. Just like everyone else, I too, fell victim to thinking this was finally Moore’s year, but congrats to Mikey! This win is impressive in that she was the first Gen Z actor to take home an Oscar! 

Best Picture

Another huge night for Anora as they completely dominated the Oscars with five wins, including Best Picture. They seriously cleaned up! I was nervous about this category—especially with Emilía Pérez and all their nominations in the mix—but they ended up losing 8 out of 11 categories. Yikes. It’s a tough break for them, but I guess the Academy just wasn’t on their side this year. Meanwhile, Anora snagged wins in Directing, Best Actress, Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay, proving this movie was the real deal. Love it or hate it, this movie owned the night. Anora opened the doors for fellow independent filmmakers, which was the theme of their acceptance speech. Director Sean Baker said, “I want to thank the Academy for recognising a truly independent film. This film is made of the blood, sweat, and tears of incredible indie artists. Long live independent film!” I’m going to have to agree with them, it’s always interesting to see big movie corporations lose to smaller ones that make movies just as good. Yay Anora! 

International Feature Film

Best International Feature Film went to I’m Still Here, which was another big surprise for most. The film from Brazil was not expected to win, with many thinking Emilia Pérez was another shoo-in to win with its 11 nominations. However, I’m Still Here needed to win. It was a deep, emotional movie about a grieving wife during a military dictatorship in Brazil, and it deserved to get something after main actress Fernanda Torres lost her Actress in a Leading Role nomination. In the end, I’m Still Here pulled off a much-needed win with its raw emotion and storytelling that could not be ignored!

Animated Feature Film

Another big category with big movies with titles such as The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2 (I sobbed watching this), it was expected for the blockbuster The Wild Robot hit to win gold. But, like most of the awards on Sunday night, the expected winners did not come out on top. Ugh. Flow, a story about a cat living in a post-apocalyptic world, took home the Oscar. Flow is another example of films that are opening the doors for other independent animation filmmakers to win big, like Anora. Kinda gagged that The Wild Robot didn’t win, but it shows there are many impressive films – both big and small – that come home with their Oscar wins. 

Documentary Feature Film

This year, the Best Documentary Feature Film went to No Other Land, a story about the displacement of Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank. This documentary is one I never watched due to it never being distributed in the U.S. What does this mean, you might ask? It was never shown in theaters, and therefore, it was hard to gain traction in the United States and difficult for American audiences to weigh in on the documentary. Yet, No Other Land clearly exceeded expectations and took the gold – good for them! 

Whether you’re celebrating your favorite movies winning big or still upset over a major snub, one thing’s for sure: the 2025 Oscars was one for the books. I can’t wait to see what’s next in Hollywood and start guessing which films will be in the spotlight for an award next year (and hopefully, there won’t be any more stupidly long speeches or gum-throwing at romantic partners, but you never know). Thanks for having me, Sofia and Gracie!!!

Xoxo,

Amanda