On Sunday night, March 2, those interested pop culture and movies popped their popcorn, poured their glasses of wine and geared up to watch the 2025 Oscars.  

For those who maybe aren’t so in tune with movies and pop culture, here’s the gist. 

There were a few memorable films nominated for Best Picture including “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emelia Pérez,” “I’m Still Here,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Substance” and “Wicked.”  

These films pretty much took the cake for the rest of the category nominations as well.  

Timothée Chalamet, the star of “A Complete Unknown,” the highly anticipated Bob Dylan biopic, was nominated for Best Actor. 

“My most anticipated category was best actor. I was rooting for Timothée Chalamet, and I thought it was so cool how he campaigned by being the musical guest on SNL and singing Dylan songs,” said VTSU Castleton student Genna Hurley  

Chalamet spent around five years working on this film. It is also widely known that he went without using a cell phone for some months to be able to unplug and allow himself to be more in tune with his character.  

A lot of people, including Hurley, thought he deserved to win because of his dedication.  

However, Adrien Brody won for his performance in “The Brutalist.”  

The Brutalist follows an architect who is a refugee, making his way to the United States.  

“I thought Adrien Brody was definitely a strong contender, but I thought the AI situation might have made a difference,” Hurley continued.  

There was some controversy around Brody’s performance because it is known that the performance was enhanced using Artificial Intelligence. AI was used to improve their pronunciation of Hungarian dialogue.  

Hurley wasn’t the only one disappointed that Timothée Chalamet didn’t win.  

“I was really looking forward for best actor because of Timothée. I really thought he had that one in the bag. I was so bummed he didn’t win it,” said fellow VTSU Castleton student Madelyn Nonni.  

For Best Picture, another highly anticipated category, “Anora” won.  

Anora follows a young stripper who marries the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch and the film explores the nuanced portrayal of the sex work industry.  

But many people thought “Wicked” was definitely going to win.  

“I personally think Wicked should have won best picture because it was much more popular and well liked than Anora,” VTSU Castleton student Camille Pontius said. 

Although Hurley agrees that “Wicked” was good, she has a different understanding of why it didn’t win Best Picture. 

“I haven’t seen “Anora” yet, but I did see “Wicked” and I thought it was pretty good. I am not too surprised that “Wicked” didn’t win best picture because it was originally a musical, but I was surprised that it was “Anora” that won,” she said.  

“I am glad that “Wicked” won the awards that it did and would have liked to see Cynthia Erivo win best actress,” Hurley continued.  

“Wicked” has received a lot of praise throughout award season, but some were upset that the only awards they took home for the Oscars was for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.  

“I think “Anora” is so good, but I really liked “Wicked.” I thought there was no way anyone else would win Best Picture. “Wicked” was definitely snubbed the whole show,” Nonni said.  

Some Castleton students were shocked as actors and actresses unexpectedly won. 

“I was pleasantly surprised that Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for “A Real Pain, I think he’s such a fun person and a good actor but didn’t know if he would win because that movie wasn’t as big as some of the other films actors were nominated for,” Hurley said.  

“A Real Pain” is comedy following a cousin duo that meets up in Poland to honor their grandmother.  

Zoe Saldaña won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Emelia Pérez.”  

The film is about a Mexican lawyer who helps a high-profile drug cartel transition into a woman.  

“I was not expecting Zoe Saldaña to win best supporting actress. I think Ariana should have won because I believe her performance was much more impactful than Zoe’s,” Nonni said.