95th Academy Awards: Exciting, Enjoyable all at Once
By Saya Fujii
By Saya Fujii
After last year’s slap-driven excitement, the 95th Academy Awards returned this year in less-dramatic, but more-historic fashion on March 12.
I watched all 34 Oscar nominated movies to make my guesses and wishes for each category. I really enjoyed a majority of those films, despite the bulk of it being remakes or sequels. Some of my favorites were “Close,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Fabelmans,” “Aftersun,” “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” and of course, “Everything Everywhere all at Once.”
This year was particularly special because of the history-making nominees, especially the very talented lineup of Asian actors, producers, directors and songwriters. Because of the Oscars’ history of whiteness, I had extremely low expectations for any of them winning, and all I could hope for was a couple awards going to “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The film ended up winning seven out of its 11 nominations, which was way more than I had anticipated, but exactly what it deserved.
“Everything Everywhere all at Once” was my personal favorite movie of the year, a common view among movie fans across the country. It was not only a creative masterpiece, but also a huge step for Asian representation in film. For this reason, it was important that the Oscars not ignore it, and they surprisingly came through. Some highlights of its wins were Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert receiving the Best Picture award, Ke Huy Quan’s heartfelt acceptance speech and Michelle Yeoh’s history-making win. It was incredible to see Halle Berry, the first woman of color to win this category, give this award to Yeoh; a powerful moment for women of color that mirrored the passing of a baton.
Another pleasant surprise was “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu film “RRR” winning Best Original Song, making history as the first song from an Indian film. However, the movie itself was robbed of an International Feature Film nomination.
Despite all of the history-making, I was disappointed with “Nope” not receiving a single nod and “Aftersun” only receiving a Best Actor nomination. And as for the wins, it was a huge let-down to see Jamie Lee Curtis win Best Supporting Actress over Angela Bassett. She was the clear front-runner in the category with her incredible performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” This was yet another example of Black actresses being snubbed, as well as superhero movies being ignored when it comes to awards.
On the other hand, “All Quiet on the Western Front” received four wins. The German feature was a beautifully shot and well-written movie, but is very generic when it comes to award-winning war films, which is why I was a bit disappointed when it expectedly won in several categories including Best International Feature Film. The film I would have liked to see win was the Belgian “Close,” an incredible movie that was equal parts heartbreaking and beautiful. Despite that, I knew “All Quiet on the Western Front” was guaranteed to take that spot.
The 95th Oscars, despite its flaws, was a fun watch with some great speeches, and it was nice to see a change being made in diversity.
I watched all 34 Oscar nominated movies to make my guesses and wishes for each category. I really enjoyed a majority of those films, despite the bulk of it being remakes or sequels. Some of my favorites were “Close,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Fabelmans,” “Aftersun,” “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” and of course, “Everything Everywhere all at Once.”
This year was particularly special because of the history-making nominees, especially the very talented lineup of Asian actors, producers, directors and songwriters. Because of the Oscars’ history of whiteness, I had extremely low expectations for any of them winning, and all I could hope for was a couple awards going to “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The film ended up winning seven out of its 11 nominations, which was way more than I had anticipated, but exactly what it deserved.
“Everything Everywhere all at Once” was my personal favorite movie of the year, a common view among movie fans across the country. It was not only a creative masterpiece, but also a huge step for Asian representation in film. For this reason, it was important that the Oscars not ignore it, and they surprisingly came through. Some highlights of its wins were Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert receiving the Best Picture award, Ke Huy Quan’s heartfelt acceptance speech and Michelle Yeoh’s history-making win. It was incredible to see Halle Berry, the first woman of color to win this category, give this award to Yeoh; a powerful moment for women of color that mirrored the passing of a baton.
Another pleasant surprise was “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu film “RRR” winning Best Original Song, making history as the first song from an Indian film. However, the movie itself was robbed of an International Feature Film nomination.
Despite all of the history-making, I was disappointed with “Nope” not receiving a single nod and “Aftersun” only receiving a Best Actor nomination. And as for the wins, it was a huge let-down to see Jamie Lee Curtis win Best Supporting Actress over Angela Bassett. She was the clear front-runner in the category with her incredible performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” This was yet another example of Black actresses being snubbed, as well as superhero movies being ignored when it comes to awards.
On the other hand, “All Quiet on the Western Front” received four wins. The German feature was a beautifully shot and well-written movie, but is very generic when it comes to award-winning war films, which is why I was a bit disappointed when it expectedly won in several categories including Best International Feature Film. The film I would have liked to see win was the Belgian “Close,” an incredible movie that was equal parts heartbreaking and beautiful. Despite that, I knew “All Quiet on the Western Front” was guaranteed to take that spot.
The 95th Oscars, despite its flaws, was a fun watch with some great speeches, and it was nice to see a change being made in diversity.