Another year, another Oscars. Each year we begin watching upset, and finish even more mad than we started. After the horror of last year’s Oscars, this year was considerably better as there were many more movies released because of the industry’s comeback after COVID. It was also more enjoyable because they showed every category, allowing for each winner to be showcased on the air. This year’s Academy Awards certainly were better than some previous ones, but we still have many opinions on the Academy’s choices of the night.

Actor in a Leading Role

• AMHS predicted winner: Austin Butler
• Actual winner: Brendan Fraser

Carolyn: I was just hoping and praying that Austin Butler would walk away from this empty handed. I was hoping Paul Mescal would get his well deserved recognition for Aftersun, but Brendan Fraser was well deserving. He provided a great performance for The Whale, so the Academy’s decision was not coming out of left field. I knew each and every one of y’all who voted for Austin Butler would be disappointed, and boom, here we are. 

Molly: To be honest I was rooting for anyone to win but Austin Butler. I did not want to hear his Elvis voice when giving his acceptance speech. I was rooting for either Brandon Fraser, Colin Ferrell, or Paul Mescal to win because they all did an amazing job. So I was happy with Brandon Fraser winning. I was not the biggest fan of The Whale, but he did an amazing job acting in it so it was deserved. I would have preferred Paul Mescal to win just because his performance in Aftersun was amazing and I wish it got nominated more. Although, Aftersun is not as popular as the other movies so I knew it was a lost cause. So I’m glad for Brandon Fraser and his win, very deserved. 

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Predicted: Ke Huy Quan
• Actual: Ke Huy Quan

Carolyn: Ke Huy Quan was the obvious choice, and his award was much deserved. His speech was so moving, and his performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once was incredible. Returning to acting after almost twenty years and then winning an Oscar is no small feat, and was incredibly well deserved. 

Molly: YESSSS!!!!!! I love Ke Huy Quan and this was so deserved. When he started to cry I also did because he is amazing. He was absolutely amazing in Everything Everywhere All At Once and he totally deserved this award. Brendon Gleeson was also amazing in the Banshees of Inisherin and I would not have minded if he won, but Ke Huy Quan was so compelling in his role as the husband and father, he was the clear winner for me. It’s also amazing how he has not acted in decades and was able to have one of the most emotional acting performances of the year. Congratulations to him and I hope he gets casted in more movies because he is amazing. 

Actress in a Leading Role

• Predicted: Michelle Yeoh
• Actual: Michelle Yeoh

Carolyn: From the beginning, it seemed that Michelle Yeoh would win this category, so it was absolutely no surprise that she won. However, it was much deserved. She is an incredibly hard working actress who puts so much time and care into each role. Cate Blanchett was incredible in Tár, so it was a win for ladies in classical music. I was honestly happy that the Academy didn’t destroy any ounce of credibility by having Ana de Armas win for Blonde.

Molly: Every five minutes I switched my mind on if Michelle Yeoh or Cate Blanchette should win best actress because they both did an amazing job and honestly I think they should give two best actress trophies for both of them.  But, I do think Michelle Yeoh deserved to win and I’m so glad she did. It was amazing how she was not lost in the madness and craziness of Everything Everywhere All at Once and she was able to connect all the many themes into one cohesive performance where she shined in her role. She 100% deserves all the recognition she is getting after being in the industry for so long and I am glad she is finally getting her moment. In conclusion, I am very happy about this win. 

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Predicted: Angela Bassett
• Actual: Jamie Lee Curtis

Carolyn:  I was shocked that Jamie Lee Curtis won. I immediately texted Molly incredibly upset by the news. While she is a good actress who in any other circumstance would be well deserving of the role, there were so many other well deserving women who should have won. Stephanie Hsu, who was also in Everything Everywhere All at Once, put forward an incredible performance and was so vital to the story. Angela Bassett had an incredible monologue in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Kerry Condon was great in The Banshees of Inisherin. If the role was played by someone who was not a famous actress, the character would be completely looked over. 

Molly: I was very angry about Jamie Lee Curtis winning. I think that Jamie Lee Curtis is a great actress and deserves a lot of praise for her many years of acting, but to win this award over Stephanie Hsu, Angela Bassett, Hong Chau, and Kerry Condon? It was definitely not deserved. While she played her crazy tax collection lady amazing in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she was not a major character and had little screen time compared to the other characters so her acting did not stand out to me compared to Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, and Ke Huy Quan. I personally think that Stephanie Hsu was the clear winner for actress in a supporting role. She was so emotionally compelling and did such an amazing job. I think this award was one of the worst wins of the night.

Animated Feature Film

• Predicted: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
• Actual: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Carolyn: I am devastated. Yeah, yeah Pinocchio had incredible animation and Guillermo del Toro is great, but Puss in Boots: The Last Wish deserved the world. I love Puss in Boots, unironically. I remember seeing the first movie in theaters, and my sisters and I were obsessed with the show. Pour one out for my favorite animated tabby. Marcel the Shell With Shoes On was absolutely adorable and Turning Red had a great message, but besides my griping, Pinocchio deserved the award. del Toro’s message about the importance of the art of animation was so important and it really moved me as an animation lover.

Molly: There were many good nominees for best animation and I am happy with the winner. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On was my favorite movie on the list, but I also really loved Pinocchio as well so I am happy that it won. Obviously Puss in Boots was also great but I do think Pinocchio was a deserved win. I love Guillermo del Toro so I am glad he was recognized at the Oscars. I also really loved his speech that he gave about how animation is a serious film genre and not just for kids. Although, I was mad that Inu-Oh by Masaaki Yuasa did not get a nomination like it did at the Golden Globes because it was a great animated movie that was very unique and original. Alas, I overall liked the nominations and I am glad Pinocchio won. 

Costume Design:

• Predicted: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Actual: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 

Carolyn: This was one of the most well deserving wins of the night. Ruth Carter does an amazing job on every movie that she has worked on, and now she has two Oscars for her incredible work on the Black Panther saga. The costumes for the movie were absolutely amazing, and really brought something special to the story. She has an amazing eye for fashion, especially when it comes to color and structure. She is an incredible artist who deserves every award for costume design that comes her way.

Molly: I am very happy that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever won. It was very impressive how they had to do so much research on costuming for both Wakanda and the Talokan. I thought it was very impressive how costume designer Ruth Carter combined the traditional clothes of many different indigenous African tribes and made them more contemporary to fit Wakanda. She not only had to design all the costumes for Wakanda but also for the Mayan inspired Talokan civilization. The costumes for Wakanda and the Talokan were absolutely stunning and the amount of research they did to make all the costumes historically and culturally accurate is very impressive. I also loved the costumes in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and although Shirley Kurata did not have to do all the historical research that Ruth Carter had to do, I still think all the costumes were amazing and unique. Especially the costumes Stephanie Hsu had to wear for all her different alternate realities and I loved Michelle Yeoh’s beautiful gown she wore in the reality where she was a movie star. Overall, I am really happy that Ruth Carter won for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it was very deserved. 

Cinematography

• Predicted: Elvis
• Actual: All Quiet on the Western Front

Carolyn: While I have only seen 20 minutes of Elvis, those are 20 minutes of my life I will never get back. Within the short amount of time I spent watching that movie, I came to the conclusion that the cinematography was insane, and not like a “wow that was insane” kind of way but more like a “I’m going to get a migraine if I watch any more of this” kind of way. All that being said, I think All Quiet on the Western Front had some great cinematography. While it is certainly not very hard to do well with a war movie, it still was very cool to see the filming style chosen for this movie. Although Molly is a Grade-A hater of All Quiet, I do not think this is an outlandish win. However, I do agree that Tár should have won, and the camera angles and filming choices really captured the mood and story of the movie.

Molly: Tar was snubbed and should have won this by far. Tar was one of the best movies of the year and deserved at least one oscar. Of course I think that Decision to Leave should have won this, but out of all the nominated films Tar was the clear winner and the fact that it lost is a joke. Elvis being nominated for best cinematography over The Batman, Decision to Leave, The Woman King, Barbarian, Argentina 1985 or literally any movie that came out this year is also a joke. The scene where the camera was looking up at Cate Blanchette as she is leading the orchestra was amazing and that one shot alone was enough to beat all the contenders on the list. This was such a bad win and Tar got majorly snubbed. 

Directing

• Predicted: Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Actual: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Carolyn: I am going to be candid, I never really have much thought invested in the directors of movies unless they are so well established that they have a clear style and way of telling a story. I think the Daniels did a great job with Everything Everywhere All at Once, it was a super cool concept that could not have been easy to execute so well. I was surprised Spielberg did not win for The Fabelmans. I mean come on, it’s Spielberg. But alas, I think the win was definitely deserved.

Molly: I have back and forth opinions about Daniel’s winning best director. I love the Daniels, this is no hate towards them because Everything Everywhere All at Once was one of my favorite movies of the year and their directing was amazing. But, I am still mad that Park Chan wook was not even nominated for this category and I think he should have won it. He has been one of the best directors of the 21st century and has carried South Korean cinema on his back for years. His movie Decision to Leave was absolutely amazing and my favorite movie of the year. It was submitted by South Korea for the Oscars but somehow did not make the list, which is extremely annoying. I think Park Chan wook deserved this award and some recognition from the Oscars for all he has done for the movie industry over the past couple decades but no of course not. They named Parasite best picture and Bong Joon-ho best director and said that’s enough non western film recognition for the next 90 years. Anywho, congrats to the Daniels they did amazing too. 

Documentary Feature Film

• Navalny

Carolyn: I have seen none of the documentaries that were nominated this year, but Navalny clearly had an important and relevant message behind it, so it seems to be a widely accepted choice. 

Molly: I have only seen two documentaries that were nominated, Fire of Love and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. I absolutely loved these two documentaries and was cheering for either to win. But, I have not seen any of the others so I don’t know if I agree with the outcome or not. I have heard that Navalny is good so I will have to watch soon. 

Documentary Short Film

• The Elephant Whisperers

Carolyn: Once again, I have not seen any of the documentaries from this category, but this documentary seems very interesting.

Molly: I have not watched any of the documentary shorts so I don’t have any opinion on this. I have heard that The Elephant Whispers is good so I will have to watch. 

Film Editing

• Everything Everywhere All at Once

Carolyn: This was a simple choice for the Academy, and I am glad they did not mess it up. I cannot even begin to imagine piecing together this movie, but the editors did a fantastic job.

Molly: This was very deserved and if any other movie would have won, I would have had to take a lap. That is all I have to say. 

International Feature Film

• Predicted: All Quiet on the Western Front
• Actual: All Quiet on the Western Front

Carolyn: I ❤️ war movies. It was super cool to see a classic book be brought back to life. Again, I know Molly is livid about this, but I think it was fine. Normally I have more of an opinion about foreign pieces, but unfortunately these do not fall into the category of Scandinavian apocalypse movies, so I have not watched these with much fervor.

Molly: This was so dumb. All Quiet on the Western Front should not have won. Once again Decision to Leave by Park Chan Wook should have been nominated for best foreign picture and should have won, but it’s a non-western film so of course it was not nominated. Delusion, insanity, and craziness. Ignoring the clear snub for Decision to Leave, out of all the nominated films I think Argentina, 1985 should have won. Argentina, 1985 was an amazing, emotional, and visually stunning movie that 100% deserved to win best foreign film and also should have been nominated for more categories like best cinematography, best picture, and best screenplay. All Quiet on the Western Front was fine. I love the book, but the movie reminds me of 1917. It was filmed really well, but was void of any true emotional core and I don’t think it should have swept so many awards. Overall Decision to Leave and Argentina, 1985 were snubbed. 

Makeup and Hairstyling

• Predicted: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

• Actual: The Whale

Carolyn: Before the awards, I thought for sure that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever would win because of the beauty behind the makeup and hair in the movie, but after learning that they transformed Brendan Fraser digitally and physically was so cool. They did an amazing job with The Whale and the makeup department deserved this award immensely.

Molly: I think that this was very deserved. The Whale had amazing makeup. The way they were able to transform Brandon Fraser was amazing, so I am glad they won. Although, I do think that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was also a very strong nomination just because of the scale of the movie and the amount of research that went into every look was amazing. I would have been fine if either won so I am happy with the outcome. 

Music (Original Score)

• Predicted: Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Actual: All Quiet on the Western Front

Carolyn: JUSTICE FOR THE BATMAN!!! While AQOTWF did have a beautiful score, I felt that Michael Giacchino’s work is incredible. He has also done the score for Rogue One, Lost, Inside Out, The Incredibles, and the recent Star Trek movies. The Batman’s score was, in my opinion, really cool. Pieces like “The Batman,” “The Riddler,” and “Hoarding School” are unique in their eeriness and powerful notes. This score was amazing and I feel like it was horribly robbed, as it did not even receive a nomination. I’m going to continue to live my life as if Michael was up on that stage getting the gold man statue. 

Molly: This was another dumb win. In an ideal world, The Batman or Babylon should have won. AQOTQF had a good soundtrack but I think The Batman and Babylon was way better. It was criminal that The Batman was not nominated for its score because it was amazing and really stood out when watching the movie. I also have not seen Babylon, but I listened to the soundtrack and the jazzy score was also really amazing. I think out of all the soundtracks nominated Babylon was the clear winner and I was shocked that AQOTWF won. 

Music (Original Song)

• Predicted: Naatu Naatu
• Actual: Naatu Naatu

Carolyn: “Naatu Naatu” was a great song. It was incredibly memorable, and the recipients of the awards were so sweet and adorable. As a Lady Gaga fan, I did enjoy her song from Top Gun: Maverick, but her performance sucked the power out of the song. Where was her in aviators and a tiny Naval Aviator uniform suspended over the stage with Tom Cruise making an appearance. After that performance, I was certain that “Naatu Naatu” deserved this award 100%.

Molly: NAATU NAATU. 100% deserved. RRR should have been nominated for so many more categories like best foreign picture, best editing, best production, best visual effects, best soundtrack, and I could also argue best picture. But I was so happy that it won best original song because it’s about time that a Bollywood movie won for music. It’s lively, exciting, fun, and the dance number is amazing. It gained international attention and for good reason. Also, Naatu Naatu made history being the first bollywood movie to be nominated for an oscar and also winning an oscar. So congratulations to RRR!

Best Picture

• Predicted: Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Actual: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Carolyn: This win was so exciting. While it was pretty clear that they had it in the bag, when Harrison Ford read out “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” I was jumping up and down. The amount of time and effort put into this movie seemed to have paid off.

Molly: YAY!!! I was very happy that Everything Everywhere All at Once won. I was not surprised that it won, although I was getting a little nervous when All Quiet on the Western Front started winning a lot of awards that it would take best picture, which would have been horrible. Everything Everywhere All at Once was one of the best movies of the year and deserves all the praise that it is receiving. It is one of my favorite movies that has won best picture along with The Godfather movies, The Sound of Music, Amadeus, The Lord of The Rings, No Country for Old Men, Moonlight, and Parasite. Everything Everywhere All at Once will definitely stand the test of time because so much heart went into its creation. Overall, I am extremely happy that it won. 

Production Design

• All Quiet on the Western Front

Carolyn: Avatar: The Way of Water should have won. Yes, war movies are cool. THEY FILMED THE MOVIE UNDERWATER AND THEN DIGITALLY RENDERED THE CHARACTERS OVER IT. Like who does that. It’s crazy. All Quiet was certainly a top contender, but Avatar was certainly snubbed for this award.

Molly: I somewhat agree with this. I feel like Avatar: The Way of Water should have won production design just because of how big the production design was. It was very impressive how they figured out how to film underwater and create an underwater environment that was so well animated. They also created whole painted sets for Pandora that were very impressive. Although, AQOTWF had amazing production design as well and it is amazing how they were able to transform whole villages into war torn towns. So overall I think Avatar should have won but AQOTWF was also stunning too so I do not mind. 

Short Film (Animated)

• The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse

Carolyn: I unfortunately was not able to see any of these movies, but the title is certainly a mouthful. 

Molly: I have not seen any of the animated shorts so I can’t say much. I heard that people were not happy with The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse winning, but I can not say anything because I have not watched any of them. So I have no opinion on this. 

Short Film (Live Action)

• An Irish Goodbye

Carolyn: While I did not get to see this movie, their acceptance speech was adorable.

Molly: I have not seen any of the short films so I can not say anything about if I agree or not. I really loved when everyone sang happy birthday to one of the actors in the movie, I thought that was sweet. 

Sound

• Top Gun: Maverick

Carolyn: When I watched the movie, I felt like I was attached to the wing of Maverick’s jet while he did one of the hundred stupid things he did during that movie. Very realistic. Very well deserved.

Molly: Although I do not like Top Gun: Maverick, it 100% deserved to win best sound. I mean they had to figure out how to create the sound for all those fighter jets which was very impressive, so I am glad that it won. 

Visual Effects

• Avatar: The Way of Water

Carolyn: This movie was so cool. I know my praises were covered in production design, but I just can’t get over the lengths the VFX designers went to in order to make this movie. This movie was a masterpiece just like its predecessor and deserved this award tenfold.

Molly: I 100% agree with this and Avatar was the clear winner so I am glad it won. The visual effects of Avatar: The Way of Water are insane and so impressive. The fact that the movie looks so good and it was all VFX was amazing. The underwater scenes were the most impressive in my opinion because many movies struggle to make scenes underwater that look realistic, so the way Avatar created great underwater scenes was very impressive and sets a standard for future films. 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• Women Talking

Carolyn: This movie certainly had a powerful message, and it was nice to see a movie about the struggles of womanhood to be recognized at an awards show like this.

Molly: I have not seen Women Talking but I am surprised that it won. I was convinced that All Quiet on the Western Front would win because they were sweeping the awards and won best foreign picture. I am glad that Women Talking won, mostly because All Quiet on the Western Front did not win. 

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• Everything Everywhere All at Once

Carolyn: The screenplay for this movie is fantastic. This movie deserved to sweep as much as it did.

Molly: I agree with this win because I love Everything Everywhere All at Once and I do think the screenplay was very good. Not much to say because it is pretty self explanatory. 

Carolyn’s Biggest Snub: Easy, The Batman’s score. A CRIMINAL snub. I will tell my children about this, and they will tell their children about this. Write it on my grave: “The Batman should have won best score.” I’m bitter. I’m angry.

Molly’s Biggest Snub: While it may appear that I hate All Quiet on the Western Front, I actually don’t. I thought it was really well shot and I understand why people love it. Personally I just don’t really like war movies. But every year there’s got to be the villain that wins the awards over better movies and it was All Quiet on the Western Front this year, so naturally a gal has got to hate. But my biggest snub was Tar not winning an Oscar and, as I have mentioned 500 times, Decision to Leave not receiving any nominations. Also I feel like The Banshees of Inisherin should have won at least one Oscar.