This year’s Oscars were particularly interesting to me because I actually got to bet on them now that Massachusetts (my home state) has legalized sports betting. My dad and I split $50 to take our picks, but we ran into a bit of an issue. If you don’t know how sports betting works, which I didn’t know until I did this, the bet that is most likely to win will earn you the least amount of money. It’s supposed to draw in different opinions so that DraftKings doesn’t owe 1,000 people hundreds of dollars. I wouldn’t have minded that with any other Oscars year because the winners are usually pretty random, but this year was different, because all of the wins were predictable from the start of awards season.
That’s not a bad thing of course, though I can see how it can be controversial. I knew from the beginning that “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” would sweep–that was the best movie I had seen in years, from the creativity to the editing, to the plot. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it. The highlight of the evening was the attention that the film received because it truly deserved all of the love.
Obviously, this clean sweep wasn’t great for my dad and I because we lost $50, but I was happy to see that such an amazing movie did well at the awards. They won Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan were both the first Asian American actors to win for their respective categories. While I am extremely happy for them and I loved the film, I think some other movies should have been recognized. Clean sweeps certainly show that one film was more dominant over the others, but I always found it kind of ruins the enjoyment of award shows.
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Tar” and “Elvis” did not win any awards, which I think is a little ridiculous. “Banshees of Inisherin” was a phenomenal movie, and though not particularly plot-heavy, the acting was incredible, and it was great writing. I thought they were a shoo-in to win some awards, with Colin Farrell winning Best Actor potentially, but they went home empty-handed. That’s the issue with sweeps at award shows–it takes away recognition for the other amazing films that equally deserve the award.
Brendan Fraser won Best Actor, and I would say that not only was the win expected, but it was well deserved considering that Fraser was blacklisted from Hollywood for a decade after he spoke out about being assaulted by the former President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk. He’s such a great actor and a really nice guy, so I wouldn’t argue that win. As for Best Actress, I didn’t see “Tar” until after the Oscars, but I have to admit … I liked Cate Blanchett’s performance better than Michelle Yeoh’s. I’m sorry! I think it’s because Michelle had such a great cast surrounding her, but “Tar” was really just Cate Blanchett. She carried the almost three-hour movie on her back, and I think she should have gotten some credit for it.
Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress, which the internet had a field day with. No one thought she would win, which is fair. I didn’t even think she would be nominated. I had predicted Kerry Condon from “Banshees of Inisherin” or Angela Bassett from “Black Panther,” as did most people. Not that I don’t think Jamie Lee Curtis is a great actress, but she was barely in “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” and if anyone from that film should have won the Supporting Actress Award, it should have been Stephanie Hsu. She’s new to the film industry though, so I’m sure she’ll have her time.
I think the most confusing part was the mixed sweep between “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” and “All Quiet on the Western Front.” I have a strong dislike for war movies, so I don’t plan on watching it, but from what I was told, it’s one of those movies that only a very niche group of people would watch. I heard it’s good, but I certainly don’t think it should have won nearly everything. I was disappointed to see that it won Best Cinematography over “Elvis” because the cinematography in “Elvis” was one of the main reasons I enjoyed the film so much.
I think every year for awards season there is always some sort of controversy; from who was snubbed, to a strange outfit choice to the performances. This year, however, everything was relatively peaceful, and no one had much to dislike beyond the internet really wanting Angela Bassett to win Best Supporting Actress. The performances were good, with Lady Gaga singing a slowed-down version of her song “Hold My Hand,” which just proved again that Lady Gaga has some insane talent. None of the other performances from Rhianna or Sofia Carson stood out, though admittedly, I was confused seeing Sofia Carson because I forgot she existed after her “Descendent’s” days. Overall, I would say this was one of the better Oscars, and I would recommend all of the movies that were nominated!
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