The 95th Academy Awards were held Sunday night at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ the proudly weird sci-fi movie from Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, swept most of the top categories, including best picture and directing.
Michelle Yeoh, that movie’s star, won the best actress award, becoming the first Asian actress ever to win that honor. The other lead acting prize went to Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”), also a first-time winner. (Perhaps the biggest winner of all: A24, the studio behind both of those movies.)
Earlier victories went to ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinoocchio,” which won for best animated feature; Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis, each first-time winners for supporting roles in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”; “Navalny” which picked up the best documentary feature statuette; the costume designer Ruth E. Carter, who became the first Black woman to have won two Oscars (this time for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which won several awards in the first half of the show, including for best international feature, production design and cinematography; and Sarah Polley, who won the best adapted screenplay honor for “Women Talking.”
Speeches were highly emotional, from the likes of best supporting actor Ke Huy Quan, best supporting actress Jamie Lee Curtis.
With seven awards, the awards season Cinderella was the Oscars’ big winner. Capping a huge haul at Hollywood’s biggest night, the movie won best picture to close the night.
Going into the night with 11 nods, the film helmed by the duo known as the Daniels also picked up awards for best actress (Michelle Yeoh), best supporting actor (Ke Huy Quan), best supporting actress (Jamie Lee Curtis), best director, best original screenplay and best film editing.
A HISTORIC WIN FOR YEOH
For Michelle Yeoh, it was an Oscar.
For Asian women, it was history.
Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) became the first Asian woman to win best actress.
Like many winners, she let the emotions out when she got on stage. Clutching at her chest, she laughed nervously, took a deep breath and said “thank you” twice.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me, watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” Yeoh said, as she hoisted the statuette. “And ladies,” the 60-year-old Malaysian-born actor added, “don’t let anybody tell you are ever past your prime.”
BRENDAN FRASER WINS FOR ‘THE WHALE’
Brendan Fraser was “The Whale.”
He’s now the winner.
Fraser’s journey is complete. He’s an Oscar winner, after the performance of his lifetime. Fraser won Best Actor for “The Whale” on Sunday at the Oscars, the crowd at the Dolby Theater erupting in what seemed like one of the loudest ovations of the night when he was announced.
“I started in this business 30 years ago. Things didn’t come easily to me but there was a facility that I didn’t appreciate at the time until it stopped,” an emotional Fraser said. “I just wanted to say thank you for this acknowledgment.”
THE DANIELS BRING ‘EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE’ TO 5 OSCARS
With the win for best director, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert brings the awards season Cinderella to five Oscars — and best actress and best picture still lie ahead.
The Daniels also picked up a best original screenplay Oscar. The movie has also picked up wins in editing, supporting actor and supporting actress.
In accepting the directing award, Kwan subverted the Asian dad trope by telling his son that winning an Oscar is not normal — and he won’t have to live up to this.
Scheinert used his speech to underscore that drag should not be under attack, as it has been from conservative activists.
“We want to dedicate this to the mommies, all the mommies of the world, to our moms, specifically to my mom and dad, Ken and Becky, 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,” Scheinert said.
KIMMEL WITH A JAN. 6 ZING
Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t resist a chance to make a Jan. 6 reference after the Oscar for editing was handed out.
“Editors do amazing things,” Kimmel said. “Editors can turn 44,000 hours of violent insurrection footage into a respectful sightseeing tour of The Capitol. Their work is underappreciated.”
It was an obvious reference to how Fox News’ Tucker Carlson was given footage so he could launch a new effort to explain away the deadly Capitol attack, linking the Republican Party ever more closely to pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the 2021 riot.
IN MEMORIAM
John Travolta choked up while introducing the In Memoriam segment, which was sound tracked by Lenny Kravitz’s live performance.
Without saying any specific names, he spoke of those “who we will always remain hopelessly devoted to,” Travolta said in a clear reference to his “Grease” co-star Olivia Newton-John. She died last August and was the first name shown.
With perennial complaints about the segment excluding some figures, a website was flashed at the end, encouraging people to check out legends lost. Among the many who were remembered during the telecast: Irene Cara, Ray Liotta, Nichelle Nichols, Angela Lansbury, Louise Fletcher, Burt Bacharach, Mary Alice, Gina Lollobrigida, James Caan and Raquel Welch. Among those who were not: the recently deceased actors Tom Sizemore and Robert Blake.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG GOES TO ‘NAATU NAATU’
After five performances, the Oscar for original song is finally announced: “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR.”
The song from the Telugu-language film was performed by playback singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj and a phalanx of dancers earlier in the night.
“RRR has to win, pride of every Indian … and has put me at the top of the world,” M.M. Keeravani sang to the tune of The Carpenters’ “Top of the World” while accepting the award alongside Chandrabose.
SCREENPLAY AWARD WINNERS GIVE MEMORABLE REACTIONS
Daniel Scheinert thanked a long list of his former teachers. Daniel Kwan revealed that he still deals to confidence issues.
They’re Oscar winners now, after taking home the original screenplay award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
“I never thought I was good enough. I have self-esteem problems,” Kwan said.
The adapted screenplay award went to Sarah Polley for “Women Talking.” And she, like Scheinert and Kwan, was memorable in her speech.
“First of all, I just want to thank the academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘Women’ and ‘Talking’ put so close together like that,” Polley said. “Cheers.”
A TOAST TO RIHANNA
At the end of Rihanna’s performance of “Lift Me Up,” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” A$AP Rocky could be seen with a champagne toast. The couple has one son and another child on the way — iconically revealed in the wake of Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show last month.
MALALA IS NOT WORRYING, DARLING
Jimmy Kimmel asked Nobel laureate and “Stranger at the Gate” producer Malala Yousafzai to weigh in on whether Harry Styles really did spit on Chris Pine during the Venice Film Festival screening of their film, “Don’t Worry Darling.”
“I only talk about peace,” she demurred.
COCAINE BEAR’S OSCAR MOMENT
Elizabeth Banks brought the titular creature from her “Cocaine Bear” to present — but unlike the movie, which featured an entirely CGI bear, this was clearly some guy in a suit.
LADY GAGA’S STRIPPED DOWN PERFORMANCE
You might think Lady Gaga’s bare-faced, ripped-jeans-and-T-shirt appearance during her performance of “Hold My Hand” was because it was all last minute. After all, producers had said just days before that she wouldn’t perform the best original song nominee from “Top Gun: Maverick” and it was only revealed today that she had been slotted in
But Gaga was dazzling on the champagne carpet before the show, in a Versace gown and full makeup, presenting a very different aesthetic two hours later.
(This item has been corrected to show that her gown was Versace, not Valentino.)
‘ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT’ REPEATS HISTORY
The German film “All Quiet on the Western Front” won best international picture. The movie’s victory reflected the success of the original 1930 American film, which won Oscars for best picture and best director.
The 2022 version is also up for best picture.
SPRING FORWARD, INTO A SHOW-IS-LONG JOKE
It’s a frequent complaint at awards shows like the Oscars: The program is too long.
And host Jimmy Kimmel evidently agrees, with a joke that almost seemed obligatory given today’s time change.
“I know we lost an hour because of daylight saving time but I spoke to the producers and good news: We’ve added that hour into the telecast,” Kimmel said.
THREE TIMES THE CHARM FOR KIMMEL
Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the Oscars on Sunday night, the third time that he’s held that distinction — which puts him into rare company.
He becomes only the fifth person to be the solo host of the Oscars at least three times, joining Bob Hope, Billy Crystal, Johnny Carson and Whoopi Goldberg.
Hope hosted solo 14 times, and five times with others. Crystal was a nine-time solo host, Carson a five-timer and Goldberg a four-timer.
There are four others who have been host at least three times, but lack the three solo gigs. Jack Lemmon hosted twice alone and twice with others; Steve Martin and Jerry Lewis each hosted by themselves twice and with others once; and David Niven was a three-time host, but never did the job solo.
In all, there have been 84 people to be recognized as having a hosting role at the Oscars. That list does not include one waterfowl; Donald Duck was credited as a host in 1958.
