Oscars 2023: The biggest winners and losers
Another Oscars ceremony has passed us by, leaving some actors and filmmakers to leave LA’s Dolby Theatre with a flowing champagne flute in their hands, whilst others get a taxi back to their hotel in disappointment. In reality, the plethora of parties after the Academy Awards will stop anyone from getting an early night, but there’s no doubt that some people will have a better night than others.
The night ended with a historic ‘Best Picture’ win for Everything, Everywhere All at Once, with the epic sci-fi flick also sweeping up in several other categories, including ‘Best Actress’, ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Supporting Actress’ and ‘Best Director’. Elsewhere, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front swept up the technical categories, taking home Oscars for ‘Best Achievement in Cinematography’ and ‘Best Achievement in Production Design’.
Defining the state of contemporary cinema, as well as the mood of the modern world, Everything, Everywhere All at Once is an insightful exploration of nihilism disguised as a sci-fi epic. Sure, the film, directed by the duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, is a wild, highly enjoyable ride, but it leaves you in a state of emotional disarray, too, making for quite the pertinent cinematic experience.
Take a look at our picks for the biggest winners and losers from the 2023 Oscars below.
Oscars 2023: The biggest winners and losers
Winner: Everything, Everywhere All at Once
The bombastic multiverse sci-fi movie Everything, Everywhere All at Once pulled through on the night of the 95th Academy Awards, claiming the ‘Best Picture’ prize along with wins in the acting categories for Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh. In addition, directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert also walked away with the award for ‘Best Director’, beating out Ruben Östund and Steven Spielberg.
Together with All Quiet on the Western Front, Everything, Everywhere All at Once dominated the awards show, taking awards in almost every category it was nominated for. You’ve got to say, they deserve it too.
Loser: The Banshees of Inisherin
Despite being one of the finest movies of 2022, The Banshees of Inisherin failed to gain the Oscars it deserved at the 95th Academy Awards, losing out in each of its acting categories, despite the performances being phenomenal. Whilst Barry Keoghan and Brendan Gleeson lost out to Ke Huy Quan, Kerry Condon came second best to Jamie Lee Curtis, and Colin Farrell didn’t manage to better Austin Butler.
Elsewhere, The Banshees of Inisherin also failed to win ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Original Score’, ‘Best Film Editing’, and even ‘Best Original Screenplay’, for which it was a considerable favourite.
Winner: Brendan Fraser
The race for ‘Best Actor’ was a hot one this year, with the award coming down to the wire, split between The Whale’s Brendan Fraser and Elvis’ Austin Butler. Even though it was looking like Butler was going to take the award, Fraser swooped in at the last minute to complete his redemption arc. Indeed, the allure of Fraser’s ‘American Dream’ story was too endearing for the Academy to deny.
Fraser played an unhealthy, obese English teacher in Darren Aronofsky’s film and claimed praise from critics and audiences alike for his emotional performance.
Loser: Austin Butler
On the other hand, you’ve got to feel sorry for the American actor Austin Butler who must’ve felt like he had his hands on the Oscar statuette at the start of the night, only to lose out in the final moments. Giving all he had to the role of the king of rock and roll in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Butler delivered a cabaret-style performance that matched the tone of the movie itself. In hindsight, it wasn’t a traditional Oscar fair.
No doubt, at the mere age of 31, Butler will be back to vie for ‘Best Actor’ once again after he’s licked his wounds from the total lack of wins for the sparkly musical movie.
Winner: Ke Huy Quan
The Everything, Everywhere All at Once star Ke Huy Quan finally completed his Hollywood redemption arc, winning the Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ after a considerable hiatus from acting. Once a glittering child star, appearing in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Richard Donner’s The Goonies, Ke Huy Quan decided to go into film production at the turn of the new millennium, only recently returning to a career in front of the camera.
Giving an emotional speech, the actor stated: “Mom, I just won an Oscar! My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This — this is the American dream!”.
Loser: Cate Blanchett
This always happens with the Oscars. Despite giving what is undoubtedly the greatest performance of the year, the Australian actor Cate Blanchett has missed out on a deserved third Academy Award for her marvellous leading role in Tár. Leading the film with ferocity, Blanchett carries the provocative drama from start to finish, being the beating heart of Todd Field’s Kubrikian masterpiece.
Blanchett previously won ‘Best Supporting Actress’ in 2004 for Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator and ‘Best Leading Actress’ in 2014 for her performance in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine. Neither of these aforementioned roles compares to her magnetic performance in Tár.
Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front
At one point, it looked like the Netflix anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front might have nicked ‘Best Picture’, that’s how strong the movie performed at this year’s Oscars. Still, the makers behind the movie won’t feel too disappointed with their haul, claiming four Academy Awards on the night, including wins for ‘Best International Feature Film’ and ‘Best Achievement in Cinematography’.
The success of the movie may see Netflix push even harder next year for awards success, putting more money into bigger and better filmmakers with bolder visions and creative ambitions.
Loser: Tár
Despite Todd Field’s complex drama Tár being our pick for the best movie at the Academy Awards, the film tragically failed to pick up any wins. Nominated for six awards, including ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Actress’ for Cate Blanchett, the movie failed at every hurdle it came across, with the failure to win in the acting category being pretty criminal considering how tightly Blanchett grasps the movie’s source material.
Sure, Blanchett may have won two Oscars before, but Tár would have been the most deserved win from all of her historic nominations. Instead, the award for ‘Best Leading Actress’ went to the undeniably fantastic Michelle Yeoh.
Winner: RRR
The Indian Telugu-language movie RRR didn’t get the love it deserved when the Oscar nominations were announced months ago, with many believing that the crazy film deserved a nod in several other categories other than just ‘Best Original Song’. Still, when it came to the awards themselves, RRR not only took home the award but every time the film was mentioned on stage, it was met with whoops, cheers and claps from the Hollywood elite.
The performance of ‘Naatu Naatu’ received a standing ovation, and composer M. M. Keeravani gave an excellent speech after accepting the award, winning the hearts and minds of viewers. If you haven’t seen RRR already, you surely will now.
Loser: Will Smith
Last year, Will Smith was the talk of ‘Tinsel town’ when he took to the stage at the 94th Academy Awards and slapped presenter Chris Rock across the face for insulting his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith went on to win the award for ‘Best Actor’ for his performance in King Richard, but let’s be honest, no one remembers Smith’s time at the 2022 Oscars for that. Hollywood hasn’t forgotten either, with the presenter of the 2023 awards ceremony, Jimmy Kimmel, roasting the actor several times throughout the show.
Will Smith wasn’t even in attendance at the Oscars this year, being banned from attending the awards ceremony for 10 years, but this didn’t stop the actor from being on the tips of everyone’s tongues throughout.
