It could have been worse. That may seem like a low bar when judging the quality of the Oscars, but considering that the prior two years were disastrous—first the Steven Soderbergh-produced telecast that ended with a tribute to Chadwick Boseman which misfired spectacularly when he failed to win Best Actor, then the… incident involving Chris Rock and Will Smith—a carefully cultivated mediocrity felt like a win this time around. As host, Jimmy Kimmel was hit-and-miss, alternating between winning one-liners and groaning bits. (Thankfully, he kept Slap Discourse to a minimum, even as he tossed off one of his best quips in service of it: “without a hitch, and without Hitch.”) That unevenness extended to the presenters (the usual blend of funny and forced), the speeches (some tremendous, some tedious), and the song performances (yay “Naatu Naatu,” boo Son Lux). Everything averaged out to fine, and when it comes to the Oscars at this point, “fine” is something I can live with.
As for the movies themselves, the big winners were Everything All at Once, which scooped up seven Oscars—including six of the so-called Big Eight, which I believe is a record (I’m too tired to research it)—and All Quiet on the Western Front, which totaled four. (In fact, only one other film took home multiple prizes; more on that later.) Because the Academy tends to save its highest-profile categories for later in the evening, All Quiet appeared to be positioning itself as a Best Picture threat, especially when it ripped off three straight victories midway through the show. But that was a mirage; this was always Everything Everywhere’s night, from boisterous beginning (welcome to the stage, Ke Huy Quan!) to triumphant end.
And that, too, is fine. Technically speaking, Everything Everywhere All at Once wasn’t my favorite film of 2022 (that was Emily the Criminal), or my highest-ranked Best Picture nominee (that was The Fabelmans), or the one I was rooting for to sow chaos (that was Avatar: The Way of Water). But it’s a damn good movie that’s fun, imaginative, and weird. I suspect that its legacy as a Best Picture winner will hold up just fine; if it doesn’t, that won’t change my personal feelings toward it one bit.
Per annual tradition, let’s run through the winners of the 20 feature categories, in order of their presentation:
Best Animated Feature
Predicted winner: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (confidence: 4/5)
Preferred winner: Turning Red
Actual winner: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Not my favorite, but if this somehow encourages people to seek out a movie like Pan’s Labyrinth, it’s well worth it.
Best Supporting Actor
Predicted winner: Ke Huy Quan—Everything Everywhere All at Once (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: Ke Huy Quan—Everything Everywhere All at Once
Actual winner: Ke Huy Quan—Everything Everywhere All at Once
This was lovely, and not just because it’s one of the rare times when my prediction and my preference both aligned with the actual winner. I always wonder how performers who are such heavy favorites can seem so overwhelmed when they hear their name called (perhaps they’re just good actors!), but Quan really did appear to be both humbled and delighted, and he delivered the speech of the night. “Dreams are something you have to believe in; I almost gave up on mine.” On the page, those words look corny; tumbling coming out of Quan’s mouth, they were beautiful.
Best Supporting Actress
Predicted winner: Jamie Lee Curtis—Everything Everywhere All at Once (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: Kerry Condon—The Banshees of Inisherin
Actual winner: Jamie Lee Curtis—Everything Everywhere All at Once
This was the first real test for Everything Everywhere, and Curtis holding off Angela Bassett (for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) was a sign of big things to come.
Best Documentary Feature
Predicted winner: Navalny (confidence: 4/5)
Actual winner: Navalny
I understand the theory that winners shouldn’t be permitted to ramble for minutes on end, but as someone who doesn’t really care about the Oscars running long (they only happen once per year!), I’ve always disfavored the orchestra playing off acceptance speeches. Fortunately, the conductor here was smart enough not to cut off Yulia Navalnaya, wife of imprisoned politician Alexei Navalny. (One thing the Academy should have excised: the ensuing “presentation” of the upcoming Little Mermaid feature, an embarrassing piece of ABC/Disney cross-promotion. Lame.)
Best Cinematography
Predicted winner: All Quiet on the Western Front—James Friend (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: Tár—Florian Hoffmeister
Actual winner: All Quiet on the Western Front—James Friend
Uninspired choice in an uninspired slate of nominees, but nice to see Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors chatting about filmmaking technique.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Predicted winner: The Whale (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Actual winner: The Whale
Remember, you rarely go wrong picking the “most” anything at the Oscars, and The Whale certainly had the most makeup. Also: Let the woman speak, dude!
Best Costume Design
Predicted winner: Elvis (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: Babylon
Actual winner: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
[Barry Keoghan voice] Well, there goes that dream. Overall, I went 17-for-20 on my predictions, a tally that, in keeping with the theme of the night, was perfectly fine. (Also, kudos to Ruth Carter, who also won this award for the original Black Panther four years ago.)
Best International Feature
Predicted winner: All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany) (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: EO (Poland)
Actual winner: All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
No surprise here.
Best Production Design
Predicted winner: Babylon (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: Babylon
Actual winner: All Quiet on the Western Front
Argh! I figured that if anything would take down Babylon, it’d be Elvis; instead, the Baz Luhrmann epic got shut out on the evening, one of five Best Picture nominees which went home empty-handed. (The others: The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Tár, and Triangle of Sadness.)
Best Original Score
Predicted winner: All Quiet on the Western Front—Volker Bertelmann (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: The Fabelmans—John Williams
Actual winner: All Quiet on the Western Front—Volker Bertelmann
Bram bram braaaaaammm.
Best Visual Effects
Predicted winner: Avatar: The Way of Water (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: Avatar: The Way of Water
Actual winner: Avatar: The Way of Water
Justice is served. Also, sue me, I found the bit with Elizabeth Banks and her giant man-bear to be charming, and funnier than pretty much anything in Cocaine Bear. (It was definitely funnier than Kimmel’s cringeworthy “stroll through the audience” bit. Leave Malala alone!)
Best Original Screenplay
Predicted winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once—Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (confidence: 3/5)
Preferred winner: The Fabelmans—Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner
Actual winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once—Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
It had to be weird for these guys, anticipating that they’d be hopping back on stage in a few minutes (when they’d win for Best Director) and wondering if they needed to save any material. They did a decent job threading the needle.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Predicted winner: Women Talking—Sarah Polley (confidence: 3/5)
Preferred winner: Glass Onion—Rian Johnson
Actual winner: Women Talking—Sarah Polley
Killer speech from Polley, who was cogent, passionate, and funny. It’s almost like she’s both a writer and a performer (not to mention a director).
Best Sound
Predicted winner: Top Gun: Maverick (confidence: 3/5)
Preferred winner: Avatar: The Way of Water
Actual winner: Top Gun: Maverick
I am choosing to interpret this as an award for Jennifer Connelly.
Best Original Song
Actual winner: “Naatu Naatu”—M. M. Keeravani and Chandrabose (from RRR) (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: “Naatu Naatu”—M. M. Keeravani and Chandrabose (from RRR)
Actual winner: “Naatu Naatu”—M. M. Keeravani and Chandrabose (from RRR)
The song itself is great; turning the speech into a brand new song was even better.
Best Film Editing
Predicted winner: Top Gun: Maverick—Eddie Hamilton (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once—Paul Rogers
Actual winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once—Paul Rogers
And with this win, Everything Everywhere All at Once officially attained “Oscar juggernaut” status.
Best Director
Predicted winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—Everything Everywhere All at Once (confidence: 4/5)
Preferred winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—Everything Everywhere All at Once
Actual winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—Everything Everywhere All at Once
Kudos to Scheinert for mentioning that he dressed in drag as a kid, then emphasizing that it constituted “a threat to nobody.” Eat shit, transphobes.
Best Actor
Predicted winner: Brendan Fraser—The Whale (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: Colin Farrell—The Banshees of Inisherin
Actual winner: Brendan Fraser—The Whale
And here we have the third movie that won two Oscars this year: The Whale! The fucking Whale! What a time to be alive. (Fraser’s blubbery speech wasn’t my favorite, but at least he was sincere.)
Best Actress
Predicted winner: Michelle Yeoh—Everything Everywhere All at Once (confidence: 3/5)
Preferred winner: Cate Blanchett—Tár
Actual winner: Michelle Yeoh—Everything Everywhere All at Once
Again, not my preferred choice, but I can hardly begrudge the legendary Michelle Yeoh winning an Oscar.
Best Picture
Predicted winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once (confidence: 4/5)
Preferred winner: Avatar: The Way of Water
Actual winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once
And there you have it. A respectable choice to end a respectable night. Forgive the faint praise, but all things considered, I’m calling that a win. Till next year.
Jeremy Beck is the editor-in-chief of MovieManifesto. He watches more movies and television than he probably should.