“Everything Everywhere at Once” was named best picture at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, capping off an improbable awards season by winning the movie business’ highest honor.
A gonzo adventure film about a Chinese-American laundromat owner battling an IRS audit and interdimensional raiders earned seven statuettes, including original screenplay and nods for its creators Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as Daniel ) directed respect for. The win is a win for A24, the indie studio that pushed the zany film to an impressive $100 million at the box office, an astonishing feat at a time when the market for art films has shrunk. The studio also achieved the rare feat of garnering all four acting honors – three of which were won by “Everything Everywhere at Once” and one by “The Whale”.
It was a night of withdrawal and reappraisal. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to be recognized as Best Actress. The honor came after a long career in martial arts and action films such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Yes, Madam.”
Yeoh said, “Ladies, never let anyone tell you’re past your prime.” “To all those little boys and girls who look like me tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibility,” he said.
Brendan Fraser took home best actor honors for his performance as a morbidly obese man trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter in “The Whale.” Fraser, once a lead actor best known for his work in popcorn flicks such as “George of the Jungle” and “The Mummy,” had spent the past decade in and out of the spotlight dealing with health and personal struggles. His victory continues his remarkable resurgence.
Fraser acknowledged his career setbacks, saying, “I started in this business 30 years ago, and it—they certainly didn’t come easily to me, but there was one convenience I didn’t appreciate. ” He thanked his director, Darren Aronofsky, for “throwing me a creative lifeline and taking me aboard”.
Ke Hui Quan won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Yoh’s weary husband in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. A former child star who appeared in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies,” Kwan had quit acting in recent years, frustrated by a lack of opportunities. While accepting his award, he held back tears as he shared his personal history.
“My journey started on a boat,” he said. “I spent a year in a refugee camp and somehow I ended up here on the biggest stage in Hollywood. They say stories like this only happen in movies. I can’t believe this is happening to me. This American Dream.
He said, “Dreams are something you have to believe in.” “I almost quit my job. To all of you, please keep your dreams alive.”
Jamie Lee Curtis, a veteran headliner of horror hits like “Halloween” and daughter of Hollywood legends Janet Lee and Tony Curtis, won best supporting actress for her turn as an IRS inspector in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Won.
Curtis dedicated his statuette to “all the people who have supported the genre films we’ve made for all these years” and also acknowledged his family’s history in entertainment, “My mom and my dad both came from different backgrounds.” categories.” Choking up, he finished: “I just won an Oscar.”
With its multiverse storyline, and off-beat touches like a character with hot dog hands and a weaponized dildo, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” represents a radical departure from the type of prestige awards that have historically dominated the Oscars. , but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has changed dramatically in recent years. In the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, when two years in a row no actors of color were nominated, the Academy made a big push in 2016 to diversify the pool of voters. Its membership has decreased in later years, and now includes more people of color and women.
The ceremony unfolded at a tense time for Hollywood. As consumers have turned away from cable and toward subscription streaming services, major studios and their corporate parents have invested a lot of time and coin launching their own in-house Netflix challengers. The entertainment industry has also gone through a period of consolidation, with Discovery merging with WarnerMedia, Disney taking over 21st Century Fox and Amazon taking over MGM, leaving the buyer in the first two cases with a lot of debt on their balance sheets. left. Investors have become increasingly concerned that major media companies have become increasingly profitable and the new ways they are making money with streaming are failing to replace the old ways they once made money through cable subscriptions and movie ticket sales. were benefited from. That has hurt share prices of everyone from Netflix to Disney, renewed Warner Bros. Discovery, sparking a period of layoffs and cost-cutting. With a possible recession and studios facing tangled labor negotiations with unions representing writers, directors and actors that could lead to a strike, there are dark clouds gathering that could cloud the air of Oscar celebration. Could see
Presiding over it all and (mostly) keeping things light and breezy was Jimmy Kimmel, returning for a third time as host of the Oscars. The late-night comic wasted no time in bringing up the big moment from last year’s ceremony, when Will Smith charged on stage and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head (Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia areata which causes hair loss).
“If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point during this show, you will be awarded the Oscar for Best Actor and allowed to give a 19-minute long speech,” Kimmel joked.
“If anything unexpected or violent happens during the ceremony, do what you did last year – do nothing,” he said. “Sit there and do absolutely nothing. Maybe even hug the attacker.”
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” an adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel about trench life during World War I, won four Oscars, including the award for best international feature. Other major winners include “Pinocchio,” the stop-motion musical by Guillermo del Toro, which was named best animated film, as well as “Women Talking,” which earned best adapted screenplay for Sarah Polley.
“Navalny,” a look at Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, won best documentary. Yulia Navalny, the jailed politician’s wife, came on stage after the award was announced with a message aimed at Vladimir Putin. “I dream of the day when you will be free and our country will be free,” she said.
Oscar chose not to plunge fully into international affairs. For the second year in a row, the program turned down offers by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address a global audience about his country’s struggles against Russia’s illegal invasion.
This year’s Best Picture nominees include smaller films like “Tar,” but also several popular favorites like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” It’s not clear how much this will help ratings this year, but Oscars ratings are down. Last year’s broadcast attracted 16.6 million viewers, the second lowest ratings in history. In contrast, in 2014, the Oscars attracted 43 million viewers, indicating a decline in the telecast’s popularity.
The Oscars underwent some notable cosmetic changes, ditching the champagne-colored carpet for the usual red carpet look. This choice, however, led to some last-minute scrambling after the organizers cut away parts of the carpet ruined by inclement weather and dirty shoe soles after a rainy weekend. However, some near disasters were averted. On Saturday, Ovation Hollywood, the shopping center and entertainment complex that hosts the Academy Awards, suffered a power outage. However, by Sunday the skies had cleared and the only signs of twinkling light were the flashbulbs greeting the stars as they made their way into the auditorium.
Here is the full list of Oscar winners:
Best picture
“Everything Everywhere at Once” – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert & Jonathan Wang, Producers
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – Malte Grunert, producer
“Avatar: The Way of Water” – James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers
“The Banshees of Inishrin” – Graham Broadbent, Pete Czarnin, and Martin McDonagh, Producers
“Elvis” — Baz Luhrmann, Kathryn Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick & Schuyler Weiss, Producers
“The Fablemans” — Christie Macosco Krieger, Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner, Producers
“The Wire” – Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan & Scott Lambert, producers
“Top Gun: Maverick” — Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, producers
“Triangle of Sadness” – Eric Heimendorff & Philipp Bober, Producers
“Women Talking” — Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner & Frances McDormand, Producers
Best Lead Actress
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere at Once”)
Cate Blanchett (“Tar”)
Ana de Armas (“Blonde”)
Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)
Michelle Williams (“The Fablemans”)
Best Lead Actor
Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
Austin Butler (“Elvis”)
Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inishrin”)
Paul Mescal (“Afterson”)
Bill Nighy (“Living”)
Best Director
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere at Once”)
Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inishrin”)
Steven Spielberg (“The Fablemans”)
Todd Field (“The Wire”)
Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sorrows”)
Best Film Editing
“Everything Together Everywhere” – Paul Rodgers
“The Banshees of Inishrin” – Mikael E.G. Nielsen
“Elvis” – Matt Villa & Jonathan Redmond
“The Wire” – Monica Wiley
“Top Gun: Maverick” – Eddie Hamilton
Best Original Song
“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” – Music MM Keeravani, Lyrics by Chandrabose
“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman” – Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren
“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick” – Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga and Bloodpop
“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — Music by Thames, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson; Song by Thames and Ryan Coogler
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” from “This Is a Life” – Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne & Mitsky; Lyrics by Ryan Lott and David Byrne
Best Sound
“Top Gun: Maverick” – Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burden and Mark Taylor
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – Victor Priscil, Frank Krause, Markus Stemmler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte
“Avatar: The Way of Water” – Julianne Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boys, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges
“The Batman” – Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson
“Elvis” – David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson & Michael Keller
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Women Talking” – Sarah Polley
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – Edward Berger, Leslie Paterson and Ian Stokell
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” – Rian Johnson
“Living” – Kazuo Ishiguro
“Top Gun: Maverick” – Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story of Peter Craig and Justin Marks
Best Original Screenplay
“Everything Together Everywhere” – Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
“The Banshees of Inishrin” – Martin McDonagh
“The Fabelmans” – Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner
“The Wire” – Todd Field
“Triangle of Sorrow” – Ruben Ostlund
Best visual effects
“Avatar: The Way of Water” – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Seddon and Daniel Barrett
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – Frank Petzold, Victor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jaffar
“The Batman” – Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” – Geoffrey Bauman, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudik
“Top Gun: Maverick” – Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Brian Litson and Scott R. Fischer
Best original score
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – Volker Bertelmann
“Babylon” – Justin Hurwitz
“The Banshees of Inishrin” – Carter Burwell
“Everything Together Everywhere” – Son Lux
“The Fablemans” – John Williams
Best production design
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – Production Design by Christian M. Goldbeck, Set Decoration by Ernestine Hipper
“Avatar: The Way of Water” – Production Design by Dylan Cole and Ben Proctor, Set Decoration by Vanessa Cole
“Babylon” – Production Design by Florencia Martin, Set Decoration by Anthony Carlino
“Elvis” – Production Design by Katherine Martin and Karen Murphy, Set Decoration by Bev Dunn
“The Fablemans” – Production Design by Rick Carter, Set Decoration by Karen O’Hara
Best Animated Short Film
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” – Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
“The Flying Sailor” – Amanda Forbes and Wendy Tilby
“Ice Merchants” – Joao Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
“My Year of Dicks” – Sarah Gunnarsdottir and Pamela Ribon
“An ostrich told me the world is fake and I guess I believe it” – Lachlan Pendragon
Best Documentary Short Film
“The Elephant Whispers” – Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
“Hallout” – Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
“How do you measure a year?” -Jay Rosenblatt
“The Martha Mitchell Effect” – Anne Alvarguey and Beth Levison
“Stranger at the Gate” – Joshua Seftel & Conal Jones
Best International Feature Film
“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)
“Close Up” (Belgium)
“EO” (Poland)
‘The Quiet Girl’ (Ireland)
Best costume design
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” – Ruth E. carter
“Babylon” – Marie Zophres
“Elvis” – Katherine Martin
“Everything Together Everywhere” – Shirley Kurata
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” – Jenny Bevan
Best Makeup and Hair Styling
“The Whale” – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhammerova
“The Batman” – Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” – Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
“Elvis” – Mark Coulier, Jason Baird & Aldo Signoretti
Best Cinematography
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – James Friend
“The Bardo, the False Chronicle of a Handful of Truth” – Darius Khondji
“Elvis” – Mandy Walker
“Empire of Light” – Roger Deakins
“Tar” – Florian Hofmeister
Best live action short
“An Irish Goodbye” – Tom Berkeley & Ross White
“Ivalu” – Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzen
“Le Pupil” – Alice Rohrwacher & Alfonso Cuarón
“Night Ride” – Erik Tveiten & Got Lid Larsson
“The Red Suitcase” – Cyrus Neshwad
Best Documentary Feature Film
“Navalny” – Daniel Rohr, Odessa Rae, Diane Baker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
“All That Breathes” – Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann & Teddy Leffer
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” – Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golizov
“The Fire of Love” – Sara Dossa, Shane Boris & Ina Fichman
“A House Made of Leaven” – Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monika Hellström
Best Supporting Actress
Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
Hong Chau (“Whale”)
Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inishrin”)
Stephanie Sue (“Everything Everywhere at Once”)
Best Supporting Actor
ke hui quan (“everything everywhere all at once”)
Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inishrin”)
Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”)
Judd Hirsch (“The Fablemans”)
Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inishrin”)
Best Animated Feature Film
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” – Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Unger and Alex Bulkley
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” – Dean Fletcher Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Carolyn Kaplan and Paul Mazey
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” – Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
“The Sea Beast” – Chris Williams and Jade Schlanger
“Turning Red” – Domi Shi & Lindsey Collins