2025 Oscars were slow and strange — but were saved by ‘Anora’ and Conan O’Brien

People act like a nearly four-hour Oscars is some undeniable fact of life. The sun rises in the east, the sky is blue, the Oscars take one-sixth of a day.

But 30 minutes could’ve oh so easily been cut from Sunday night’s strange and sloooow Academy Awards.

Why, exactly, did Margaret Qualley dance during a pointless tribute to James Bond that featured godawful covers of “Diamonds Are Forever” and “Live and Let Die”?

Why, exactly, did Queen Latifah belt “Ease on Down the Road” from “The Wiz” as a tribute to Quincy Jones?

Why, exactly, did “Wicked” stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande perform a “Wizard of Oz”-themed medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Home” and “Defying Gravity?”

Friends, I have no idea.