And the Winner Is…
Releasing just over a year ago, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” quickly took many by storm. The film quickly went up in the box office and many considered this movie Oscar worthy. This year proved them right.
The yearly event of the Academy Awards returned for its 95th anniversary, which was presented on Mar. 12. Celebrities reported to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, which was held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, this year for the event.
This year, the host of the Oscars was late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel for the third time. As hosts typically do, he added a bit of humor to the show. Kimmel often commentated on the infamous Will Smith slap from the previous year. He would speak out in his opening monologue.
“If anyone in this theatre commits an act of violence at any point of the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for Best Actor,” Kimmel said. “If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the ceremony, just do what you did last year. Nothing. Sit there and do absolutely nothing…And if any of you get mad at a joke and decide you want to come up here and get jiggy with it, it’s not gonna be easy.”
Kimmel would then call out celebrities in the audience to back him up as his “bodyguards.” This consisted of the actor heavyweight champion Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan, and also the Mandalorian played by Pedro Pascal.
One of the many movies that dominated this year was “Everything Everywhere All At Once” from A24. It not only received Best Picture but several actors were rewarded that night. Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress as Evelyn Quan Wang, Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor as Waymond Wang, Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress as Deirdre Beaubeirdre, both directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert received Best Director, and the movie got awarded Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.
“I believe that Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert were definitely some of the most deserving of the awards that were given,” theatre director Anthony Kinney said. “That film itself was my favorite of the year, and they tied so many elements together in the film, the editing, the writing. Those two just perfected so much about ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’”
This year, the Oscars invoked big emotions and strength among many different people. One main moment for many was when Quan won Best Supporting Actor. After winning the award, it seemed immediately that Quan was shocked and moved by his name being called out. What made the moment special was he was in front of his costar from over 40 years ago, Harrison Ford. They were both in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” directed by Steven Spielberg, who was also in the audience. The movie was Quan’s film acting debut. This was leading up to one of the most emotional speeches of the night.
Quan would approach the mic exclaiming, “Oh my god!” while in tears.
“My mom is 84 years old, and she’s at home watching,” Quan said. “Mom, I just won an Oscar. My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp, and somehow, I ended up here, on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in movies. I cannot believe this is happening to me. This, this is the American dream.”
Another important occurrence of the night was when Michelle Yeoh received Best Actress. Not only did she give a beautiful speech supporting women in their careers, but it was one of her biggest accomplishments with this award since she was the first Asian woman to ever receive an Oscar for Best Actress.
On top of the diversity of the show, there was A big ethnicity win. The winner of Best Original Song was given to “Naatu Naatu” by Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj. The song was originally from the movie
“RRR.” It is the first ever song to also be from a Tollywood Film and earn an Academy Award. Not only that, it’s the first Indian song to receive an Oscar.
Lastly, an Indiana native received an Oscar, Specifically, the Oscar for Best Actor. This went to Brendan Fraser for his performance in “The Whale” from A24. Fraser has been out of the public eye for a while, not getting the roles he used to long ago. Previously, Fraser was considered one of the TOP actors, but he took a very long time to himself due to personal issues. In 2022, he returned to one of his biggest roles, Charlie. An English teacher who, over time, eats himself to death. As he approaches his end, he tries to come back in contact with his daughter.
What made this important for Fraser was that he was constantly beaten in competition with Austin Butler, who portrayed Elvis Presley in “Elvis.” Both Butler and Fraser were believed to be the two most likely to get the Oscar for Best Actor. As the envelope opened and Fraser was announced, he was shocked. He would head on stage and say, “So this is what the multiverse looks like.”
“It was definitely a great moment to hear them announce Fraser’s name for Best Actor,” junior Finley Gay said. “He had just this just great motivational story of stepping out of the acting scene, returning just with a great and beautiful film, and he finally got his name back out there. ‘Elvis’ to me just kinda felt unfinished almost, just okay. I would definitely say Butler was not one of the names I was rooting for.”
It seems overall that more people were happy with the results of the Oscars this year than unsatisfied. There’s hope that the Oscars results will be as well received as this year’s ceremony for years to come.
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Payton Mucker is a senior at LHS heading into the third year of his time shared with Magpie. He currently serves as the Business Manager but has previously...
