Something I did last year when I was just figuring out what things I would like to do here on the blog was doing a post with my thoughts of the Oscar ceremony as it was happening. I had so much fun doing it last year, I decided to do it again. So, what follows are my ramblings of how things went over the course of the evening.

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6:45 p.m. – Ok. Going in to tonight’s festivities, I’m seeing a lot thinking Conclave could spoil the party for Anora. I don’t really see that happening, but we will find out for sure in the next 3+ hours.

6:51 p.m. – Timmy sure looks bright tonight.

6:57 p.m. – Apparently, the producer a of tonight’s show are saying we are looking at over 3 hours. I will guess 3 hours, 35 minutes.

7:01 p.m. – Figured we would have a Los Angeles montage. That was nice.

7:05 p.m. – Is the orchestra going to be stationed up up there on the back drop all night? Interesting if true.

7:07 p.m. – Defying Gravity is such a great song.

7:08 p.m. – The state looks awful small this year.

7:13 p.m. – Does Conan dare joke about Emilia Perez?

7:15 p.m. – There it is.

7:23 p.m. – Sandler killer it there!

7:25 p.m. – Great monologue. Team Coco Forever!

7:27 p.m. – Supporting Actor is first. This is the lockiest of locks.

7:30 p.m. – To the surprise of no one, Culkin wins.

7:39 p.m. – Andrew Garfield is just so charming.

7:40 p.m. – Animated Feature is next, and this was a hard choice between Flow and The Wild Robot for me.

7:42 p.m. – Flow wins. Shouldn’t have switched my pick to Wild Robot last week…

7:44 p.m. – In the Shadow of the Cypress takes Animated Short. Two misses in a row for me now.

7:47 p.m. – Did Offerman just reveal that for Costume Design we will have examples from each movie on stage?

7:53 p.m. – Just Yang did. Makes sense since he is the SNL person of those 5.

7:58 p.m. – Wicked takes Costume and I’m back in win column.

8:01 p.m. – Doing the minutes speeches for each Costume nominee like they do for the Acting awards is nice, but if we are doing this for every award, this is going to take forever. We are at the hour mark, and only 4 awards in.

8:04 p.m. – Screenplays are next and while I think Conclave is secure for Adapted, if Anora loses Original, it might point to issues for it for the big prize.

8:09 p.m. – Original goes to Anora. First win of the night for that film and it’s just getting started most likely.

8:13 p.m. – Adapted goes to Conclave just as it was foretold.

8:22 p.m. – June Squibb is a treasure.

8:22 p.m. – The Substance wins Makeup like it should have. The main draw to that film is makeup work. The third act alone should have won the award for the film.

8:27 p.m. – Why are doing this Bond tribute right now? It isn’t an anniversary, and it feels like a farewell to the series after Amazon bought if from the Broccolis.

8:30 p.m. – While we’re doing this Bond tribute, there are still 16 awards to get to.

8:39 p.m. – Film Editing goes to Anora, and Baker is back up there. He should be up making speeches a couple more times tonight.

8:45 p.m. – In another easy pick, Saldaña wins Supporting Actress. With luck, Emilia Pérez only wins one more award tonight. I watched a YouTube video that called it “a Crunchwrap Supreme level of authenticity toward Mexican culture” and I haven’t stopped laughing at that,

8:49 p.m. – It looks like the final 3 awards in order are Director, Actress, and Picture. Interesting if that is right…..

8:55 p.m. – Wicked wins Production and its 3rd award for the night. It might also be the last.

9:03 p.m. – El Mal wins Best Song, and Diane Warren is now 0-16, but she will be back next year. She has been nominated each of the last 10 years.

9:05 p.m. – Documentary Short and Feature are next up after the break, and I feel good about my picks for at least one of them. The Shorts are always a crapshoot.

9:10 p.m. – The Only Girl in the Orchestra wins Doc Short, and I’m 0-2 on the shorts with only Live Action Short to save me.

9:14 p.m. – No Other Land wins Best Documentary, and maybe I’ll be able to watch it now that it won. It doesn’t have US distribution yet, and probably never will.

9:20 p.m. – With Sound and Visual Effects up next, it’s time for Dune to win some awards tonight.

9:27 p.m. – Three “musicals” up for Best Sound, and it’s the film with sandworms taking the win. Dune wins Best Sound for the second time.

9:31 p.m. – 2 in a row for Dune: Part Two as it takes Best Visual Effects. Another award Dune: Part One won too.

9:33 p.m. – Awards still to get to (in order): Live Action Short, Cinematography, International, Score, Actor, Director, Actress, Picture. All in 50 minutes if this will be done by 10:30. Never going to happen.

9:38 p.m. – Live Action Short goes to I’m Not a Robot, and I go 0/3 on the shorts this year. Yay….

9:42 p.m. – Interesting choice of song for the In Memoriam

9:54 p.m. – Cinematography goes to The Brutalist, and it gets it’s first win tonight. It still is the favorite for two others coming up.

9:56 p.m. – International for a while seemed like it was going to Emilia Pérez, but I’m Still Here started to take the focus. I’m Still Here wins Best International.

10:04 p.m. – One last below the line award to give out, and it’s for Best Score. Like a lot of people, I’m not sure how Wicked is here while Dune: Part Two was not valid since it was too similar to an existing score (Dune: Part One) . It doesn’t matter though. The Brutalist wins Best Score.

10:07 p.m. – I’m at 14-5 at this point, so I might just get my best score this year.

10:12 p.m. – The orchestra has been awesome tonight.

10:16 p.m. – Four awards left and Best Actor is up next. I want to be right, so I’m thinking Brody. However, it would be cool if Chalamet wins.

10:22 p.m. – Brody wins Best Actor, his second Best Actor win. Chalamet will most likely be back next year with Marty Supreme.

10:30 p.m. – Sean Baker wins Best Director, and it is his third win tonight. No person has won four awards for one film at the Academy Awards. If Anora wins Best Picture, Baker will be the first to do that.

10:32 p.m. – Baker is 100% right there. Seeing movies in the theater has something you can’t replicate at home. It is crushing that nearly all the independent theaters here in the Metro Detroit area are now gone.

10:38 p.m. – Best Actress goes to Madison, and it’s really Anora’s night.

10:43 p.m. – It would be something if Conclave won Best Picture here.

10:44 p.m. – Anora wins Best Picture, and with 5 awards tonight, it had a really good night.

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So, another Oscars is in the books, and this was maybe my best night with my picks. I finish with 17-6, and if you take out the stupid shorts trio, I only missed two upsets (Animated and Actress) and Editing (that had about 3 great options). Next year, the number of categories grows to 24 when Best Casting joins the ranks.