Daniel Blumberg wins Best Score for The Brutalist – Annabella Lawlor, Staff Writer

A stark clanging of percussive metal counts two eighth notes and one whole note. The plucked guts of the piano’s strings shudder in the stark wind, amongst a wave of tremendous brass. Softly grazed piano keys twinkle beneath the monumentality of Daniel Blumberg’s industrial soundscape for The Brutalist. The score, at first sentimental and triumphant, lures us into Brady Corbet’s vision of post-war American hope, revealing from its depths the landscape’s decay as it corrodes immigrant architect László Tóth’s fictitious ‘American Dream.’ 

Blumberg’s Oscar win for Best Score is one of the most well-deserved of the night. He renders every strike of marble, every treacherous spark, every severe structure of the film into towering melody. 

It’s also a win for London’s independent music scene. In his speech, Blumberg thanked the folks at Cafe OTO, a pioneering Dalston venue for avant-garde and improvisational music. A member of the OTO scene for over a decade, Blumberg brings its creative authenticity to the Oscars stage. By acknowledging his fellow musicians, he reminds us of the film score’s essence: A space for collaboration and melodic convergence.

A historic night for Costume Design – Isobel Bray, Contributor

Costume designers play an essential role in shaping a film’s visual identity, ensuring that every character—from leads to extras—fits seamlessly into the world of the story. This year, an actor from each nominated film took the stage to pay homage to the visionaries who dressed their on-screen personas, against a backdrop of colourfully sketched costumes from each film. From Glinda’s extravagant gowns in Wicked to the priestly garb in Conclave, each actor brought life to the diversity of skills exercised by their respective costume designers. This year’s presentation was a wonderful way to highlight these artists’ work, bringing well-deserved recognition to an often overlooked aspect of filmmaking.

This moment became even more special when Paul Tazewell, the costume designer for Wicked, made history as the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. With a career spanning over 30 years in Broadway and film, Tazewell called the win “everything.” His attention to detail and love for the Ozian universe shone through in his designs, bringing a fresh but faithful touch to the beloved world of Wicked.

Adrien Brody and Halle Berry’s “payback” kiss—the new age handshake? – Bianca Sugunasiri, Staff Writer 

A notably scandalous moment of the 2025 Oscars was the “payback” kiss between Halle Berry and Adrien Brody (although I’m not sure that getting kissed by the Halle Berry can be considered payback). Brody, who won Best Actor this year for his role in The Brutalist, first won this Academy Award for Best Actor in 2003 for his role in The Pianist—which made him the youngest actor to ever win in that category. 

Undoubtedly, his inappropriate behaviour on stage overshadowed that achievement when he infamously pulled an unsuspecting Halle Berry into a forceful kiss as she presented him with the 2003 Best Actor award. Berry later noted in an interview that the kiss wasn’t staged, describing her thoughts in the moment as, “What the f— is happening.” 22 years later, Berry approached Brody on the pre-ceremony red carpet, jokingly apologizing to his girlfriend, Georgiana Chapman, before kissing him. Although there appears to be no bad blood between the actors, I just have to wonder…whatever happened to an old-fashioned handshake? 

Latvia wins its first Oscar – Charlotte Hayes, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Hollywood’s Biggest Night saw Flow, a breathtaking wordless animated independent film created on the free animation software blender, took home the prize for Best Animated Feature, beating out a number of heavyweight contenders from Disney and DreamWorks. On top of its triumph as an independent film, Flow marks the first time a Latvian film has won an Oscar, and to say Latvia was excited is an understatement. A statue of the film’s protagonist, a small black cat, was erected in the capital city of Riga, and the directors received a hero’s welcome with a celebration thrown in their honour upon their return to the country.