The 95th Academy Award, best known as the Oscars, have been the talk of the entertainment world for weeks, with everyone from stylists and celebrities to fans and artists anticipating the big winners, fashionable red carpet entrances (and faux pas), and possible slap-happy moments on the big stage.
If you’ve marked your calendars with a star on March 12, told your friends and loved ones to join you (or leave you alone), and placed bets on who feels the wrath of a humorous barb during the big ceremony and who gets spared, what movies slapped this year, and who walked off stage with no fresh handprint upon their cheek — you’re not alone. Anyone who enjoys a film looks forward to the Oscars, hoping their best and favorites will end up winning big on the evening that sets the standard and all of the chaotic and beautiful moments those award-winning moments are encompassed within.
The 2023 Oscars promised high stakes and higher emotions, and it delivered; here are the moments that stole the show.
The champagne carpet
The champagne carpet is a significant moment in and of itself tonight as fans at home get to see their favorite celebrities walking down a rather mute-toned carpet on their way to the ceremony. While this might not be a massive ordeal in a normal circumstance, we’re all so used to the red carpet that it’s hard to channel the idea that it’s undergone such a major shake-up. And we’re not the only ones having a struggle with it.
Commentators were still calling the event the red carpet throughout the evening, and it all looked a little less visually pleasing than we’re used to. In a chat with the Associated Press, Lisa Love gave the following explanation for the change.
“We chose this beautiful sienna, saffron color that evokes the sunset, because this is the sunset before the golden hour.”
And the award for Best Dressed goes to…
One thing you can bet on each Oscars season is everyone constructing their own best-dressed list thanks to a few celebs owning their red-carpet looks. Zendaya, Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jason Momoa, and Angela Bassett were just a handful to do so this year. Some celebrities wear exciting new looks as perfect models, and simply tossing a dress or a suit at them creates the illusion of it being custom-made. While it’s a bit more complicated than that in real life, these stars know how to work it.
First things first, may we honor the legend that is Austin Butler. In becoming Elvis Presley, he was immediately on the radar of audiences worldwide, but some of us have loved him since Zoey 101 and The Carrie Diaries — and he only gets better with time.
Jamie Lee Curtis didn’t come to play tonight, and her gown on the champagne carpet stole the show. She looked like a million bucks and, as usual, was a breath of fresh air as she spoke with her peers and made her way inside. She also stole our hearts with this sweet moment with Halle Bailey, a big fan of Curtis’. Can we get them together on a project ASAP?
Bailey herself looked stunning, too. We can’t wait to see her swimming through the seas in The Little Mermaid, but until then, we’re obsessing over her “princess debut.” Speaking of royalty, how breathtaking was Angela Bassett on the champagne carpet? Donning the color purple, for a good reason, she looked like a vision.
Judge us not, but a big win of the night was when Michael B. Jordan took the stage with Jonathan Majors and gave a shout-out to Angela Bassett: “Hey Auntie,” we’re still not over it. Queen Ramonda was an icon in the Black Panther universe, and Bassett’s contributions to the role can’t be understated; it was a sweet way for Jordan to show some Marvel love and love to his on-screen auntie.
Third time’s a charm, Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel hosts the Oscars this year, and fans hoped that the third time would be a charm for the comedically-inclined television host. Hosting in 2017, 2018, and 2023 — Kimmel spent time preparing for any curve balls that could be thrown his way during the big ceremony. From sizing up the competition to playing to the room, he took notes on how to be the host with the most — so far his seems to be hitting the mark, thanks to a copious amount of slap jokes made possible by the sacrifice of last year’s host.
While we don’t get much time with the host of the show, we did enjoy everything Kimmel gave us tonight; in the big opening act and the few peeks we got at him through the rest of the show — we did more laughing than we initially anticipated.
The biggest winners
Every nominee at the Oscars worked diligently to get to the big stage, giving of themselves in time, space, and spirit to ensure they produced top-tier, all-encompassing work — the kind of material audiences could get lost in. From masterpieces like Elvis and Everything Everywhere All At Once to powerhouses like Angela Bassett and Brendan Frasier being nominated this year, the night’s big winners will all be genuinely well-deserved.
Kicking off the night, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio won Best Animated Feature, and Actor in a Supporting Role went to Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All At Once. Quan gave an emotional and inspirational acceptance speech that won’t be soon forgotten.
Best Cinematography went to All Quiet on the Western Front, and Ruth E. Carter made Oscars history as the first Black woman to win multiple Oscars in any category. The gratitude on her face and the look of joy in her eyes as she spoke about creating the look for Marvel’s finest royalty and warriors was a powerful scene.
As far as performances go, the stripped-down version of “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga was a treat we weren’t expecting. She looked stunning in ripped jeans and a t-shirt, but more than that, we truly saw a piece of her heart as she unveiled a sense of vulnerability in a protracted introduction to the song prior to singing the first note.
Avatar: The Way of Water won for Visual Effects, in a move fans worldwide saw as a sure shoo-in. The movie was a vessel that transported us into a new way of being, a new realm of existence, a world that felt so untouched and undiscovered yet rife with opportunity and wonder.
Top Gun: Maverick won Best Sound, and if you sat in a theater to hear the magnificent movie that it was, you understand the reason for its win in that category. It felt like you were sitting underneath the planes buzzing just above your head, like you were in the cockpit with the pilots, swerving just between death’s door and survival.
It feels strange to call it a win, but the In Memoriam performance by Lenny Kravitz felt like a wholesome send-off to some of the most prolific names in entertainment and highlights the untimely losses we’ve felt across the industry over the last year. It was a beautiful way to honor their memory and remind us all of their impact on the movies we love.
In an incredibly moving moment: Brendan Fraser won Best Actor for The Whale, and it was a truly beautiful moment to watch him take the stage and receive the award. An actor who has embodied several fan-favorite roles, Fraser has been through so much throughout his career, and this feels like a renewed sense of being for the actor — the icon. He is a light, truly, and seeing his heart shine at the “acknowledgement” is something his longtime fans won’t forget.
Michelle Yeoh winning Best Actress feels like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae, something that makes the highs even greater and the lows not so devastating; the work she put into this film is something extraordinary. In a not-surprising turn of events, Everything Everywhere All At Once won Best Picture. As the ceremony continued, fans began to think it would sweep the categories at play — what we didn’t anticipate was this emotional moment.
We’re all crying for many reasons.
The greatest upsets
In the weeks leading up to each Oscars ceremony, fans watch and rewatch the movies up for nominations in each category to try to predict which will become victorious in what category. From Best Actor and Actress to Visual Effects and Best Song — when you’ve already picked your favorite, it can be a shock to hear another name take the win. With high-caliber talent in each category for this year’s ceremony, here are the biggest upsets of the evening.
To start the night off with a huge upset, the Queen herself: Angela Bassett, didn’t take the win for Best Supporting Actress, and we cannot believe it. It’s a bit odd to say this because we love Jamie Lee Curtis, who has put in her own due diligence to take home the award. Curtis is a powerhouse, but if you weren’t moved to tears…to the very breaking point by Bassett’s performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, are you even human?
It’s hard to call it an upset when Fraser’s gracious acceptance speech was so beautiful, but we have to shed a tear for the work that Austin Butler put into Elvis and him not coming out on top. He dedicated so much of himself to the role, and it was a win we thought he might just have in the bag, like a sparkle on one of Elvis’ many jackets, like the glint of hope in his eye as he was first starting off in the film; ready to fly.
Elvis truly was Butler’s moment to fly — to recognize his own greatness and to understand the extent of his talent and dedication fully; becoming Presley was life-changing for the actor, and win or lose, that sort of thing sticks with you. Butler will forever be changed by this journey, as will Presley die-hards everywhere.
We love both performances, and in a perfect world, these films would have been released in windows that allowed each actor to take home the great win, but we digress. Butler is forever a winner for what he did in becoming Elvis Presley; he is truly an icon, and we’ve not seen the last of his nominations — that is for sure.
The no-shows
Of course, with each big ceremony comes another kind of snub: those who can’t attend the big event. Two of the night’s most anticipated stars that didn’t make an appearance were Tom Cruise and Glen Close. While the reason for Cruise’s absence wasn’t noted, Close was diagnosed with COVID-19 before the Oscars and couldn’t attend for obvious reasons. While her absence meant no Air Force One reunion, we’re looking forward to the moment it happens in the future.
Not long before the Oscars kicked off, it was also reported that James Cameron would not be in attendance for the ceremony, citing personal reasons.
Through the big wins, the upsets, and the moments that brought tears to our eyes, the 2023 Oscars have drawn to a close, here’s to more movies, more adventures, and more moments together throughout the next year.
Published: Mar 12, 2023 08:00 pm