Ke Huy Quan cried. Michelle Yeoh made history. And everyone can breathe a sigh of relief as the 95th Academy Awards went off without a hitch (literally and figuratively).
Following last year’s heavy-hitter of an Oscar night, all eyes are on this year’s telecast to see the kind of show they put out. Will there be significant changes thanks to last year’s egregious security breach against a presenter? Will they have learned from recent years’ humdrum shows? And most importantly, can they reverse the ever-declining interest in the awards show among the masses?
The answers are mixed, to say the least. Returning host Jimmy Kimmel managed to steer an efficient and neatly done show. I guess after last year, the Academy decided that playing it safe is the way to go. There is nary an unexpected stunt in the 3-hour long runtime, no awkward gaffe, and barely any eye-popping upset win (except for Jamie Lee Curtis’ long-shot victory, which visibly upset another favorite nominee Angela Bassett, who wouldn’t get up for Curtis’ standing ovation). As expected, Everything Everywhere All At Once became the ceremony’s biggest winner, seizing seven wins out of the 11 nominations they got. All the winners delivered their speeches in an orderly manner with the reliable help of the orchestra’s “time’s up” musical cues. In a break from the recent trend, there are very few politically-charged messages from the winners, with most opting to pay tribute to their colleagues and loved ones instead.
While it made for a civil night, the show got dull fast. Midway through the show, even host Kimmel himself quipped how the sluggish night could really use a slap to jolt things awake. Even performances by all 5 Best Song nominees weren’t enough to spice things up. And they had Lady Gaga and Rihanna in the house! The tribute to the filmmaking craft before certain categories’ announcements was a welcome inclusion, though the script they fed the presenters left much to be desired. The jokes fell dead flat all night long. Who thought asking Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai about the Don’t Worry Darling debacle was a good idea? With Hollywood facing an impending writers’ strike, the importance of good writing in any show – fictional or otherwise – cannot be underestimated.
That aside, It’s a great night for diversity. RRR’s banger dance number “Naatu Naatu” won Best Song – still way too few Oscars for the phenomenal Hindi film, but we’ll take it. Wakanda Forever’s costume designer Ruth E. Carter became the first ever Black woman to win two Oscars. Everything Everywhere All at Once won big and made history as the first-ever Best Picture winner to have three acting wins in 95 years. Newly-minted “Internet’s mother” Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian to win Best Actress. Ke Huy Quan ended his comeback rally triumphantly, his effervescent enthusiasm an important reminder of the childlike joy of movies. International features also performed exceedingly well, with Germany’s All Quiet on the Western Frontcapturing four wins, Russia’s Navalny – about Russia’s exiled opposition leader – winning Best Documentary, and India scoring another win for The Elephant Whisperers in the Best Documentary Short. These results indicate how globalized the film industry has become.
Soon we’ll find out if the accident-free Oscar can turn around its rating predicament. Only then can we truly judge if the masses actually prefer a demure show like this one or the sensational razzmatazz of recent years’ Oscar ceremonies.
