The Motion Picture Academy doesn't usually reward science fiction fare with its Best Picture. Unless it happens to feature actors of Asian descent, a category Oscar usually consigned to the margins, For the 95th annual Academy Awards ceremony, however, such a film and its cast were honored. "Everything Everywhere All at Once" took home seven Oscars in a sweep of most of the major categories .
Besides Best Picture, Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian-born woman to win for Best Actress. Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan won for their supporting roles. The Two Daniels (Scheinert and Kwan) shared the Best Director trophy. EEAO also received Oscars for original screenplay and film editing.
In the only major category in which EEAO did not have any nominations, the award for Best Actor went to Brendan Fraser for "The Whale".
And now, a few bullet points.
- Not everyone was happy with Curtis' win for Best Supporting Actress. They all wanted to know why Angela Bassett was overlooked for the umpteenth time. Or Viola Davis, whose film "The Woman King" was not nominated.
- Finishing a distant second in the Oscar race was "All Quiet On The Western Front", which is currently streaming on Netflix. It won four awards including Best International Film.
- "Top Gun Maverick", the box-office smash credited with bringing people back to the post-pandemic multiplex, won an Oscar for Best Sound. But its star Tom Cruise was a no-show Lady Gaga almost was one until, at the last minute, she showed up onstage in casual attire to perform "Hold My Hand".
- Jimmy Kimmel once again hosted the festivities on ABC, helping the briskly-run (for 3 1/2 hours) show along with his so-so jokes, interacting with a burro and Cocaine Bear, and getting shot down on a stupid question for Malala.
- No fighting or slapping was involved.
