Biggest Oscar Surprises, Milestones

The 97th Academy Awards are in the books, and Anora led the way with five victories including best film. (See a list of winners here.) The night seemed to have fewer surprises and snubs than in other years, but entertainment outlets still had a number of notable moments to write about, including:

• Best actress: Mikey Madison of Anora won for best actress over seeming "shoo-in" Demi Moore of The Substance, notes Variety. Moore had pretty much swept the season's previous award shows.
• No Dylan love: A Complete Unknown had eight nominations and didn't take home a single win, notes the Hollywood Reporter. That includes Adrien Brody of The Brutalist winning for best actor over Timothee Chalamet for his portrayal of Bob Dylan. "Perhaps (Dylan) made the right move in skipping the ceremony in which his biopic went winless."

• International: I'm Still Here won best international feature over Emilia Perez, which had been a favorite despite controversy over the resurfaced tweets of best-actress nominee Karla Sofia Gascon. Given that Emilia Perez had 13 nominations, its haul of only two (supporting actress and original song) was "statistically shocking," per Screen Rant.
• Losing streak: Diane Warren is now 0 for 16 in the best original song category. Her "The Journey" lost to "El Mal" from Emilia Perez, notes Billboard. "With her 0-16 track record, Warren ties sound and sound mixing specialist Greg P. Russell for the most nominations without a competitive win (yet)."
• Animated upset: A small-budget Latvian film, Flow, won best animated feature over much bigger productions The Wild Robot from Universal and Inside Out 2 from Pixar, notes the Hollywood Reporter. It's the first Oscar win ever for Latvia.
• A record four: Sean Baker of Anora became the first person to win four Oscars for the same movie: best film, director, original screenplay, and editing, notes People. He tied Walt Disney's record for total Oscars wins in a single night, but Baker is the first to win four for the same film. Maybe the biggest surprise was in the editing category, where he won instead of Nick Emerson of Conclave.

(More Oscars stories.)