2023 Oscars Winners

List of the 2023 Academy Award Winners

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Val Kohan, Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Columnist

The 95th Academy Awards were held on March 12th and broadcast on ABC. History was made as Everything Everywhere All At Once swept the show winning a whopping six awards in top categories including Best Picture, Directing, Best Actress, Best Actress, and Ke Huy Quan having the comeback of the century deservingly winning Best Supporting Actor. 

  • Best Picture (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Everything Everywhere All At Once capped off a successful award season by winning Best Picture at the 95th Oscars, with Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, and Jonathan Wang accepting. The film “follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese-American immigrant who, while being depressed and audited for income tax, discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse.” Ke Huy Quan had a full circle moment as the cast and crew of Everything Everywhere All At Once accepted the award for Best Picture. His Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom co-star, Harrison Ford, presented the award and together they had a sentimental moment as director Steven Spielberg watched from the audience.
  • Best Director(s)- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Everything Everywhere All At Once swept the Oscars by winning a whopping six top awards including Best Director(s). Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the duo known as “the Daniels” dedicated the award to “all the mommies in the world”, as Scheinert even addressed the anti-drag and LGBTQ+ laws. “This one is dedicated to the mommies of the world, to our moms, specifically my mom and dad, thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody!!”
  • Best Actress- Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Michelle Yeoh made Oscars history with her win for Best Actress for her leading role as Evelyn Wang, as she was the first Asian woman to win for the category. The Everything Everywhere All At Once actress was the oldest nominee in her category and proudly said in her acceptance speech, “Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are past your prime. For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.” She continued to bring light to the monumental moment, “This is for the Asian community, but for anybody who’s been identified as a minority. We deserve to be seen. We deserve to have equal opportunity so we can have a seat at the table. That’s all we’re asking for. Give us that opportunity; let us prove that we’re worth it.”
  • Best Actor- Brendan Fraser (The Whale) Hollywood icon, Brendan Fraser, won his very first Oscar by taking home Best Actor for his staggering transformation in The Whale. The film follows “a reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher (Brendan Fraser) attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter (Sadie Sink)”. Frasier gave a teary and metaphorical speech, “Gentleman, you laid your whale-sized hearts bare so that we could see into your souls like no one else could do, and it is my honor to be named alongside you in this category.” He also went on to thank Hong Chau, his Whale co-star, by saying they had the depth of talent only whales can reach. The whale-inspired references didn’t stop there, he ended his speech with, “It’s been like a diving expedition on the bottom of the ocean, and the air on the line to the surface is on a launch being watched over by some people in my life”.
  • Best Supporting Actress- Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once) This was Jamie Lee Curtis’ first nomination and first win. She won for her standout role as supporting actress as the grotesque IRS inspector, Deidre Beaubeidra, in Everything Everywhere All At Once. She was up against Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star, Angela Bassett, who looked quite infuriated about her loss. Nevertheless, Jamie Lee Curtis’ reaction to the win was priceless, she was about as shocked as you can be while being awarded such an honor. She gave one of the top acceptance speeches by expressing that this victory was a team effort, she thanked all of those who supported her professionally and personally. She comes from a long-line of Hollywood icons, following in the footsteps of her late parents. Jamie Lee Curtis and her mother, Janet Leigh, were nominated in the same category back in the 1960s for her iconic role in Psycho. They are the third mother-daughter acting nominees alongside Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli as well as Diane Ladd and Laura Dern. “I know it looks like I am standing up here by myself, but I am not. I am hundreds of people,” the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star said. “My bae Michelle (Yeoh), Ke (Huy Quan), Stephanie (Hsu) – the entire group of artists who made this movie – we just won an Oscar.”
  • Best Supporting Actor- Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once) One of the most well deserved Oscars of the night went to Ke Huy Quan for his supporting role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. He achieved a career milestone by winning his first Oscar. After experiencing great success and fame with 80s cult classic films as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple Doom and The Goonies. He eventually moved behind the camera in stunt choreography as he said he had to step away as the phone stopped ringing for roles because “Hollywood didn’t write roles for Asian actors.” But it all changed as he was inspired from the success from Crazy Rich Asians, he soon after booked the role of Michelle Yeoh’s kind hearted husband and multiversal star in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Ke Huy Quan has experienced such support and success from the release as he has taken home trophy after trophy from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and now, Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. Ke Huy Quan delivered one of the most emotional, sentimental, and moving speeches of the night, “My mom is 84 years old. And she’s at home watching. 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 the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This, this, is the American dream. Thank you so much.” He continued to say such powerful words, “Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive. Thank you, thank you so much for welcoming me back. I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
  • Original Screenplay- (Everything Everywhere All At Once) It was no surprise that Everything Everywhere All At Once won every award, including Original Screenplay. It had one of the most unique scripts, stories, and plots perfectly transcribed in a while. “When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.”
  • Animated Feature- (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) Unlike last year’s Academy Awards, while accepting Guillermo del Toro couldn’t help but stress the idea that animated feature films are just as much films for adult audiences than children films. “Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre. Animation is ready to be taken to the next step. We are all ready for it. Please help us keep the animation in the conversation.” 
  • Adapted Screenplay- (Women Talking) Sarah Polley won Best Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking in which she also directed.
  • Original Song- (“Naatu Naatu”) “Naatu Naatu”, by M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose (RRR) won for Best Original Song which shocked viewers as Rihanna’s power anthem from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, “Lift Me Up”.
  • Original Score- (All Quiet on the Western Front) All Quiet on the Western Front was the surprise underdog, winning multiple awards including Cinematography and International Feature.
  • Costume Design- (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) Though Angela Bassett lost for Best Supporting Actress in which she did not hide her disappointment saying, “Black women are regularly overworked, underpaid, devalued, disrespected and ignored. Tonight that pain was palpable.” Black Panther: Wakanda Forever won for costume design for the astounding wardrobes for characters such as Queen Raimonda, Shuri’s Black Panther, and the Dora Milaje. Black Panther was not just set in Wakanda in the second installment, it explored the underwater world of Talokan with roots back to the Mayans.
  • Makeup and Hairstyling- (The Whale) It was no surprise that The Whale would win for Makeup and Hairstyling as they did an outstanding job at physically transforming Brendan Fraser to Charlie, “The Whale”.
  • Editing- (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
  • Animated Short- (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
  • Cinematography- (All Quiet on the Western Front)
  • Live-Action Short- (An Irish Goodbye)
  • Visual Effects- (Avatar: The Way of Water)
  • International Feature- (All Quiet on the Western Front)
  • Sound- (Top Gun: Maverick)
  • Production Design- (All Quiet on the Western Front)
  • Documentary Feature- (Navalny)
  • Documentary Short- (The Elephant Whisperers)