What the Oscars Mean to Me

​Well, the 2025 movie season is officially over. My favorite film of 2025, One Battle After Another, won Best Picture and five other Oscars including Best Director, Best Casting, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Editing. With six wins, that puts it in the same company as Forrest Gump, The Godfather Part II, and Star Wars. Not bad company. Meanwhile, my second favorite film of 2025 Sinners won Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Score. That makes it the first non-Best Picture nominee to get a screenplay, lead actor, and multiple tech awards and not win the top prize. And what this means to the majority of people is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. What it means to me is everything. And that's okay, because it is in the celebration and discussion of cinema where I find my soul at it's happiest. And for the haters out there, your zeitgeist cultural event is just as stupid. Whether it's the Super Bowl, Fashion Week, the latest video game, etc. each of us have to find something in the popular culture to love, or we will find ourselves disconnected from the unifying power of art, sports, and whatever else ties us all together.   

Two Classics In One Year 
One thing that made this year's Academy Awards so special is that with OBAA and Sinners, we have two true generational defining films from two generational defining filmmakers. You can't say that about any year since maybe 2007 with No Country For Old Men (Coen Brothers) an There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson again). Then you have to go back to maybe 1998 with Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare in Love, but in reality the second is known more for being an Oscar villain. Maybe 1995's Apollo 13 and Braveheart and 1994's trio of Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, and Pulp Fiction. Then you have to go back to the 1970's to find generational defining films.  

Having two masterpieces in one year is special. If Paul Thomas Anderson (OBAA) is more like Robert Altman with sprawling ensemble pieces, Ryan Coogler (Sinners) is more of the Steven Spielberg, a populist filmmaker with huge blockbusters (MCU's Black Panther films) and producing giant IP's (Creed). Sinners was a huge hit at the box office, whereas OBAA had a more independent film domestic feel to it's box office performance.       

Both films had cinematic parallels as well. Both films dealt with similar themes ranging from the relationships of fathers and children to racism to the politics of our day. Both had large casts with one amazing performance after another. It's a sin both couldn't win best picture. (See what I did there?) 
But even if these films had deflated in popularity by Oscar night and a film like Hamnet had won, they are the only two films we'll be talking about twenty years from now. When Paul Thomas Anderson won his third Oscar Sunday night he mentioned how 50 years ago Jaws, Dog Day Afternoon, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest all completed against each other, and today all three are true classics. Heck, Jaws and Cuckoo's Nest were released in theaters last year for their 50th anniversary. Now that's OG status. 

I truly feel OBAA and Sinners will have that type of lasting impact. Many times I watch all ten nominated films and think we might have one film that I can MAYBE talk to a person about. But in my travels, it feels like these two films really made an impact. And it's from two filmmakers who still have a ton of filmmaking left in them. 

Should We Even Put Art Against Each Other?       
Many criticize the Oscars for various practical and rather shallow reasons. One thing you'll hear from actors and artists is that we shouldn't put movies or art in competition against each other. Many will say it's apples and oranges, and how do you tell people one science fiction film is better than a romantic comedy when they had different budgets, stories, and artistic teams? In sports there are more fair systems ranging from salary caps to complicated playoff structures to name a champion. This is a fair argument, but I would argue that if you view the whole award season holistically and not just the three and a half hour show as the end all, it's really a celebration of art and peer appreciation. 
We all want validation from our peers, and the awards season gives filmmakers that opportunity. There are industry screenings, critics awards, and guild/industry awards that help shape the final Oscar nominations and winners. Along the way actors like The Rock (The Smashing Machine) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) earn their first major precursors through the Golden Globes, which gives their films a better chance to win other awards or for them to win for future films. Plus, award shows help people with limited time and money to go see the films more worth their time, or ironically ignore. I know many who reject films because they see award nominated films as homework - compared to more fun films like The Housemaid or Anaconda. 

Awards also help actors, writers, editors, designers, and filmmakers get more money for future projects. And if YOU want to "make it" in Hollywood, you want people making more money, so there are salaries you desire waiting for you. Trust me, if there was a Best Production Assistant Award, there would be PA's competing in hopes of getting better pay and promotions. I still think there should be a Best Craft Services Award. I'm joking not joking. "And the Oscar for best omelette bar goes to..."
But by having this award season leading to the top honor of an Oscar, many films and storytellers get an opportunity to see an increase in their exposure, money, and influence. Trust me, Spielberg's power in La La Land comes from both his box office success and multiple award success. James Cameron and Christopher Nolan have won awards and had top films, but not at the magnitude of the director of ET and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Oscars shape the future of cinema and dictates the types of films the culture will see years from now.  

Don't Be a Hater 
I know a lot of people trash talk the Oscars and call it stupid, but then they'll turn around and love sports betting and trashy reality shows. Or I find people who never "made it" see the Oscars is like lemon being squeezed into an open wound, But I think that while it might not be for everyone, especially non-film lovers, why would you trash a spectacle that doesn't really affect your life?   
Films are the reflection of our society and the individual. Why would you be upset that a group of people got together to have an employee of the year celebration? Because they put it on TV? They put everything on TV. It's a media based industry. If it wasn't on TV, it be weirder. 
As a Oscar fan since 1990 (when I was 9 years old), I can tell you that I have enjoyed watching the show for decades now. It is my Super Bowl. It is my Christmas Day. It is my favorite event of the year. And in a world where there is so much to be upset about, why hate on people celebrating others?

Final Thoughts
While the Oscar season lasts longer than I'd like - it should end in mid February - the overall season has a lot of good spirits and helps shine a light on the best of art. Cinema is a communal experience. Like old camp fires in the wild west, we sit around and hear a story and then discuss it as a group. Ironically, talking about sports or religion can be a truly divisive discussion. Cinema should be a gateway to understanding our world, our neighbor, and ourselves. 

Roger Ebert, the greatest film critic of all time, said it best:
“We all are born with a certain package. We are who we are: where we were born, who we were born as, how we were raised. We’re kind of stuck inside that person, and the purpose of civilization and growth is to be able to reach out and empathize a little bit with other people. And for me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us.” - Roger Ebert         

​So go watch a movie. Learn about worlds you've never seen. It just might change everything from your day to your whole worldview. And then watch the Oscars to see how the industry's tastes stack up to your own.