Historical winners, a Leo meme and jokes about the Trumps

Conan O’Brien began the evening with a tribute to the horror film “Weapons” and to Amy Madigan, who would shortly afterwards win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Dressed as Aunt Gladys, O’Brien stormed through the sets of the Oscar-nominated films, chased by a crowd of wild children. A successful start for O’Brien, who once again did well as host, despite a rather ungrateful audience in the hall.

In his opening monologue, O’Brien alternated between harmless Hollywood jokes, dark humor and serious political tones. “Last year Los Angeles was on fire, but this year everything is going great,” he began his monologue.

Of course, Timothée Chalamet also received a tip for his comments on opera and ballet as dying art forms that have caused a lot of discontent in the cultural scene. There have been threats from the opera and ballet scene, which is why security is now particularly tight, O’Brien joked.

The host also discussed the Epstein files. O’Brien noted that no Brits were nominated at the Oscars. But they would at least arrest their pedophiles, unlike the Americans.

In between, he had Leonardo DiCaprio, who was nominated for “One Battle After Another” and is immortalized on the Internet with numerous memes, create a new meme live – which will certainly soon be accepted into the canon.

In view of the world situation, the moderator also took a more serious tone. These are “very chaotic, scary times,” O’Brien said. It is therefore particularly resonant that filmmakers from 31 countries and six continents are gathered at the Oscars.

“Tonight we celebrate not only the film, but also the ideas of global art, collaboration, patience, perseverance and that rare quality today: optimism,” said O’Brien.

Many historical winners

The evening featured some historic victories. Things got emotional when “KPop Demon Hunters” won the Oscar for best animated film. This was the first time the award had gone to South Koreans, and the filmmakers were visibly moved.

“To all the fans who brought us here, and to everyone who looks like me, I’m so sorry it took so long for us to see ourselves in a film like this,” said director Maggie Kang. “This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere.” The Oscar for Best Song also went to the film for the worldwide number one hit “Golden”.

For the first time, an award was given in the Best Casting category at these Oscars. The lucky winner is Cassandra Kulukundis, who won the Oscar for the casting of “One Battle After Another”. “I dedicate this to the casting directors who never had the chance to be up here, who never even had the chance to see their name in the credits,” Kulukundis said.

Another historic win occurred in the Best Cinematography category. For “Blood & Sinners,” Autumn Durald Arkapaw was the first woman to win in the category. In her acceptance speech, she asked all women in the room to stand up: “Without you, I wouldn’t be here.”

In the “Best Short Film” category there were two winners: “Two People Exchanging Saliva” and “The Singers”. It is only the seventh time in the long Oscar history that there has been a tie. The last time this happened was in 2013, when “Skyfall” and “Zero Dark Thirty” both won in the Best Sound Editing category.

“How ironic that the short film Oscar now lasts twice as long,” said laudator Kumail Nanjiani, commenting on the tie. The “Best Supporting Actor” category went all the quicker after that, because the winner Sean Penn didn’t even show up at the Oscars. “He couldn’t be here,” laudator Kieran Culkin noted dryly. “Or he didn’t want to.”

The other actors and actresses were all the more happy about their Oscars. Michael B. Jordan won for his dual role as twins in “Blood & Sinners,” receiving a standing ovation and thanking all the black actors and actresses who won before him. Irish actress Jessie Buckley won for her role in “Hamnet” and dedicated her Oscar to all mothers.

A highlight of the evening was the performance of “Lie To Me”, nominated as best song for the film “Blood & Sinners”. Numerous artists celebrated black music and black culture together. Even the famous African-American ballet dancer Misty Copeland came on stage for it – what does Timothée Chalamet think of that?

Some political messages also ran through the evening. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, once almost canceled by Donald Trump, presented the Oscars for the best documentaries.

“Events like this often talk about courage, but telling a story that could get you killed is real courage,” he said. “As you know, there are some countries whose leaders do not support freedom of expression. However, I am not allowed to say which ones.

He also made fun of the documentary about the First Lady, “Melania.” “Oh man, he’s going to be upset that his wife wasn’t nominated for this,” Kimmel said. Javier Bardem also used his laudatory speech for a political message, in a somewhat more serious tone than Kimmel: “No to war and Free Palestine,” the Spanish actor began his speech.

Moving appeal against gun violence

A touching moment came in the acceptance speech from the team behind “All The Empty Rooms,” winner for Best Documentary Short Film. A mother spoke there whose nine-year-old daughter was killed in a school massacre. “Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among children and teenagers. We believe if the world could see their empty bedrooms, we would be a different America.”

The winners for best feature documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, also got political. “When we are complicit,” said co-director David Borenstein, “when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we say nothing, when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce and consume it.” We are all faced with a moral decision – but no one is more powerful than we think.