The 2023 Oscars
In March of 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, one of the biggest nights in the film industry will take place: the 95th Academy Awards. This event has been highly anticipated, especially because 2022 was a year filled with high quality movies. After 2022’s chaotic Oscars — including the famous incident where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock — viewers are intrigued to see what this year’s event will entail. Whether or not one believes that the Oscars are a fair measure of a movie’s quality (especially because it is known for ignoring the horror genre), one can’t deny how monumental receiving this award can be.
A wide variety of movies were selected as the top contenders for each award. One film that stole the show was “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which garnered a grand total of 11 nominations total, including Best Directing and the prestigious Best Picture award. Some other films that were heavily nominated were Germany’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” and the musical biopic “Elvis.” While Austin Butler’s performance as the iconic musician in “Elvis” was impressive, the film’s overwhelming editing style and inconsistent pacing did bring about doubts as to whether it deserved its eight nominations, including Best Film Editing. The Indian Telugu-language film “RRR” has been growing in popularity recently as well, especially after it won a Golden Globe for its original song “Naatu Naatu.” Although the movie was not India’s official submission to the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category, the song was still nominated for Best Music (Original Song), making “RRR” the first Indian feature film to be nominated for an Academy Award category other than the international one.
In the past, the Academy has rarely ever nominated action blockbusters for non-technical categories. For example, this year “The Batman” was only chosen for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects — and many believed it deserved Best Cinematography and Best Music (Original Score) as well — but it wasn’t considered for top categories like Best Directing or Best Actor. However, one film became an exception. “Top Gun: Maverick” is an action film that swept the box office last year and gained over $1.4 billion. It was not only nominated for technical Oscars like Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects but also for Best Picture, despite not containing profound social commentaries or a serious tone like many nominees do. It probably won’t win in this top category — viewers are predicting that the award will go to “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inshirin,” or Cate Blanchett’s “Tár” — but just being nominated is a surprising turn of events.
Despite the Academy’s tendency to overlook major genres, the Oscars is still a huge event that recognizes some of the year’s best movies. Even if you haven’t seen many of the nominated films, this event is a great way to find recommendations for what to watch next! Check out the Oscars on March 12, 2023 at 5 p.m. PDT on ABC.
