The 2023 awards season finally comes to an end with the 95th Academy Awards. This year’s batch of nominees was both interesting and frustrating which also describes the long road to Oscar night. It was a journey that saw many of the eventual winners all but secured, leaving very little drama in many of the big categories. It saw sentimental choices gain traction with each new tear-jerking acceptance speech while many of the more deserving nominees faded. Fittingly, this year’s Oscars ceremony was as frustrating as the road to it. Here are a few Random Thoughts.
- The Oscars seem to be evolving into more of a fan-driven event. It seems like it has become all about building a fan base, not as much through the merits of your movie but in the personalities and stories of your nominees. It seems going ‘viral’ carries a lot more weight. It really stood out with this year’s ceremony, and it’ll be interesting to see where the Oscars go from here.
- To the surprise of no one, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” had a big night, winning seven Oscars including Best Picture. I won’t rehash my many issues with the movie, but it worked hard to gain a vocal following. The early feel-good awards season moments yanked enough heartstrings to cement its Oscar night destiny.
- While “EEAAO” was this year’s cool choice, it’s a shame that the powerful and sobering “All Quiet on the Western Front” didn’t get Best Picture. Some were quick to categorize it as “another war movie”. Of course it’s so much more than that. Well, at least there’s BAFTA.
- Speaking of yanking heartstrings, Brendan Fraser won Best Actor for “The Whale”. His performance was fine (what you could see of it), but much like “EEAAO”, he built a big following especially on the awards circuit. You have to like Fraser. But this feels like a sentimental win determined more by his personal comeback story than the performance itself.
- Sadly, with Fraser’s win that means nothing for a deserved Colin Farrell who was remarkable in “The Banshees of Inisherin” (and “After Yang”…and “The Batman”… and “Thirteen Lives”). This should have been Farrell’s to win. Alas…
- Staying with the ‘winning people over’ thought, Ke Hey Quan wins Best Supporting Actor for “EEAAO”, easily one of the biggest sure-things of the evening. I was mixed on the performance, but not on Quan. He’s such a glowing bundle of joy.
- Seeing Ke Huy Quan and Harrison Ford give each other such a heartfelt embrace was a truly a wonderful moment.
- I gotta say, Barry Keoghan was still my choice for Supporting Actor. Talk about an incredible performance. Unfortunately he had the performance but not the enthusiasm behind him (outside of BAFTA). In this current system he never had a chance.
- Best Actress goes to Michelle Yeoh for “EEAAO”. Predestined and pretty much a sure thing. Some tried to make Cate Blanchett a contender for “Tár” (she should have been). But like so much of the show, this one was never in doubt.
- Hey remember Danielle Deadwyler? The Academy sure didn’t. But I did appreciate Kimmel’s tip of the hat to her performance in “Till”.
- I will say I do like Michelle Yeoh. She’s had such a fine career, and she became the first Asian woman to win Best Actress.
- Best Supporting Actress was a category I had hopes for. Instead Jamie Lee Curtis won for “EEAAO”. It feels like a lifetime achievement Oscar masquerading as a Best Supporting Actress. I love JLC and seeing her win was fun. But ahead of Angela Bassett and Kerry Condon? It was an early sign of things to come.
- “EEAAO” won for Best Director which is hard to wrap my mind around. Then again, the Academy didn’t even nominate arguably the most deserved winner. “EEAAO” also won Best Original Screenplay, somehow beating “The Banshees of Inisherin”.
- Like or dislike “EEAAO”, you have to give credit to A24. They did a great job pushing the film, making over $100 million at the box office. That’s quite an accomplishment, especially at a time when getting people to the theaters has been so hit-or-miss. A24 worked hard it it payed off.
- With EEAAO” sucking up much of the evening’s oxygen, that meant some big movies went home empty-handed. “Banshees”, “Tár”, “The Fabelmans”, and “Elvis” were blanked despite their many nominations.
- Jimmy Kimmel did a solid job hosting. He landed several really good jokes, and carried the show along pretty well. He tried too hard a time or two, but overall he was quite funny.
- I loved Kimmel’s closing bit about the Oscar Telecasts Without Incident. One of several shots taken at the Will Smith incident.
- None other than Jenny the donkey (from “Banshees”) made an appearance on stage and as you would expect she stole the show. That was such a fun moment. Cheers Jenny.
- “All Quiet on the Western Front”, my pick for the best film of 2022, won Best International Feature Film. It was a high point of the night, and I particularly love director Edward Berger singling out the film’s star, Felix Kammerer for his exceptional performance in what was his first film role. An exceptional win for an exceptional movie.
- Speaking of “All Quiet”, it also won for Best Original Score. It was absolutely the right choice. Volker Bertelmann’s brilliant music fit so well with the film’s haunting tone. A terrific win.
- In another of the night’s sure-things, “Avatar: The Way of Water” won for Best Visual Effects. I mean it was the obvious choice. All James Cameron did was (once again) raise the bar for VFX in a way that has never been done before.
- “Naatu Naatu” wrapped up its storybook run by winning the Best Original Song Oscar. I love that the song and its movie, “RRR” gained such traction as Indian cinema is too often overlooked here in the States. The performance of the song was lights out.
- Hey did you see Hugh Grant’s red carpet interview? Granted, he came off as a bit of a pompous grump. But it was funny seeing someone actually answer those stock red carpet questions honestly.
- The evening certainty started off on the right note with “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” winning for Best Animated Feature. It was the clear frontrunner, but it was great to hear its name called.
- Back to “All Quiet on the Western Front”, it received another well-deserved win for Best Cinematography. James Friend was an essential piece to the film’s visceral effect and was the clear choice.
- Speaking of a clear choice, “All Quiet” also won for Best Production Design. This surprised a lot of people as “Babylon” seemed to be a shaky frontrunner. But the Academy got it right.
- “Women Talking” fended off “All Quiet” to win Best Adapted Screenplay. For me it was between it and “All Quiet” so I was happy to see Sarah Polley get a win. “Women Talking” is one of several films that deserved more attention, but that was sucked up in the “EEAAO” vacuum.
- Best Makeup and Hairstyling went to “The Whale” (sigh) while Best Costume Design went to “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (no arguments there).
- Again, I got a kick out of Kimmel’s jokes and I laughed quite a bit. But any time an Oscar host goes out into the crowd you’re guaranteed mixed results. Such was the case last night. Supposedly he was buying time while they changed up the stage. The bit didn’t quite get the intended response.
- Best Sound went to “Top Gun: Maverick”, a good win for a movie that deserved much more. It would’ve been a shame if the movie that actually jump-started and (as Steven Spielberg said) “saved” the theater-going experience had won nothing from the Academy!
- Cheers to the Academy for smartly airing ALL of the winners this year. I’m not sure who thought cutting some out was a good idea. This was much better,
And so those are a few random thoughts from this year‘s Oscars. What did you think of the show? What are your thoughts on the winners?
Keith & the Movies 