{"id":119061,"date":"2025-02-28T09:42:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T14:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&p=119061"},"modified":"2025-02-28T09:42:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T14:42:57","slug":"academy-awards-insights-predictions","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/news\/articles\/2025\/academy-awards-insights-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Academy Awards Are Sunday: Will It Be a Wicked Night?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Films nominated for this year\u2019s Academy Award for best picture. Unlike last year, when\u00a0Oppenheimer\u00a0<\/em>was the clear favorite to win (and did), this year\u2019s race for Hollywood\u2019s biggest prize seems to be up for grabs. Photos via IMDb<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Academy Awards Are Sunday: Will It Be a Wicked<\/em> Night?\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The show goes on after\u00a0 devastating Los Angeles fires, and BU film experts say\u00a0Emilia P\u00e9rez<\/em>,\u00a0The Brutalist<\/em>,\u00a0A Complete Unknown,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Anora<\/em>\u00a0will likely win Oscars<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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February 28, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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This article was originally published in BU Today<\/a><\/em> on February 26, 2025. By John O’Rourke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EXCERPT<\/h4>

Sunday night, tens of millions of people around the globe will tune in live (or later on various social media platforms) to watch the 97th Academy Awards ceremony, even as cleanup from the devastating Los Angeles wildfires continues just outside the doors of the Dolby Theatre.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To gain some insight into this year\u2019s nominees and what to expect Sunday,\u00a0BU Today\u00a0<\/em>spoke with film scholar\u00a0Harvey Young<\/a>, dean of the College of Fine Arts and a College of Arts & Sciences professor of English, and\u00a0Betsy Walters<\/a>\u00a0(COM\u201920, GRS\u201925), whose PhD dissertation is about the Academy Awards and their cultural relevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Betsy
Betsy Walters (COM\u201920, GRS\u201925) and Harvey Young, dean of the College of Fine Arts, with Academy Awards in the collections of the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center of the BU Libraries. Walters\u2019 PhD dissertation examines the cultural relevance of the Academy Awards in the 21st century. The Oscars pictured were awarded to Rex Harrison (from left), Myrna Loy, Gene Kelly, Angela Lansbury, and Lauren Bacall. Photo by Cydney Scott<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Q&<\/span>A<\/h2>

With Harvey Young and Betsy Walters<\/h4><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n

BU Today:<\/em>\u00a0What surprised you most about this year\u2019s nominations?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Young: <\/strong>I thought there would be more big-budget sequels among the nominees. They dominated the box office. I\u2019m glad that Academy members mostly sought out smaller films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walters: <\/strong>It was a bit surprising that Emilia P\u00e9rez <\/em>and the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown,<\/em><\/a>received as many nominations as they did, and certainly the Brazilian film I\u2019m Still Here,<\/em><\/a> which came on very strong with Best Actress and Best Picture nominations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BU Today:<\/em>\u00a0Who got snubbed this year?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Young: <\/strong>John M. Chu, the director of Wicked. <\/em>That\u2019s a snub that rankles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walters: <\/strong>A lot of people were surprised that Challengers<\/em> received no nominations, particularly its score. It\u2019s a bit of a surprise to see Fernanda Torres (I\u2019m Still Here)<\/em> get a Best Actress nomination over some big-name past Oscar winners like Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BU Today:<\/em>\u00a0OK, let\u2019s turn to your predictions for who will win in the major categories, starting with best picture. Who\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0win and who\u00a0will<\/em>\u00a0win?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Young: <\/strong>The Brutalist <\/em>will win. I spent the first 15 minutes of Anora<\/em> wondering how it was even nominated for Best Picture and the last 20 minutes convinced that it might be the dark horse for Best Picture. For that journey alone, I\u2019ll say that Anora <\/em>should win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walters: <\/strong>Emilia P\u00e9rez <\/em>seemed like the front-runner, but the recent scandals have taken a toll. Anora <\/em>winning the top PGA and DGA awards suggests that it\u2019s the new front-runner (and I loved it\u2014comedy is a genre that is underrepresented at the Oscars, and it\u2019s hilarious, if also heartbreaking). The Oscars are voted on by preferential ballot, which often means that the films that are broadly popular end up winning\u2014i.e., people choose their very favorite film for No. 1 (which can be polarizing, love-it-or-hate-it type choices), and the No. 2 vote goes to a film that\u2019s a little more well-liked by everyone. The number two film often ends up winning in that case, since it gets more overall support, and that might benefit films like Conclave, A Complete Unknown<\/em>, or Wicked<\/em>, which have broader appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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read the full Q&A in BU Today<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n