It seems the Academy Awards have taken to heart the words of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” character Waymond Wang (perfectly played by new Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan): “All I know is that “We have to be nice. Please be nice. Especially when we don’t know what’s going on.”
Good vibes abounded at Sunday night’s ceremony, bolstered by moving musical moments, historic victories and, perhaps most importantly, no physical violence. Although direct surprises were few, there were a few moments that caught us off guard. We will discuss them below.
Surprise: “All Quiet On the Western Front” Wins Best Production Design Award
Our own Steve Pond predicted that this category would narrow down to one of two exuberant choices in the form of Baz Lurhmann’s “Elvis” and Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” only for Netflix’s gritty WWI adaptation “All Quiet.” on the Western Front” to walk away with the award. The win was one of four for the film, which also won Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography, the second-biggest film of the night and the only real threat to upset “Everything Everywhere All at Once” for Best Movie. . While unsuccessful, it was one of only three films to win more than one award, with “Everything Everywhere” winning seven and “The Whale” winning two.
Surprise: Performance by Lady Gaga
In the run-up to the Oscars, four of the five Best Original Song nominees were confirmed to perform at the ceremony, with the only holdout being previous Oscar winner Lady Gaga. And yet, word got out on Sunday morning that Lady Gaga would, in fact, be taking the stage at the Dolby Theater to sing her “Top Gun: Maverick” nominated song, “Hold My Hand.”
The performance itself was a stripped-down (and we mean stripped-down, since Gaga not only donned ripped jeans and a T-shirt, but also stripped down to her red carpet makeup) version of the song in a stripped-down setting, filmed almost exclusively in the foreground. Regardless, the song is still a hit, and it was wonderful to have it included, if only for those of us who would have resented having only four of the five nominees included.
Surprise: Jamie Lee Curtis wins for Best Supporting Actress
When is a surprise not a surprise?
It wasn’t surprising that Jamie Lee Curtis triumphed for Best Supporting Actress, at least to people who watched the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month, but it was far from a sure thing. For a long time, in the run-up to the Oscars, it looked like Angela Bassett was the frontrunner for the role of her in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” with wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. But increasingly, as the hype for “Everything Everywhere” reached a fever pitch, it looked as if Wakanda’s Queen Ramonda might be overthrown by another Hollywood legend.
In fact, it was Curtis, self-proclaimed baby nepo (daughter of Oscar nominees Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis), who won, maybe by a nose, maybe by a hair, but probably by a hot dog finger.
Surprise: “Everything Everywhere, Everything At Once” wins almost everything
Broken down into raw numbers, what “Everything Everywhere” accomplished at the Oscars is impressive, making it in some ways the most dominant film in the 95 years of the Academy Awards. Traditionally, the highest achievement for a film at the Oscars is winning the “Big Five,” meaning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted), Best Lead Actor, and Best Lead Actress. Only three movies have accomplished the feat, “It Happened One Night,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”
Now, “Everything Everywhere” didn’t have a lead actor, so it didn’t and couldn’t win the Big Five, but it did something else, something that had never been done before. It won six of the seven awards above the line, specifically, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
Only two other movies in history have won three of the four acting awards, “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Network,” and each of those movies ended up with just four Oscars overall.
That doesn’t even touch on all the other kinds of story made by “Everything Everywhere,” a movie that he managed to master in the most delicious way possible.
Snub: Nothing, Nowhere, Never To “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” and “Triangle of Sadness”
As it turns out, “The Banshees of Inisherin’s” secret star, Jenny the donkey, was the only movie-affiliated creature to take center stage at the ceremony and that’s a shame. The downside of Oscar sweeps means that often fewer films will be able to have a standout moment, as was the case with the five Best Picture nominees mentioned above.
Of the overall Best Picture nominees, as mentioned above, “Everything Everywhere” won seven and “All Quiet” won four. The only other movie to win multiple awards was “The Whale,” which won Best Actor for Brendan Fraser and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, but was not nominated for Best Picture. Of the other films competing in that category, “Top Gun: Maverick” won Best Sound, “Avatar: The Way of Water” won Best Visual Effects and “Talking Women” won Best Adapted Screenplay.
Which boils down to a great night for one movie, a good night for another, and plenty of post-show drinking for everyone else.
At least no one got slapped.
