The 2023 award season railway made its final stop this year once again as a mid-March affair, bringing with it the great and the good of mainstream and global cinema for the industry’s biggest and most glitzy back-patting extravaganza in Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, gathered to award the achievements in cinema over the last twelve months at the 95th edition of the Academy Awards.
Local late night star Jimmy Kimmel returned to host for a third time and as usual there were plenty of highly emotional speeches and some pre-requisite comedy on show, plus some predictable controversy albeit mostly well before the ceremony when the nominations were announced, but there was also the small matter of awarding filmmakers for their achievements in film over the last year. The Daniels’ madcap multiverse meditation on love and acceptance ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ managed to beguile academy voters and secure the most nominations with 11 and take home most of the big ones including Best Picture, followed by ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ who secured 9 nominations each, with the former taking away several golden statuettes and the latter being shut out completely.
Although all award shows are subjective and we can endlessly debate over who should win what or even be nominated, this is a chance for films and their makers to be globally recognised for another great twelve months of work, so let’s see who the principal nominees, big winners, and our personal picks are this year.
Best Picture
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Everything Everywhere All at Once (Winner)
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
The Fabelmans
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking
Our Pick from the Nominees: The Banshees of Inisherin
Our Pick Overall: The Banshees of Inisherin
Directing
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Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (Winner)
Martin McDonagh for ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Steven Spielberg for ‘The Fabelmans’
Todd Field for ‘Tár’
Ruben Östlund for ‘Triangle of Sadness’
Our pick from the nominees: Todd Field for ‘Tár’
Our pick overall: Todd Field for ‘Tár’
Actor in a Leading Role
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Brendan Fraser in ‘The Whale’ (Winner)
Austin Butler in ‘Elvis’
Colin Farrell in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Paul Mescal in ‘Aftersun’
Bill Nighy in ‘Living’
Our pick from the nominees: Austin Butler in ‘Elvis’
Our pick overall: Austin Butler in ‘Elvis’
Actress in a Leading Role
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Michelle Yeoh in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (Winner)
Cate Blanchett in ‘Tár’
Ana de Armas in ‘Blonde’
Andrea Riseborough in ‘To Leslie’
Michelle Williams in ‘The Fabelmans’
Our pick from the nominees: Cate Blanchett in ‘Tár’
Our pick overall: Cate Blanchett in ‘Tár’
Actor in a Supporting Role
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Ke Huy Quan in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (Winner)
Brendan Gleeson in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Brian Tyree Henry in ‘Causeway’
Barry Keoghan in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Judd Hirsch in ‘The Fabelmans’
Our pick from the nominees: Brendan Gleeson in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Our pick overall: Brendan Gleeson in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Actress in a Supporting Role
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Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (Winner)
Angela Bassett in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
Hong Chau in ‘The Whale’
Kerry Condon in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Stephanie Hsu in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’
Our pick from the nominees: Kerry Condon in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Our pick overall: Kíla Lord Cassidy in ‘The Wonder’
Writing- Original Screenplay
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Winner)
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ by Martin McDonagh
‘The Fabelmans’ by Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner
‘Tár’ by Todd Field
‘Triangle of Sadness’ by Ruben Östlund
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ by Martin McDonagh
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ by Martin McDonagh
Writing- Adapted Screenplay
‘Women Talking’ by Sarah Polley (Winner)
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell
‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ by Rian Johnson
‘Living’ by Kazuo Ishiguro
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie
Our pick overall: ‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical’ by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin
Music- Original Score
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Volker Bertelmann (Winner)
‘Babylon’ by Justin Hurwitz
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ by Carter Burwell
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ by Son Lux
‘The Fabelmans’ by John Williams
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Babylon’ by Justin Hurwitz
Our pick overall: ‘Babylon’ by Justin Hurwitz
Music- Original Song
“Naatu Naatu” from ‘RRR’ by M. M. Keeravani and Chandrabose (Winner)
“Applause” from ‘Tell It Like a Woman’ by Diane Warren (Winner)
“Hold My Hand” from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
“Lift Me Up” from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson
“This Is a Life” from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski
Our pick from the nominees: “This Is a Life” from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski
Our pick overall: “This Is a Life” from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski
Animated Feature Film
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Winner)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red
Our pick from the nominees: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Our pick overall: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
International Feature Film
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (Germany) (Winner)
‘Argentina, 1985’ (Argentina)
‘Close’ (Belgium)
‘EO’ (Poland)
‘The Quiet Girl’ (Ireland)
Our pick from the nominees: ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (Germany)
Our pick overall: ‘Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths’ (Mexico)
Cinematography
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by James Friend (Winner)
‘Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths’ by Darius Khondji
‘Elvis’ by Mandy Walker
‘Empire of Light’ by Roger Deakins
‘Tár’ by Florian Hoffmeister
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths’ by Darius Khondji
Our Pick Overall: ‘Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths’ by Darius Khondji
Film Editing
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ by Paul Rogers (Winner)
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ by Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
‘Elvis’ by Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ by Paul Rogers
‘Tár’ by Monika Willi
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ by Eddie Hamilton
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ by Eddie Hamilton
Our Pick Overall: ‘Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths’ by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Monica Salazar
Visual Effects
Avatar: The Way of Water (Winner)
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick
Our Pick from the Nominees: Avatar: The Way of Water
Our Pick Overall: Avatar: The Way of Water
Production Design
All Quiet on the Western Front (Winner)
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
Elvis
The Fabelmans
Our Pick from the Nominees: Babylon
Our Pick Overall: Babylon
Costume Design
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Winner)
Babylon
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Our Pick from the Nominees: Babylon
Our Pick Overall: Babylon
Makeup and Hairstyling
The Whale (Winner)
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
The Whale
Our Pick from the Nominees: The Whale
Our Pick Overall: The Whale
So there you have it, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ nearly sweeps the board and leaves ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and ‘The Whale’ sharing multiple wins, while the rest of the awards were spread evenly and several contenders were left out in the cold completely, all in a long and smoothly executed ceremony no real scandal or controversy to speak of . . . other than the selections. Let us know what you think of the Oscar winners and happenings this year, and if you agree with our picks by commenting here and on FilmPhonic at Facebook and Twitter.
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