Oscars 2023 Recap + Highlights – The Good, The Bad + The WTF

On By ruthIn Awards Chatter, Random Thoughts

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Happy Post-Oscars Day, everyone!! Did you watch the ceremony last night? I wish the Oscars telecast didn’t happen during daylight savings time when we actually LOST one hour :\

Anyhoo, I made my predictions at the last minute of who will win and who SHOULD win, here are my predictions post. I didn’t predict ALL of the noms but out of the ones I did make predictions on, I got 14 out of 21. I got pretty much ALL of the acting nominees’ predictions right, with the wild card being Best Supporting Actress which is neck-and-neck between Jamie Lee Curtis and Angela Bassett. I was rooting for the latter, but I predicted JLC would win and she did!

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The acting winners of 2023 Oscars are ALL from A24 movies!

I only tuned in for the red carpet about an hour before the ceremony started… here are some of the highlights:

And the Most Cringe-Worthy Red Carpet Interview Award goes to…

THE GOOD

I didn’t expect Best Animated Feature would go first, but hey, I’m happy to see Guillermo del Toro won for his astounding Pinocchio movie!

“Animation is not a genre. Animation is cinema.” – GDT. Absolutely!!

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Thank goodness I’ve got tissues handy, as Ke Huy Quan made me cry with his emotional acceptance speech!! I love how genuinely grateful he sounds and how inspiring his words are for those who are still WAITING for their dreams to come true. As someone who still dreams to get my passion project off the ground, I will take his advice to ‘keep the dreams alive’ to heart!

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I have not seen NAVALNY, I’m hoping to catch that soon though but man, this has got to be the most heart-wrenching acceptance speech by Alexei Navalny’s own wife where she said “Alexei, I’m dreaming for the day when you will be free…” Oh my 🥲

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Woo hoo!!! LOVE Ruth Carter winning another Oscar for her astounding work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her first was for the first Black Panther movie in 2019, and she made history for being the first Black woman to win two Oscars in Costume Design.

LOVE her powerful speech and giving a nod to another female nominee from Wakanda Forever:

“Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman. She endures, she loves, she overcomes. She is every woman in this film.”

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I actually have not seen RRR as I canceled my Netflix subscription a few months ago and that movie is 3 hours long!! But I LOVE this dance performance of Naatu, Naatu!!

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Bravo Sarah Polley!!

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Danai Gurira looked positively stunning and I love her moving tribute to Chadwick Boseman before she introduced Rihanna…

… and as she said, Rihanna looks absolutely regal performing the beautiful song Lift Me Up, one of my favorite movie songs ever!

It took 95 years for The Academy to finally give an Oscar or Best Actress in a LEADING ROLE to someone of Asian descent. Southeast Asian to be exact, woo hoo!! Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh sends love to her family in Kuala Lumpur!!

She also inspires women of all ages and ethnicities everywhere!!

And kudos to her for taking a jab at CNN anchor Don Lemon who back in February said that the 51-year-old Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina who’s running for President, was past her prime. “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”

Well, miss Yeoh is 60 years old young and she’s just getting started, so take THAT, Don!

THE BAD

I’m still disappointed with the lack of female director nominees in a year when there are SO MANY worthy nominees.

In addition to The Woman King and Women Talking, let’s not forget the excellent work of Alice Diop in Saint Omer:

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I absolutely LOVE the Top Gun: Maverick theme song Hold My Hand, but what is with this rendition??! Sorry Lady Gaga but I’m not loving this performance at all.

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What’s with the QR Code thing??! Whoever thought that it would NOT be creepy to scan a QR code to see more deceased people instead of including them in the In Memoriam telecast? [face palm]. They also missed Charlbi Dean who just passed away last year and she’s actually a major part of an Oscar-nominated film, Triangle of Sadness.

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THE WTF

Well, thankfully the night went without anyone getting slapped, phew! But we do have a Cocaine Bear presenting the Oscars without anyone being mauled to death, ahah. Elizabeth Banks is so charming that she made the whole bizarre stint actually funny!

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Now, this is a WTF in a good way and also involves animals, this time a real one. How adorable is JENNY the Goat from The Banshees of Inisherin! I LOVE Colin Farrell‘s elated reaction seeing her animal BFF on stage 😀

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Now, normally I love Hugh Grant‘s dry, self-deprecating humor, but I thought his joke referring to himself as part of his um, private parts is distasteful. He’s clearly not in the mood to be part of the event last night… perhaps he should’ve just skipped it?

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I was scratching my head when I heard the Pirates of the Caribbean theme when Donnie Yen was introduced. It’s the one that sounds a bit like the battle themes in Gladiator – both composed by Hans Zimmer. Then they played it again when Sarah Polley accepted her Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. It was just weird!

THE TAKEAWAY

The 95th Oscars went without a hitch… it’s a rather safe and conventional ceremony with few surprises, unlike the year prior. Of course, the infamous ‘slap’ incident was referenced throughout the night by host Jimmy Kimmel.

Overall he was pretty low-key and stuck to the script. Some of the jokes landed and some were meh. I didn’t care for all his interactions with the audience which aren’t funny and just made the already-way-too-long show even longer!

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But I’m glad he acknowledged the two films that got overlooked by voters:

“There are a number of excellent films and performances that were not nominated tonight, including Till and The Woman King which are both based on true stories with great performances from Danielle Deadwyler and Viola Davis that are very worthy of your time.”

Now, I’m hoping they hire a female host next time, perhaps someone with spunk like Aubrey Plaza? I mean, everyone loved her funny banter with Jenna Ortega at the SAG awards.

I’m thrilled for Everything Everywhere All at Once being the big winner last night!! It wasn’t my personal pick to be honest, my #1 movie of the year (which also had an ensemble cast of actors of color) didn’t even make the Best Picture list :\

But truly, who could possibly be sour about an indie film that could?! It was made for a mere $14 million and released during the pandemic that ended up being A24’s highest-grossing film. It’s truly a game changer not just in terms of the mostly-Asian cast (plus one of the directors being Asian), but also the fact that it’s part sci-fi, a genre normally overlooked by the Academy voters.

Seeing Ke Huy Quan‘s overflowing joy when he greeted his friend Harrison Ford on stage presenting the Best Picture Oscar to EEAAO is definitely the highlight of the night! His joy is contagious and it’s truly one of the most genuine displays of raw emotion rarely seen at previous Oscars ceremonies.

Well, that’s the recap, folks. What did you think about this year’s Oscars?

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8 thoughts on “Oscars 2023 Recap + Highlights – The Good, The Bad + The WTF”

  1. I’m happy for everyone involved with EEAAO for winning as they’re all deserving though I think Women Talking is the better film as I am happy for Sarah Polley as my review is coming later today.

    I really hated that song that Diane Warren wrote as it’s just blah as I think they need to stop nominating her. They should also ban John Travolta 4 life as he’s just an embarrassment these days and that memoriam was shit. The people they omitted in favor of a QR code is fucking disrespectful.

    Reply

    1. Yeah, even though I’m not as in love w/ the movie, I can’t possibly be unhappy w/ EEAAO winning. It’s got to mean a lot for the filmmakers/cast involved. I think Yeoh and Quan are truly deserving of their Oscars.

      I barely remember that Warren song, I kind of tuned out and grabbed water during that part, ahahaha. As for Travolta though, I thought he was ok presenting and he even made a small tribute to Olivia Newton-John with the ‘hopelessly devoted to’ remark. But the QR code thing is just distasteful, that’s on the Oscars producers though.

      Reply

  2. As usual, thanks for the recap since I don’t care for award shows. Nice seeing the reunion between Short Round and Indy. And happy that Ke Huy Quan is getting all the love right. But I read somewhere that he’s still having a hard time landing new roles even after he got nominated for an Oscar. Maybe, now he won, someone will hire him to be in their movies.

    Also, nice seeing both Michelle Yeoh and and Jamie Lee Curtis won. Those are the two actresses that I never thought would win an Oscar. Mostly, because they never starred in award “worthy” films.

    Reply

    1. Yeah I think Quan’s got a few projects in the pipeline, but I hope that continues! I’d love to see him in leading roles too, not just supporting ones.

      I think with EEAAO winning is kind of a game-changer as I never would’ve thought such a sci-fi movie involving multiverse and such would even be considered by the Academy!

      Reply

  3. I still wish Angela Bassett won, but there’s much more to be happy about with this Oscars than mad about. For me anyways.
    Naatu Naatu is truly the best part of RRR. I’m glad they performed it.

    Reply

    1. I know me too!! I’m so annoyed by people calling out her disappointed face when Jamie Lee’s name was called. Now, she’s obviously dismayed so why should she pretend she wasn’t??

      I haven’t seen RRR but that Naatu Naatu is so much fun!

      Reply

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