95TH ACADEMY AWARDS - A Review

The only way Everything Everywhere All at Once could have been better would have been the addition of Brendan Fraser.

It's the Daniels' world and we're all just living in it. Everything Everywhere All at Once walked away with seven Academy Awards last night - Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, and acting awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Even though the film had become the juggernaut of this Awards Season, it was still kind of a shock that the film wound up with so many statues. For the Oscars to embrace something as strange and creative and existential as EEAAO is really a testament to the radiant joy and love that Daniel Kwan and Daniel Sheinert brought to the film, along with the absolute star power that its cast carry.

This was the first nomination for everyone on the film, and each win is as historic as it is earned. For Quan it was a welcome back after leaving acting in the 90s due to lack of roles for Asians. For Curtis, it was a legacy win following a long career in mostly genre films. For Yeoh it also felt like a career acknowledgment, while also being the first win by an Asian woman in the category. And for the Daniels, it will hopefully be a key that unlocks every door in Hollywood. These lovely weirdos were already going to find a way to make whatever they wanted next, but it's gotta be nice that every studio in the country will be fighting over who gets to throw money at them. I couldn't be happier for this cast and crew. And the studio of the hour, A24.

While EEAAO took home the most awards, there were plenty of other winners. All Quiet on the Western Front picked up four Oscars: International Feature, Cinematography, Score, and Production Design. That's maybe too many, but the Academy does love a war film. The Whale took home Best Make-Up and Hairstyling and Best Actor for Brendan Fraser. Between him and Quan, this was the year of the comeback, and both delivered heartfelt speeches overflowing with gratitude. I did not care for The Whale, but Fraser brought everything to the role, and it's nice to see him back in the spotlight. Sarah Polley won Adapted Screenplay for her wonderful Women Talking. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio won Animated Feature. Navalny took Documentary. RRR won Song for "Naatu Naatu". Costumes went to Ruth Carter's splendid work for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Visual Effects was a no brainer for the other wettest film of the year, Avatar: The Way of Water. And Top Gun: Maverick somehow only left with Sound.

This means that five of the Best Picture contenders - The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, TÁR, and Triangle of Sadness -  went home without a single award. 33 cumulative nominations... and not one Oscar! This might be the most impressive feat of the evening. Some of these are expected (Triangle never stood a chance), others baffling (Banshees was a strong contender in January) or relieving (I did not want to see Elvis on that stage). TÁR is the kind of film that wins by not winning. I mean, can you imagine the backlash if Blanchett had beat Yeoh in Best Actress? But here's the thing, every winner was so gracious and humble that it's hard to feel anything but happiness for them, even when you strongly disagree with the results. The All Quiet crew seem like such a lovely bunch that I feel the need to watch the movie again. I won't... but I bet I would be more open to the craft that went into it.

For a cynic like me, what was even more impressive than the EEAAO sweep or how many contenders got shut out is how good the ceremony (mostly) was. Over the last couple years, the Oscars have felt kind of embarrassed of themselves. They had become self-deprecating to a point where you might question whether these folks even liked what they were doing anymore. Every joke was about how no one saw the nominated films or how self-congratulatory and out of touch Hollywood was. As true as any of that may be, it was just getting grim hearing it over and over. I don't know if it was the Trump era or COVID or (most likely) the fact that movies weren't making as much money. But the telecast seemed to be playing to a crowd who wasn't watching, which is to say people who don't like the Oscars. We show up because we love the movies, and this year - thank God - they actually recognized that.

Granted, host Jimmy Kimmel kept making jokes about how long the show was and brought "The Slap" up maybe five times too many. But he kept things light, and there was an overall air of celebration for the medium. Dwayne Johnson's bit during the first award of the night was to insist on the importance of animation as Emily Blunt tried to hurry things along. (Disney is still apparently trying - and failing - to convince us these two have chemistry two years after Jungle Cruise.) Creed III costars Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors (who DO have chemistry) shared the stage with a camera from the 1940s and talked about Orson Welles' innovative camera techniques in Citizen Kane. There was a set piece comparing editing techniques of old to the digital age, a tribute to Warner Bros. for its 100th birthday as a studio, and the In Memoriam felt evenly paced, considering how many names they had to get through this year.

As for the nominees, the ceremony took its time. As it should. Each Best Picture nominee got a montage, each nominated song was performed live (eventual/inevitable winner "Naatu Naatu" brought the house down; as did Rihanna's performance for "Lift Me Up"), and very few winners were played off stage. (Although the wonderful team for Best Documentary Short The Elephant Whisperers sure didn't seem to get much time, and to make matters worse, what we cut to was Jimmy doing dad jokes in the audience... They took it in stride though.) The team behind Best Live Action Short An Irish Goodbye spent their allotted time singing "Happy Birthday" to one of their cast members. There was even a visit from (supposedly) Banshee's Jenny the Donkey, which felt appropriate in a year where donkeys were everywhere, from EO to Triangle of Sadness to Best Doc Navalny. The show was pretty lovely, all told.

But don't think there weren't low points... Because there were some doozies! The first stumble the show made was having Melissa McCarthy and Halle Bailey come out as though they were presenting an award, only to instead prepare us to watch the new trailer for their upcoming Little Mermaid remake. Disney is nothing if not shameless. And later Cocaine Bear made an appearance, at first alongside her film's director Elizabeth Banks but then later in a bit where Jimmy was accosting the audience. The man-in-a-bear-suit of it all was weak, but I think we were all disappointed there was no reveal that it was actually Matt Damon in the costume, considering his second appearance was right after the actor's name was mentioned.

These moments were few and far between though. Overall, it was a really nice ceremony. Nothing went wrong, nobody said anything unforgivable. Movies were honored and laughs were had. I did a predictably bad job predicting the winners in my last post. I underestimated both EEAAO and All Quiet on the Western Front, assuming the Academy would spread the love out a little more. I correctly guessed 12 out of the 23 winners, which for me is pretty standard. And if I'm going to be wrong half the time, I'd prefer it be this way - to history-making wins, grateful winners, and a sense of pride in the film industry.