Is it just us or did Sunday’s Oscars show fly by for once? Like many, we grew up watching the Academy Awards on TV as a kid, buying into the the pop culture hoopla surrounding the celebration of exemplary filmmaking (and fierce fashion critique). We’ve never enjoyed the aggrandization of rich and famous people just doing their jobs, but it comes with the territory.

But on Sunday’s 3-hour telecast, there was a sense of humility that we haven’t seen in some time, and it was over before we knew it. We could’ve watched more.

Was it COVID? The slap? The fact that our world feels like it’s on the brink of impending doom? We actually got teary during a couple of the speeches, especially Ke Huy Quan’s, which was the kind of joyful full circle moment that makes Hollywood the place of dreams, still.

Jimmy Kimmel did a fine job as host, maintaining the delicate balance between reverence for and ribbing of the diamond encrusted movie stars in the audience. His slow-drip of Will Smith jokes throughout the show was, we gotta say it, more clever than Chris Rock’s whole Netflix set (though we did enjoy that too).

We purposely avoided Twitter during the Oscars. Dissecting every little upset, slight between rivals, side-boob slip, Botox-overdo, etc. has grown tiresome. Angela Bassett probably did deserve to win Best Supporting Actress and she probably should’ve been more gracious with a least a couple fake claps (both can be true).  Jamie Lee Curtis was wonderful in her role and her energy on this awards circuit has been the best. Both women keep it real and deserve props for their full bodies of work.

Speaking of concerts– David Byrne, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and winners Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava turned in varied performances, and we loved the simplicity of Lenny Kravitz at a piano for the In Memorium segment. Of course, the Oscars left a lot of important people out on the telecast as they always do, but this year the omissions might have been particularly egregious. See them all HERE.

Other than the Best Supporting Actress controversy, pretty much everyone agrees the Academy mostly got it right this year. It was big well-deserved night for the AAPI community, for women, and for truly independent, original movie-making. In a landscape dominated by re-hashed stories and superhero onslaught, Everything Everywhere All at Once was a weird, emotional and mind-bending shower of flavors, seeds and ideas that will hopefully inspire more of the same in the future.

 

Photo above courtesy A Frame/Oscars.org. (See more images including behind the scenes shots at  aframe.oscars.org/news/post/gallery-inside-the-95th-oscars-exclusive).

 

The 2023 Oscars Winners List

 

Best Picture

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor

Brendan Fraser (The Whale) 

Best Actress

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Best Supporting Actor

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Best Supporting Actress

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Best Animated Film

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Director

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Women Talking – Sarah Polley

Best Original Screenplay

Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Best Cinematography

All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Film Editing

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Original Score

All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Original Song

“Naatu Naatu” from RRR (Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose)

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: The Way of Water

Best Sound

Top Gun: Maverick

Best Costume Design

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

The Whale

Best Production Design

All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Documentary Feature

Navalny

Best Documentary Short Subject

The Elephant Whisperers

Best Animated Short

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

Best Live-Action Short

An Irish Goodbye

Best International Film

All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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