March 28, 2022–First of all, let’s congratulate the winners. CODA, a feel good movie about a (hearing) teen in a deaf family swept all three awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture. When Troy Kostur won for his Supporting Actor win for CODA, last year’s charmer Yuh-Jung Youn (Supporting Actress for Minari) signed his name when she announced it. And what’s is not to love about seeing the audience wave their hands in their air, signing “applause” for the winner.
Jessica Chastain also took home the gold for playing Tammy Faye Baker, and West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose gets a shout-out for starting the evening on a positive, empowering note with her win for Supporting Actress. And just because there should always be a part of the show that makes you cry in a good way, Lady Gaga showed again that she is all style and class, as she presented the Best Picture award with a wheelchair-bound Liza Minnelli. Liza got a well-deserved standing ovation, but in a bit of fluster over the adulation lost the thread. But Gaga just bent over to her level, held her by the hand, and said, “I got you.” (sob!)
But of course those great moments are not why these particular Oscars will go down in pop culture history.
Despite all these great moments, and wonderful winners, this year’s super-weird Oscar ceremony, which was so desperately wanting to shake things up to get a bigger audience, clearly got more than they bargained for. While presenting the award for Best Documentary (by the way, all the nominees are fantastic, and should be seen), Chris Rock cracked a dumb G.I. Jane joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head (which is actually the result of a health condition), and that did not go over well with hubby Will Smith. To the shock and awe of the audience (and later the Twitterverse), Smith strutted up to the stage and smacked Rock across the face. After he sat back down, it didn’t take a lip-reader to know exactly what Smith was yelling, despite the network’s attempt to scramble to mute him. Rock, as shocked as anyone, pulled himself together to present the award. And to top things off? Smith won the Best Actor award minutes later. You can’t make this stuff up, and it will be interesting how Hollywood, social media, and the world end up processing this one. Seeing one of the biggest movie stars in the world assault a comedian on live TV, then win an award? Baffling. It’s all just baffling.
Anyhoo… oh yeah, the winners are marked with a ✔
BEST PICTURE
Belfast
CODA ✔
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick … Boom!
Will Smith, King Richard ✔
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)
Troy Kotsur, CODA ✔
Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog
J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye ✔
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart, Spencer
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story✔
Judi Dench, Belfast
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog ✔
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Encanto ✔
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul ✔
Writing With Fire
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Queen of Basketball ✔
Audible
Lead Me Home
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Drive My Car (Japan) ✔
Flee (Denmark)
The Hand of God (Italy)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA ✔
Drive My Car
Dune
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast ✔
Don’t Look Up
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
The Worst Person in the World
ORIGINAL SONG
“Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto
“Be Alive” from King Richard
“Down to Joy” from Belfast
“No Time to Die” from No Time to Die ✔
“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune ✔
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune ✔
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella ✔
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story
SOUND
Belfast
Dune ✔
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
ORIGINAL SCORE
Don’t Look Up
Dune ✔
Encanto
Parallel Mothers
The Power of the Dog
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper ✔
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye ✔
On My Mind
Please Hold
VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune ✔
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up
Dune ✔
King Richard
The Power of the Dog
Tick, Tick … Boom!
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye ✔
House of Gucci
