ABOVE: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan accepts the Oscar® for Best Picture during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® on Sunday, March 12, 2023. (PHOTO: Phil McCarten)
The 95th Academy Awards was a celebration of Hollywood’s biggest night. Some view it as a night where celebrities hand each other gold statues, and that’s one way of regarding it, but for this cinephile, it’s a celebration of film. It’s an opportunity to reward the hard work of those in front of and behind the camera.
The big winner from the ceremony was Everything Everywhere All at Once, which took home seven Academy Awards. It’s the most awards by a Best Picture winner since Slumdog Millionaire, but in contrast to that film, it swept all the ‘Big Six’ awards except Best Actor, where it didn’t have a nomination. It won Best Picture, Best Lead Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis), Supporting Actor (Key Huy Quan), Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
The film is unique, and in a world of sequels, reboots, and remakes, this film dared to be different. The three acting awards also have sparked rejuvenation in the recipients' careers.
ABOVE: Michelle Yeoh accepts the Oscar® for Actress in a Leading Role during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars®. (PHOTO: Blaine Ohigashi)
Jamie Lee Curtis, the self-proclaimed ‘Nepo Baby,’ steps out of the shadow of the Halloween series and shows she can do a lot more. Michelle Yeoh becomes the first Asian actress to win the Lead Actress Oscar and also gets to celebrate a career of great performances. Ke Huy Quan dominated this awards season despite almost giving up acting. He was sincere, grateful, and inspiring throughout.
ABOVE: Brendan Fraser accepts the Oscar® for Actor in a Leading Role. (PHOTO: Blaine Ohigashi)
Another big winner, Brendan Fraser, took home the Academy Award for Best Actor for his mesmerizing performance in The Whale. His win solidifies that sometimes we just haven’t seen an actor’s best work. Yes, he is known for Encino Man and The Mummy, but in The Whale, he delivered not only the best performance of his career but the best performance of 2022.
Ruth Carter was once again celebrated with the Award for Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, impressive considering she won for the original Black Panther film several years ago.
ABOVE: Ke Huy Quan accepts the Oscar® for Actor in a Supporting Role. (PHOTO: Phil McCarten)
There were some highs, such as the team from the Indian film R.R.R. winning for Best Original Song in a category that included Lady Gaga and Rhianna but then accepting the award and channelling The Carpenters as he sang his acceptance speech.
Ke Huy Quan's touching tribute to his mother during his acceptance speech brought me to tears.
Canada’s own Sarah Polley won the Adapted Screenplay award for Women Talking. As the title suggests, this dialogue-driven film was well-received but arrived quietly in theaters with little promotion.
ABOVE: Jimmy Kimmel hosts The 95th Oscars® at The Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 12, 2023. (PHOTO: Phil McCarten)
The host Jimmy Kimmel was a bit of a mixed bag. He touched on last year's Will Smith/Chris Rock incident but didn’t dwell on it. The funniest bit was when he left the stage with a sign that said Number of Oscars Telecast Without Incident and turned the number to one. Some jokes worked, and some didn’t, but that’s standard. Billy Crystal is the bar for hosting duties; no one can hit that mark, but Kimmel was good in his third outing as host.
I know people want the show to go fast, and I am not a fan of the speeches, but the flip side of that coin is these are people who have reached the highest honour in their film career; they should be able to accept the award and say a few words.
Overall, the 95th Academy Awards was a well-produced show. The award recipients themselves can be debated, as they usually are. One thing that can be agreed upon, there were a lot of great movies this past year.
Award Winners
