Movies: 2023 Oscar (Academy Awards) nominations announced: See the full list
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Dr Jones handing it off to Short Round
That's dope
That's dope
I'm sayin, I saw only 20min of EEAAO on BGOL theatre and had to stop it.
That was weeks ago, still not interested in returning.
And it won everything tonight?
I usually like Michelle Yeoh, but not in that. wasn't feelin it.
And this song that won. I had to stop at the 1min mark.
must be out of touch or something.
Damn I hated to see Angela lose.
Damn, That Movie Everything Everywhere All At Once won all the awards at tonight's Oscars!!...I might need to go and watch this movie!!
Oscars 2023 Snubs and Surprises, From ‘Elvis’ Shut Out to Angela Bassett’s Loss
At the 2023 Oscars, Angela Bassett and "Elvis" were snubbed while 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' had a big night of wins.
variety.com
Oscars 2023 Snubs and Surprises, From ‘Elvis’ Shut Out to Angela Bassett’s Loss
By Jenelle Riley
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Courtesy of Warner Bros./Marvel/Netflix
History was made at this year’s Academy Awards, thanks to historic wins for Asian actors Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, along with costume designer Ruth E. Carter becoming the first Black woman to win two Oscars and best original song winner “Naatu Naatu” marking the first victory in the category for an Indian film. As expected, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” dominated with five wins, with “All Quiet on the Western Front” right behind it with four.
In the meantime, acclaimed best picture nominees including “Elvis,” “The Fabelmans,” “Banshees of Inisherin” and “Tar” went home empty-handed despite 30 nominations between them. Here, Variety breaks down the biggest snubs and surprises of the 95th Annual Academy Awards.
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SNUB: Angela Bassett, Best Supporting Actress, “Wakanda Forever”
All season, the supporting actress category has been a bit of a question mark. While Bassett seemed the early frontrunner with wins from Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, neither of those voting bodies overlap with the Oscars. So when Kerry Condon won BAFTA and Jamie Lee Curtis took home the SAG Award, the category started to look fairly open. And no one could deny Bassett’s powerful performance in a movie everyone saw – or how impactful her speeches have been. Bassett still won kudos however, getting a sweet shoutout from presenters Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors. “Hey, Auntie,” Jordan – who played her nephew in the first “Black Panther” said as Majors added, “We love you.”
SNUB: Catherine Martin and “Elvis”
“Elvis” went into the night with an impressive eight nominations, including three for Martin in picture, production design and costume design. It looked like Austin Butler might take home lead actor after his BAFTA win for “Elvis,” but SAG Award winner Brendan Fraser ultimately triumphed in that category for his comeback vehicle “The Whale.”
SURPRISE: Ruth E. Carter, Best Costume Design, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
It’s hard to call it a shocker when someone as iconic as Carter takes home a prize, but a slight edge was given to Catherine Martin after she won the BAFTA. They competed in different categories at the Costume Designers Guild Award, where “Elvis” won for period film while “Wakanda Forever” lost out to “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” – seeming to give Martin even more of an edge. But in the end, Carter not only triumphed on Oscar night, she became the first Black woman in history to win two Academy Awards.
SNUB: Mandy Walker, Best Cinematography, “Elvis”
History was made one week ago when Walker became the first female director of photography to take home the top prize at the American Society of Cinematographers Award in the feature film category – and it looked like she might repeat the win at the Oscars, becoming the first woman in the 95-year history of the Academy Awards. But ultimately the prize was taken by James Friend for his stunning work in “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
SURPRISE: Volker Bertelmann, Best Original Score, “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Most pundits were predicting this category came down to two previous winners – Justin Hurwitz for his acclaimed “Babylon” score and five-time Oscar winner/legend John Williams. But it was German composer Bertelmann, previously nominated in this category for “Lion,” who took home his first Academy Award.
Oscars In Memoriam Segment Missing Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore, Paul Sorvino And Charlbi Dean From Oscar-Nominated ‘Triangle Of Sadness’
The Oscars’ annual In Memoriam segment on Sunday included a live performance of the song “Calling All Angels” by Lenny Kravitz. The slideshow of notable deaths that streamed behin…
deadline.com
Mindy Kaling's Head-Scratching Oscars Outfit Change Will Make You Do a Double Take - E! Online
Mindy Kaling made a fabulous entrance at the Oscars 2023 red carpet in a white custom Vera Wang dress, but later in the show, she switched it up for a daring black version. See below!
www.eonline.com
I dont think Kevin Conroy was mentioned either..Oscars In Memoriam Segment Missing Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore, Paul Sorvino And Charlbi Dean From Oscar-Nominated ‘Triangle Of Sadness’
The Oscars’ annual In Memoriam segment on Sunday included a live performance of the song “Calling All Angels” by Lenny Kravitz. The slideshow of notable deaths that streamed behin…
I didn't watch it since I can't get ABC. Anyone pay any attention to tge documentaries? Anything interesting?
Kinda reminds me of the time when the Academy GAVE the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor to old ass Alan Arkin for his near comotose performance in Little Miss Sunshine when Eddie Murphy clearly deserved to win for his Jimmy Early role in Dreamgirls.
No knock against Jamie Lee but c'mon in this instance apparently the Academy felt it was fair to be unfair.
No knock against Jamie Lee but c'mon in this instance apparently the Academy felt it was fair to be unfair.
Kinda reminds me of the time when the Academy GAVE the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor to old ass Alan Arkin for his near comotose performance in Little Miss Sunshine when Eddie Murphy clearly deserved to win for his Jimmy Early role in Dreamgirls.
No knock against Jamie Lee but c'mon in this instance apparently the Academy felt it was fair to be unfair.
Just like giving the guy from the Goonies an award, it's just a popularity contest for who they think deserves it.
I agree with this but Arkin's role did fit the supporting actor category better than Eddie's because the movie was basically about the little girl's (who was the lead) relationship with her grandpa.Kinda reminds me of the time when the Academy GAVE the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor to old ass Alan Arkin for his near comotose performance in Little Miss Sunshine when Eddie Murphy clearly deserved to win for his Jimmy Early role in Dreamgirls.
No knock against Jamie Lee but c'mon in this instance apparently the Academy felt it was fair to be unfair.
Jimmy Early was an amazing character and Eddie Murphy's performance was excellent (as was his portrayal of Rudy Ray Moore) but he seemed less of a supporting actor than some of the other actors particularly members of the group.
The best and worst moments of the 2023 Oscars
Here are our picks for the highs, lows, and hot dog-finger whoas of the 95th Academy Awards.
The best and worst moments of the 2023 Oscars
All the highs, lows, and hot-dog-fingered whoas.
By Devan Coggan and Leah GreenblattUpdated March 13, 2023 at 12:28 AM EDT
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Donkeys, fighter jets, Lady Gaga in a T-shirt: Welcome to the 2023 Oscars. There was no sure thing at this year's ceremony (well, other than Ke Huy Quan), but the evening promised and duly delivered three-plus hours of chaos, tears, and Cocaine Bears. Below, we've compiled the evening's most memorable moments, for better or worse:
CREDIT: ARTURO HOLMES/GETTY IMAGES
Low: The rug that didn't tie the room together
The Academy decided not to roll out the red carpet this year. Breaking with 62 years of tradition, the usual scarlet was swapped for a new "champagne" color. (Though as EW.com editor Oliver Gettell noted, "It's only champagne if it comes from the Champagne region of France. Otherwise, it's just a sparkling rug.") The result was... underwhelming: Gorgeous white gowns (so many white gowns!) looked dull without contrast, the Pantone shade read less champagne than Severance beige, and the whole thing just seems like a nightmare to keep clean. Sometimes, tradition is tradition for a reason.
CREDIT: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES
High: A solid cold open
He came in on a Top Gun: Maverick wing and a prayer, and got danced off by the "Naatu Naauu" crew. In between, third-time host Jimmy Kimmel did the thing — moving nimbly through a mélange of topical one-liners (T-minus two minutes till we got an Ozempic reference), sincere acknowledgments (a pointed name-check of the conspicuously un-nominated Danielle Deadwyler and Viola Davis), and good-dumb dad jokes ("My banshees are caught in my Inisherin"). As for the Will Smith question, hanging over it all like a slappy pall? Asked and answered, very well.
CREDIT: ROB LATOUR/SHUTTERSTOCK
High: Ke Huy Quan, king of hearts
Even after sweeping every possible precursor, the Everything Everywhere All At Once star somehow managed to mine fresh feeling (who's chopping onions over here again?) with his season-capping win — from the moment presenter Ariana DeBose broke down announcing his name to his emotional recollection of his journey from child refugee to the Oscars stage: "This is the American dream." In the best kind of multiverse, yes.
CREDIT: ABC
Low: The Little Mermaid butts in
Nothing says "Corporate overlord don't care" like ABC parent company Disney brazenly inserting a free ad — sorry, preview — for their latest live-action project in the midst of the year's biggest awards show, along with two of its stars. Pay the going ad rate like everybody else, Mickey Mouse.
CREDIT: ROB LATOUR/SHUTTERSTOCK
High: The good mule
Justice for Jenny! Despite The Banshees of Inisherin's many nominations, Jenny the donkey was rudely shut out of the Best Supporting Actress category (probably because she's an ass). She still got her time on stage though, joining host Kimmel in an Emotional Support Animal vest. The whole room clapped and cheered as she trotted out, but no one was more psyched than Best Actor nominee Colin Farrell, whose face lit up when he saw his four-legged costar. Sadly, EW later confirmed that the donkey on stage was not the real Jenny, but a local ringer. Hopefully, the real Jenny was celebrating somewhere back home in Ireland — ideally with a basket of carrots (sans Brendan Gleeson's fingers).
CREDIT: ABC
High: You say it's your birthday
Some people get cake for their birthday. Others get an Oscar. After An Irish Goodbye won Best Live-Action Short, producers Tom Berkeley and Ross White used their acceptance speech time to lead the crowd in a sing-along celebrating their star James Martin on his 31st birthday. The only downside is that every subsequent birthday is going to seem underwhelming, once you've been serenaded on a global stage by the likes of Colin Farrell, Cate Blanchett, and Janelle Monae.
CREDIT: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES
Whoa: A brutal in memoriam callout
Less than three days after Robert Blake's death, Kimmel spared no allusions to the late actor's notorious 2001 murder charge (he was tried and acquitted of killing his second wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley). In poor taste? Absolutely. But also savagely funny, especially in an evening of mostly anodyne patter.
CREDIT: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
High: A Best Song serenade
Given its dearth of other nominations for such a widely celebrated film, RRR's big shot at taking home a trophy tonight came with Best Song, a category it was widely tipped to win. But who knew composer M.M. Keeravani's speech would come so joyfully a cappella? "I grew up listening to the Carpenters and now here I am with the Oscars," he confessed, and then began singing-slash-paraphrasing the brother-sister duo's 1972 soft-pop smash "Top of the World." "There was only one wish on my mind.... RRR has to win, pride of every Indian, and must put me on the top of the world."
CREDIT: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES
Meh: The other musical notes
Lady Gaga stripped down, Rihanna stepped regally onto a shower puff, and David Byrne waggled his delightful wiener hands. But even Lenny Kravitz's perfectly serviceable rendition of "Calling All Angels" for the In Memoriam segment felt oddly anticlimactic; can anyone honestly say that they'll ever be discussing these performances again after, say, Tuesday?
CREDIT: ABC
Hmmm... Where in the world is Tom Cruise?
The man who saved movies could not save the date, apparently: While he appeared in person at other high-profile pre-season events, Monsieur Maverick didn't RSVP for the industry's biggest night. Just hours before the broadcast, a rep for the actor told the press that his absence was due to scheduling obligations for Mission Impossible 8. (But isn't he kinda like the boss of that?) Oh, well. At least with Harrison Ford's Best Picture presentation, we got to bask in the presence of another rugged American icon and famed aviation enthusiast. And it felt like poetry, or at least sweet Hollywood symmetry, to watch Indiana Jones give his old friend Short Round's film the final prize of the night.
Watch Hugh Grant's very awkward Oscars red carpet interview with host Ashley Graham
Watch an awkward Oscars 2023 red carpet encounter between Hugh Grant and Ashley Graham
Watch Hugh Grant's very awkward Oscars red carpet interview with Ashley Graham
Four Weddings and a Funeral star had little to say on the subject of what he was wearing, his appearance in Glass Onion or anything else.
By EW StaffMarch 12, 2023 at 10:09 PM EDT
On the Oscars red carpet, Ashley Graham was just a girl, standing in front of a boy, trying to get Hugh Grant to say anything at all.
Grant rose in fame playing awkward English gents in beloved rom-coms Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. On Sunday, the actor brought some of that flavor to the Academy Awards while being interviewed by during ABC's On the Red Carpet Live show.
Ashley Graham and Hugh Grant on the red carpet of the 2023 Oscars
| CREDIT: ABC
When Graham asked the Oscars presenter to name his favorite thing about coming to the Academy Awards the actor seemed stumped before eventually replying, "It's fascinating, the whole of humanity is here, it's Vanity Fair." Grant, who studied English literature at Oxford University, was likely referring to William Thackeray's nineteenth-century novel Vanity Fair. Graham clearly thought the actor was talking about the Oscar party-hosting magazine of the same name and responded, "Oh, it's all about Vanity Fair, that's where we let loose and have a little bit of fun."
Matters deteriorated sharply from that point on. When Graham asked if he was excited to see anybody win, Grant replied, "No one in particular." When she requested to know what he was wearing, the actor responded, "Just my suit," subsequently claiming that it was made by "my tailor." And when Graham threw her interviewee the ultimate low-ball query of "What was it like to be in Glass Onion?" Grant informed her, "Well, I'm barely in it. I'm in it for about three seconds." Finally, a desperate Graham followed-up with "But, still, you showed up and you had fun, right?" Grant responded, "Uh, almost." It was then that Graham decided to draw a close on the whole stilted shebang.
Watch the exchange in the tweet below.
The 95th Academy Awards are airing live Sunday night from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles. Check out the full list of winners.
John Travolta pays tearful tribute to Olivia Newton-John at the Oscars
A tearful John Travolta referenced a classic 'Grease' line to pay tribute to his late costar Olivia Newton-John at the Oscars.
John Travolta pays tearful tribute to Grease costar Olivia Newton-John at the Oscars: 'Hopelessly devoted'
"They touched our hearts, they made us smile and became dear friends," the choked-up actor said on stage before the ceremony's In Memoriam segment.
Ahead of the 2023 Oscars' moving In Memoriam tribute, John Travolta paid tribute to his late Grease costar Olivia Newton-John, who died at the age of 73 last August.
Though the actor did not mention Newton-John by name, he dropped an iconic Grease line that made it clear she was on his mind.
"In this industry we have the rare luxury of getting to do what we love for a living and sometimes getting to do it with people who we've come to love," he said. "And since tonight is a celebration of the work and accomplishments of our community of this past year, it is only fitting, then, that we celebrate those that we've lost, who dedicated their lives to their craft, both in front of and behind the camera."
Travolta continued, "Through their immeasurable contributions, each of them left an immeasurable and indelible mark that shaped and informed us. They touched our hearts, they made us smile and became dear friends..."
The tears began to flow as he got out the last line: "... who we will always remain hopelessly devoted to."
John Travolta
| CREDIT: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Newton-John starred as good girl Sandy opposite Travolta's bad boy Danny in the 1978 classic movie musical. The actor did not, however, pay respects to another of his costars who died in the past few months, Kirstie Alley. They both starred in 1990's Look Who's Talking. Alley died from cancer in December at the age of 71.
Lenny Kravitz led the In Memoriam tribute at the Oscars, which honored stars we've lost in the past year with a musical performance.
Oscars In Memoriam Segment Missing Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore, Paul Sorvino And Charlbi Dean From Oscar-Nominated ‘Triangle Of Sadness’
The Oscars’ annual In Memoriam segment on Sunday included a live performance of the song “Calling All Angels” by Lenny Kravitz. The slideshow of notable deaths that streamed behin…
Yeah, They messed up on the Memoriam!!!
The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2023 Oscars
By Roxana Hadadi, Jackson McHenry, and Kathryn VanArendonk
Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images
Yes, the show ran close to four hours. Yes, there were a few baggy moments, and little places where you could imagine things to trim or tighten. But if those were the costs, the benefits far outweighed them: The 2023 Academy Awards were a solid, sincere, and generous awards show, delightfully free of big, awkward comedy moments that didn’t land well with the crowd and zero interludes where The Flash had to Enter the Speed Force.
Instead, Jimmy Kimmel did a serviceable job as host, popping in occasionally for few short jokes but never overstepping or creating a strange mood. All of the awards previously cut from the ceremony were reinstated, allowing for beautiful moments like a group “Happy Birthday” singalong. The abrupt, stilted introduction of a mid-ceremony trailer for The Little Mermaid felt like a naked promotion that needed more of a lampshade, and probably we saw one too many appearances from Cocaine Bear. Yet the ceremony felt as well-paced as any massive awards ceremony could possibly be; the strongest argument in favor of just letting the show run long was that very few acceptance speeches were cut off by an aggressive music cue trying to keep things moving. As it turns out, when people have a chance to say their entire speeches without fear of a looming orchestral exit sign, the whole show starts to feel more gracious. Cap it all off with a big win for Michelle Yeoh, and truly, what more could you want from one of these events? (A win for Angela Bassett.)
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LOW: The champagne carpet. You know what really signifies glamour and opulence? A beige carpet in the same shade of the carpets at the Vulture offices, which made it seem like all the celebrities were attending a regional business conference. This carpet stained easily and tended to wash out many of the gowns, especially ones in lighter tones; anyone in a shade between white and peach looked vaguely photoshopped.
HIGH: Jimmy Kimmel’s perfectly fine opening monologue. Sometimes a completely standard, right down the middle opening monologue is what the people need to hear. Kimmel parachuted onto the stage for a Top Gun: Maverick tribute then swiftly ticked off the important boxes: shoutouts to the big-wigs in the crowd, including Spielberg and the Fabelmans team; a little joke about the number of Irish nominees this year; a run-through of the first-time nominees; and a light-but-palpable touch for required hot-button issues (Ozempic, watching movies in theaters, the lack of nominations for women directors, the Batgirl cancellation, the Babylon budget, Scientology). Of course, the big question was how Kimmel would deal with The Slap. The answer was, by being very clear about it! First there was a run of jokes aimed at how bizarre it was that no one responded quickly enough last year, then he ran through the actors who would intervene if someone tried to hit him this year. It was direct, it was unfussy, and it was effective. That’s the job, baby.
LOW: The Oscars reminding us of the movies they didn’t nominate. The ceremony’s “The magic of movies!” opening montage included Jordan Peele’s very good Nope, a movie that wasn’t nominated for anything, while Kimmel specifically encouraged viewers to watch The Woman King and Till, the lead actresses of which were arguably snubbed. What is the common denominator for all these movies the Academy reminded us they couldn’t find a way to recognize? Hm. We wonder. [Hard stare.]
HIGH: Every time Best Animated Feature winner Guillermo del Toro says “Animation is cinema.” Because it is! And if the Oscars could expand what they’ve been nominating, that would also be great.
WHOA: The lighting design of the Dolby Theatre’s seats. During each Best Picture nominee’s spotlight segment, the lights in the Dolby Theatre went out so that the screens around the theater got the audience’s full attention. But when each segment ended, a camera overhead captured the art deco-esque design of the lights lining the chair backs turning on across the theater — a nifty bit of visual interest to break up what could have otherwise been a drab night of stage and crowd shots.
HIGH: Ke Huy Quan’s speech after winning Best Supporting Actor. “This is the American dream,” Quan said while accepting his award for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Recounting his experience coming to America as a refugee and reflecting on his career in Hollywood, the actor gave a speech full of powerful, direct emotion, a fitting capper to an awards-season run full of earnest enthusiasm. Just like Ariana De Bose as she announced his win, we couldn’t help but tear up.
HIGH: The Irish lads of live-action short film winner An Irish Goodbye using their speech to sing “Happy Birthday” to one of their collaborators. It was actually his birthday! How nice.
LOW: Wait, we’re watching trailers for upcoming movies in the middle of the Oscars now? Look, we understand that ABC is owned by Disney, and we know the Academy is looking ahead to renegotiating its TV contract for the ceremony when it expires in 2024. And with the mid-ceremony introduction of a trailer for the live-action Little Mermaid, it seems like one of the Academy’s strategies for boosting viewership is offering in-ceremony ads. People like trailers, we guess, so … maybe this will work for them?
HIGH: Michael B. Jordan’s “Hey auntie” to Angela Bassett. Jordan revisiting his iconic Killmonger smirk and Majors’s follow-up “We love you” to Queen Ramonda was a nice little moment of synchronicity between the Creed III co-stars, who have hinted at working together again in the future. Write a role for Angela so she can finally get the Oscar she deserves!
LOW: It’s tough to award makeup artists for The Whale without reinforcing fatphobia. For instance, “the team that transformed Brendan Fraser into the whale,” is a way of saying “here is an award for the makeup artists of this film.” It’s also a way of saying, “Here is a team of people who made an attractive human actor into a not-human creature.” The challenge, of course, is that this occurs whenever anyone tries to say anything about The Whale, which should maybe tell us all something about the wisdom of making The Whale?
HIGH: David Byrne hot dog fingers! Performing “This Is a Life,” the best song nominee from Everything Everywhere All At Once, Stephanie Hsu and David Byrne! With hot dog fingers!
LOW: Pedro Pascal didn’t say “dicks.” It’s a shame that My Year of Dicks didn’t win for best animated short film. Yes, that’s probably the bigger loss here. But still, they should’ve made Pedro Pascal say “dicks.”
HIGH: How excited Colin Farrell was to see Jenny the Donkey again. The entire ceremony should have had a Colin-specific camera, because this man’s expressions — and that blown kiss! — were so pure. (We were all very devastated to learn it was not the real Jenny, but congratulations to her on her continued retirement!)
WHOA: Lady Gaga’s very self-serious explanation of the “deeply personal” song she wrote for Top Gun: Maverick. The extreme closeups on Gaga’s face as she sang “Hold my Hand,” her posture while hunched over that stool, the moody lighting, her all-black outfit, and “you can be your own hero, even if you’re broken inside.” So Gaga is deep in that Harley Quinn role, huh? (The “In memory of Tony Scott” screen revealed at the end of the performance, though — good.)
WHOA: The Oscars are a place where you can watch Jimmy Kimmel tell Cocaine Bear to stop messing with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai so they can kill time as a whole set comes together onstage for Rihanna to sing. Hollywood is quite a town.
HIGH: Sarah Polley wins best adapted screenplay for Women Talking. Polley gave a lovely acceptance speech, first crediting Miriam Toews’ novel, then describing the film as a radical act of democracy where people with opposing viewpoints come together to find a way forward.
LOW: They played Polley off with the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean. Women are talking but we prefer not to believe them when they describe abuse from much-loved movie stars.
WHOA: Kimmel jokingly asking everyone to get out their phones and … vote on whether Robert Blake should be included in the in memoriam. Messaging and data rates may apply!
LOW: Tom Sizemore missing from the aired In Memoriam segment. Did Sizemore have a troubled personal life? Yes. Did he possess an incomparable screen presence that should have been acknowledged during the segment? Also yes.
HIGH: A refreshing lack of terrible bits. The show stretched long, well over three hours, but Kimmel did his job as a host just well enough, popping up between categories without doing anything too groan-inducingly exhausting. If anything, there were too many jokes about how long the show itself was. Own the space, Kimmel!
HIGH: Michelle Yeoh’s acceptance speech. “Ladies, don’t let anybody ever tell you that you are past your prime,” Yeoh said, becoming the first Asian woman to win Best Actress and the second woman of color to win the award. Yeoh, at the end of a long awards season, grew emotional in her speech, which she dedicated to moms everywhere, including her own 84-year-old mother watching in Malaysia. Yeoh, the face of the film and competing in perhaps the most uncertain category, delivered the emotional high of the night, so much so that the arrival of Harrison Ford and his very speedy announcement of Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Best Picture win felt like a quick denouement.
www.vulture.com
By Roxana Hadadi, Jackson McHenry, and Kathryn VanArendonk
Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images
Yes, the show ran close to four hours. Yes, there were a few baggy moments, and little places where you could imagine things to trim or tighten. But if those were the costs, the benefits far outweighed them: The 2023 Academy Awards were a solid, sincere, and generous awards show, delightfully free of big, awkward comedy moments that didn’t land well with the crowd and zero interludes where The Flash had to Enter the Speed Force.
Instead, Jimmy Kimmel did a serviceable job as host, popping in occasionally for few short jokes but never overstepping or creating a strange mood. All of the awards previously cut from the ceremony were reinstated, allowing for beautiful moments like a group “Happy Birthday” singalong. The abrupt, stilted introduction of a mid-ceremony trailer for The Little Mermaid felt like a naked promotion that needed more of a lampshade, and probably we saw one too many appearances from Cocaine Bear. Yet the ceremony felt as well-paced as any massive awards ceremony could possibly be; the strongest argument in favor of just letting the show run long was that very few acceptance speeches were cut off by an aggressive music cue trying to keep things moving. As it turns out, when people have a chance to say their entire speeches without fear of a looming orchestral exit sign, the whole show starts to feel more gracious. Cap it all off with a big win for Michelle Yeoh, and truly, what more could you want from one of these events? (A win for Angela Bassett.)
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Conversations about craft, cash, and compromise, with Emily Gould.
LOW: The champagne carpet. You know what really signifies glamour and opulence? A beige carpet in the same shade of the carpets at the Vulture offices, which made it seem like all the celebrities were attending a regional business conference. This carpet stained easily and tended to wash out many of the gowns, especially ones in lighter tones; anyone in a shade between white and peach looked vaguely photoshopped.
HIGH: Jimmy Kimmel’s perfectly fine opening monologue. Sometimes a completely standard, right down the middle opening monologue is what the people need to hear. Kimmel parachuted onto the stage for a Top Gun: Maverick tribute then swiftly ticked off the important boxes: shoutouts to the big-wigs in the crowd, including Spielberg and the Fabelmans team; a little joke about the number of Irish nominees this year; a run-through of the first-time nominees; and a light-but-palpable touch for required hot-button issues (Ozempic, watching movies in theaters, the lack of nominations for women directors, the Batgirl cancellation, the Babylon budget, Scientology). Of course, the big question was how Kimmel would deal with The Slap. The answer was, by being very clear about it! First there was a run of jokes aimed at how bizarre it was that no one responded quickly enough last year, then he ran through the actors who would intervene if someone tried to hit him this year. It was direct, it was unfussy, and it was effective. That’s the job, baby.
LOW: The Oscars reminding us of the movies they didn’t nominate. The ceremony’s “The magic of movies!” opening montage included Jordan Peele’s very good Nope, a movie that wasn’t nominated for anything, while Kimmel specifically encouraged viewers to watch The Woman King and Till, the lead actresses of which were arguably snubbed. What is the common denominator for all these movies the Academy reminded us they couldn’t find a way to recognize? Hm. We wonder. [Hard stare.]
HIGH: Every time Best Animated Feature winner Guillermo del Toro says “Animation is cinema.” Because it is! And if the Oscars could expand what they’ve been nominating, that would also be great.
WHOA: The lighting design of the Dolby Theatre’s seats. During each Best Picture nominee’s spotlight segment, the lights in the Dolby Theatre went out so that the screens around the theater got the audience’s full attention. But when each segment ended, a camera overhead captured the art deco-esque design of the lights lining the chair backs turning on across the theater — a nifty bit of visual interest to break up what could have otherwise been a drab night of stage and crowd shots.
HIGH: Ke Huy Quan’s speech after winning Best Supporting Actor. “This is the American dream,” Quan said while accepting his award for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Recounting his experience coming to America as a refugee and reflecting on his career in Hollywood, the actor gave a speech full of powerful, direct emotion, a fitting capper to an awards-season run full of earnest enthusiasm. Just like Ariana De Bose as she announced his win, we couldn’t help but tear up.
HIGH: The Irish lads of live-action short film winner An Irish Goodbye using their speech to sing “Happy Birthday” to one of their collaborators. It was actually his birthday! How nice.
LOW: Wait, we’re watching trailers for upcoming movies in the middle of the Oscars now? Look, we understand that ABC is owned by Disney, and we know the Academy is looking ahead to renegotiating its TV contract for the ceremony when it expires in 2024. And with the mid-ceremony introduction of a trailer for the live-action Little Mermaid, it seems like one of the Academy’s strategies for boosting viewership is offering in-ceremony ads. People like trailers, we guess, so … maybe this will work for them?
HIGH: Michael B. Jordan’s “Hey auntie” to Angela Bassett. Jordan revisiting his iconic Killmonger smirk and Majors’s follow-up “We love you” to Queen Ramonda was a nice little moment of synchronicity between the Creed III co-stars, who have hinted at working together again in the future. Write a role for Angela so she can finally get the Oscar she deserves!
LOW: It’s tough to award makeup artists for The Whale without reinforcing fatphobia. For instance, “the team that transformed Brendan Fraser into the whale,” is a way of saying “here is an award for the makeup artists of this film.” It’s also a way of saying, “Here is a team of people who made an attractive human actor into a not-human creature.” The challenge, of course, is that this occurs whenever anyone tries to say anything about The Whale, which should maybe tell us all something about the wisdom of making The Whale?
HIGH: David Byrne hot dog fingers! Performing “This Is a Life,” the best song nominee from Everything Everywhere All At Once, Stephanie Hsu and David Byrne! With hot dog fingers!
LOW: Pedro Pascal didn’t say “dicks.” It’s a shame that My Year of Dicks didn’t win for best animated short film. Yes, that’s probably the bigger loss here. But still, they should’ve made Pedro Pascal say “dicks.”
HIGH: How excited Colin Farrell was to see Jenny the Donkey again. The entire ceremony should have had a Colin-specific camera, because this man’s expressions — and that blown kiss! — were so pure. (We were all very devastated to learn it was not the real Jenny, but congratulations to her on her continued retirement!)
WHOA: Lady Gaga’s very self-serious explanation of the “deeply personal” song she wrote for Top Gun: Maverick. The extreme closeups on Gaga’s face as she sang “Hold my Hand,” her posture while hunched over that stool, the moody lighting, her all-black outfit, and “you can be your own hero, even if you’re broken inside.” So Gaga is deep in that Harley Quinn role, huh? (The “In memory of Tony Scott” screen revealed at the end of the performance, though — good.)
WHOA: The Oscars are a place where you can watch Jimmy Kimmel tell Cocaine Bear to stop messing with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai so they can kill time as a whole set comes together onstage for Rihanna to sing. Hollywood is quite a town.
HIGH: Sarah Polley wins best adapted screenplay for Women Talking. Polley gave a lovely acceptance speech, first crediting Miriam Toews’ novel, then describing the film as a radical act of democracy where people with opposing viewpoints come together to find a way forward.
LOW: They played Polley off with the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean. Women are talking but we prefer not to believe them when they describe abuse from much-loved movie stars.
WHOA: Kimmel jokingly asking everyone to get out their phones and … vote on whether Robert Blake should be included in the in memoriam. Messaging and data rates may apply!
LOW: Tom Sizemore missing from the aired In Memoriam segment. Did Sizemore have a troubled personal life? Yes. Did he possess an incomparable screen presence that should have been acknowledged during the segment? Also yes.
HIGH: A refreshing lack of terrible bits. The show stretched long, well over three hours, but Kimmel did his job as a host just well enough, popping up between categories without doing anything too groan-inducingly exhausting. If anything, there were too many jokes about how long the show itself was. Own the space, Kimmel!
HIGH: Michelle Yeoh’s acceptance speech. “Ladies, don’t let anybody ever tell you that you are past your prime,” Yeoh said, becoming the first Asian woman to win Best Actress and the second woman of color to win the award. Yeoh, at the end of a long awards season, grew emotional in her speech, which she dedicated to moms everywhere, including her own 84-year-old mother watching in Malaysia. Yeoh, the face of the film and competing in perhaps the most uncertain category, delivered the emotional high of the night, so much so that the arrival of Harrison Ford and his very speedy announcement of Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Best Picture win felt like a quick denouement.
The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2023 Oscars
Jenny the Donkey! David Byrne hot-dog fingers! An Oscar for Michelle Yeoh! What more could you want? (An Oscar for Angela Bassett.)
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Harry and TontoWhat was the movie Art got an Oscar for again?
For the Goonies. I've got to check out this movie though.
If you are in Los Angeles do yourself a favor and visit the Academy of Arts and Sciences Museum. When I went they had a Spike Lee exhibit along with some other Black film exhibits. For you car enthusiasts there also the Peterson Auto Museum across the street.
