Welcome back to the blog everybody. Well, we made it. It feels just like yesterday that the Oscar nominations were revealed. But sadly, that was only at the end of January. Now the ceremony has come and gone, and many people came away with the top prize in Hollywood. So, I decided to share my reactions and thoughts to the winners of every category, even though I skipped a few in my nomination reaction post.
NOTE: This post will follow each award in the order in which it was presented.
Best Animated Feature - "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio," Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar, and Alex Bulkley
I did not have a bone in this fight because I did not see this or any of the other films that were nominated this year. But I am happy for Guillermo del Toro, as he is one of the top directors in the business today. And since this film was the frontrunner to win this Oscar, I was not surprised to see it win at all.
Best Supporting Actor - Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
This is one of the ones that is sure to make your heart smile. After taking an extended break from acting (probably due to being in Encino Man), Ke Huy Quan made his big return to the big screen with a tour de force performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. I am so happy for him like you have no idea. Although I would not have been upset with my original pick to win the award with Brendan Gleeson, I am okay with this one. Like he said in his speech, "This is his American Dream." You go Ke.
Best Supporting Actress - Jamie Lee Curtis, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
In my opinion, this was the biggest surprise of the night. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for Jamie Lee Curtis, but I would not have given this award to her. For all of awards season, this one had Angela Bassett's name written all over it. And I think that her and one other person had better supporting performances last year than Curtis. The other person who I would have given the award to would have been Stephanie Hsu, who I thought was far better than Curtis. If you wanted to give it to someone from EEAaO, why not Stephanie? She had much more to do in the film, with a lot more compllexity than Curtis' character. But I digress, good for you Jamie. I'm not bitter at her, just surprised is all.
Best Documentary Feature Film - "Navalny," Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, and Shane Boris
Another category that I did not have a bone in, although I think the story is absolutely heartbreaking. Alexei Navalny is a hero of the people and just did not like the ways of Vladimir Putin. And for his efforts he was poisoned. Such a gutless action from a gutless leader. I hope someday he can get some justice for his heroism.
Best Live-Action Short Film - "An Irish Goodbye," Tom Berkeley and Ross White
Another one of no importance to me. Although the speech at the Oscars was nice. I guess it has that going for it.
Best Cinematography - "All Quiet on the Western Front," James Friend
Now I will admit that I have not seen All Quiet on the Western Front. With that out of the way, I was secretly hoping that this one would go to Elvis or even Empire of Light (because the Academy loves Roger Deakins), but I guess I was wrong. Maybe this will be reason enough now to watch the film.
Best Makeup & Hairstyling - "The Whale," Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Anne Marie Bradley
I can absolutely see why this won. How the makeup team transformed Brendan Fraser into Charlie was absolutely astounding, and these guys here absolutely deserved this award. Major kudos to the other nominees for this award, because anyone else could have won it.
Best Costume Design - "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Ruth Carter
Was there any doubt that this would win? Not to me, because Ruth Carter is a legend. She even made Oscar history, becoming the first Black woman to ever win TWO Oscars. Kevin Feige should have her on lockdown right now. Kudos to Shirley Kurata, who I thought would win for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Best International Feature Film - "All Quiet on the Western Front" from Germany, directed by Edward Berger
If there was ever a lock for an award this year, it was this one. Nobody else in my mind could have won this when All Quiet on the Western Front has been the frontrunner for the entire awards season. This one had no consequence to me either because I did not see a single film.
Best Documentary Short Film - "The Elephant Whisperers," Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
Congratulations to these guys is really all I can say to this category. Again, one of no consequence to me.
Best Animated Short Film - "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse," Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
Another category of no consequence to me, because I haven't seen a single short.
Best Production Design - "All Quiet on the Western Front," production design by Christian M. Goldbeck, set decoration by Ernestine Hipper
Honestly, I thought this one would go to Elvis or Avatar, but that's why I don't get paid the big bucks. I can understand why this one won, and I guess now I have to watch this film so look out for a review of it on here.
Best Original Score - Volker Bertelmann for "All Quiet on the Western Front"
This was definitely a surprise for sure. Babylon was the favorite throughout award season, and my personal pick was Everything Everywhere All at Once. But I am not a vengeful person and I offer my congratulations to Volker Bertelmann for creating award worthy. Now I have to watch All Quiet on the Western Front.
Best Visual Effects - "Avatar: The Way of Water," Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett
Tell me the truth now. Are you surprised? Is anyone on the face of this planet surprised? Because I know I'm not. The only film I could have seen giving Avatar some competition was Black Panther, but I wasn't too hopeful on an upset. At least Stingy Jimmy got one Oscar.
Best Original Screenplay - Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
One I thought POSSIBLY could go to The Banshees of Inisherin, but once this won I knew that Daniels would hear their names again. The screenplay for this film was top notch, and I am not too surprised that they got one.
Best Adapted Screenplay - Sarah Polley for "Women Talking," based on the novel by Miriam Toews
I cannot say I have seen Women Talking (or if your name is Mark Wahlberg, then it's called The Women Are Talking), but I have heard good things about it. I was pulling for Glass Onion, because that script is top-notch, but I am not upset.
Best Sound - "Top Gun: Maverick," Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, and Mark Taylor
Another lock in my opinion. I mean, All Quiet was locking up a lot of technical awards from this point, so I thought it would win. But I stayed true to my pick, and the right film won. At least Tom Cruise can say now that he has an Oscar.
Best Original Song - "Naatu Naatu" from "RRR," music by M. M. Keeravani, lyric by Chandrabose
I will say that the live performance of this song was fun, more so than the version in the film. (I have not seen RRR, only the clip of this song, chuckle chuckle.) To be honest with you all, I am not surprised this song won because it won most of the other major awards like the Golden Globe and the Critic's Choice. But Rihanna's "Lift Me Up" and Lady Gaga's "Hold My Hand" were my two favorite songs of 2022 (confirm that on my Spotify playlist), and I was really pulling for either one of them to win. But beggars cannot be choosers.
Best Film Editing - Paul Rogers, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Again, no surprise here. If there was one film I thought had a chance, it was Elvis. The editing on that film is incredible in its own right, and I would have been happy if it could have gotten at least one gold statue (being it was my favorite film of the year for about half of the year). I am happy for Paul Rogers, especially since this was only his second film! Way to go!
Best Director - Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
With no James Cameron in this category, I did not know who to put my money on when the nominees were announced. However, I had a slight suspicion the Academy would give this one to Martin McDonagh. Boy was I wrong, as Daniels got another statue. I mean, it was well-deserved after all. The direction of the film is stellar from first frame to final frame. I am excited to see what these guys have in store for us next time.
Best Actor - Brendan Fraser, "The Whale"
When I tell you I literally got out of my chair and cheered, I mean every word of that. I was filled with so much joy when I heard Brendan Fraser's name called. The comeback is complete! I would not have been upset if Austin Butler or Colin Farrell walked out of that theater with the statue, but this is one of the ones that makes your heart fucking happy. Keep it going, Brendan. You showed them all!
Best Actress - Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
One of the awards that was a surprise for sure. Cate Blanchett was the overall favorite to win this award throughout the season until SAG. That's when Michelle Yeoh gained a hell of a lot of steam and momentum. Am I upset the award went to Yeoh? Not really because her performance was the only one I actually saw. Based on that merit, she was my favorite to win as well. I'm glad she also made Oscar history by being the first Asian actor to win Best Actress. You go girl!
Best Picture - "Everything Everywhere All at Once," Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, and Jonathan Wang as producers
Once the final half of the ceremony commenced and Everything Everywhere All at once started winning all of the awards, I knew it winning Best Picture was like Thanos: inevitable. It was just heartwarming to see Harrison Ford basically bearhug Ke Huy Quan on stage with the joy of a proud papa and Jonathan Wang use the laundry and taxes line on and to his wife. Everything Everywhere All at Once was like an underdog story come to life, and it was really nice to see throughout the ceremony.
What an award season it was. As you can see, there were some surprises and some expected winners. Although I am surprised that films like Elvis, The Banshees of Inisherin, and TÁR come away with nothing. Two of the three were my two favorite films of 2022, so it did come off as a shock. With that being said, however, I want to thank you all so much for bearing with me on this longer post, and I will see you for the next one.
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