2023 Oscars: All the winners and standout moments
Here's everything you missed during the Academy Awards
Everything was everywhere at the 2023 Oscars.
The sci-fi comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once, which stars Michelle Yeoh as a woman who fights a threat to the multiverse, dominated Sunday's Academy Awards. The film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, as well as Best Actress for Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, and Best Supporting Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis. It became the third film to ever win three acting Oscars, and it also won the most above-the-line Oscars of any movie in history.
It was a night for comebacks, including for Ke Huy Quan, who quit acting for 20 years because he had trouble finding roles after starring as a child in movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The so-called Brenaissance, meanwhile, was capped by Brendan Fraser, who had struggled in recent years before wowing critics with The Whale, winning Best Actor.
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It was also a huge night for A24, the studio behind Everything Everywhere and The Whale. Between those two films, this was the first time a single studio won all four of the acting awards. With Yeoh's win, she made history as the first Asian woman to win Best Actress, while Ruth Carter became the first Black woman to win multiple Oscars. Everything Everywhere's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert also became only the third directing duo to win Best Director.
Everything Everywhere All at Once's dominance wasn't a surprise after its performance at precursor awards shows. But it was still remarkable to see the Academy so thoroughly embrace a movie that some once thought would be too offbeat for voters. After all, one of its key moments is a fight sequence that involves butt plugs. Meanwhile, The Fabelmans, a more traditional Steven Spielberg drama that looked like classic Oscar fare on paper, went home without a single win.
After the chaos of the 2022 ceremony, it was a far more low-key telecast — though, yes, you better believe there were many jokes about The Slap. We were covering the 2023 Oscars in real time, so these were all the winners, losers, and standout moments from the show:
11:35 p.m. - Everything Everywhere All at Once wins Best Picture, its seventh Oscar of the night. On stage, star Ke Huy Quan reunites with presenter Harrison Ford, his former Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom co-star.
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"One of the best things we can do for each other is shelter each other from the chaos of this crazy world we live in," director Daniel Kwan says. "Thank you to the storytellers here who did that for me."
And with that, Hollywood's top honor went to the movie with hot dog fingers and a butt plug fight scene. What a world — or, should we say, what a universe.
11:32 p.m. - History has been made. Michelle Yeoh wins Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once, becoming the first Asian woman ever to do so. She is also only the second woman of color to ever win Best Actress after Halle Berry, who presented Yeoh with the Oscar alongside Jessica Chastain.
"For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities," Yeoh says. "This is proof that dream big, and dreams do come true. And ladies, don't let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up!"
Yeoh also dedicates the award to "all the moms in the world, because they are really the superheroes, and without them, none of us would be here tonight." She concludes, "Thank you to the Academy, this is history in the making! Thank you!"
11:24 p.m. - The Brenaissance is complete! Brendan Fraser wins Best Actor for The Whale, defeating Elvis' Austin Butler in a close race and capping off a major career comeback.
"Thank you for this acknowledgment," Fraser, who is overwhelmed with emotion, says, adding that it "couldn't be done without my cast." He also thanks the film's director, Darren Aronofsky, for "throwing me a creative lifeline."
Fraser is the first person to win Best Actor for a movie that wasn't nominated for Best Picture since 2010.
11:15 p.m. - Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert win Best Director for Everything Everywhere All at Once, becoming only the third directing duo to win this award after Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for West Side Story and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men.
"We want to dedicate this to the mommies, all the mommies of the world," Scheinert says before offhandedly mentioning that he used to dress in drag as a kid, "which is a threat to nobody!" Kwan adds that genius doesn't emerge from individuals, but rather, "genius emerges from the collective."
After a commercial break, Kimmel jokes the "last directing team to win an Oscar was Congressman George Santos."
11:09 p.m. - Everything Everywhere All at Once wins Best Film Editing, the fourth win for the movie tonight. "This is my second film, y'all," editor Paul Rogers says. "This is crazy."
After Rogers' speech, Kimmel jokes that editors are important because they can turn "violent insurrection footage" into a "respectful, sightseeing tour of the Capitol," one of the only political jokes of the evening.
11 p.m. - John Travolta chokes up as he pays tribute to his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John while introducing the In Memoriam segment, saying "we will always remain hopelessly devoted" to those we lost in 2022.
10:56 p.m. - More like OscaRRR. RRR's "Naatu Naatu" wins Best Original Song. The epic dance number from the three-hour Indian film was a massive viral sensation, and the win draws a standing ovation. "I grew up listening to The Carpenters, and now, here I am with the Oscars," composer M. M. Keeravani says before singing to the tune of The Carpenters' "Top of the World." Did anyone have a Carpenters tribute down on their Oscar bingo card? Because we didn't.
10:53 p.m. - The Academy does, in fact, feel the need for speed. Top Gun: Maverick wins Best Sound, the first, and likely last, win for one of 2022's biggest movies. It may not win Best Picture, but the phrase "Oscar-winning film Top Gun: Maverick" is officially a thing.
10:51 p.m. - Kimmel draws groans in the theater after jokingly asking the audience to vote on whether Robert Blake, the recently deceased actor who was acquitted in his wife's killing, should be part of the evening's In Memoriam.
10:44 p.m. - Sarah Polley wins Best Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking. She was up against All Quiet on the Western Front, making that movie look like less of a Best Picture threat. Polley jokingly thanks the Academy for "not being mortally offended by the words 'women' and 'talking' put so close together like that." She continues that the book and her film are "about a radical act of democracy in which people who don't agree on every single issue manage to sit together in a room and carve out a way forward together," doing so "not just by talking, but by listening."
10:41 p.m. - Put your hot dog fingers together, as Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert win Best Original Screenplay for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Scheinert starts his speech by rattling off a list of teachers who changed his life. "You guys educated me, you inspired me, and you taught me to be less of a butthead," he jokes.
10:28 p.m. - In the first extended comedy bit of the night, Kimmel goes around the audience with questions he says were submitted from viewers at home, asking Malala Yousafzai whether "Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine" and Colin Farrell what he was "saying" in The Banshees of Inisherin. The bit ends with the "cocaine bear," who was presenting with Elizabeth Banks, crawling around behind Kimmel. So, that's about three minutes killed!
10:25 p.m. - Avatar: The Way of Water wins Best Visual Effects. The original film also won in this category. It defeats All Quiet on the Western Front, bringing that movie's momentum to a momentary halt and leading fans of Everything Everywhere, who were growing nervous that All Quiet could defeat it for Best Picture, to let out a sigh of relief.
Cocaine Bear director Elizabeth Banks presents the category along with a person in a bear costume, joking that without visual effects, the titular cocaine bear "would have been some actor in a bear suit, probably on cocaine." Sure, why not?
10:13 p.m. - Volker Bertelmann wins Best Original Score for All Quiet on the Western Front. These back-to-back wins quickly sparked speculation that Netflix's war film could actually have a chance of defeating Everything Everywhere All at Once to win Best Picture, which would mark one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Oscars. Start popping the popcorn, folks...
10:10 p.m. - All Quiet on the Western Front wins Best Production Design, a surprise victory over Babylon and Elvis.
10 p.m. - Lady Gaga delivers a stripped-down performance of "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick while sitting on a stool, which is filmed almost entirely in extreme close-up — in case you were wondering what every individual pore on Gaga's face looked like. Gaga originally wasn't expected to be at the Oscars because she was busy working on the Joker sequel, but her performance was confirmed at the last minute.
9:55 p.m. - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse wins Best Animated Short Film, though not before Pedro Pascal is forced to say the title of My Year of Dicks. Yeah, the Oscar producers knew what they were doing.
9:52 p.m. - The Elephant Whisperers wins Best Documentary Short Subject. From Netflix, the Indian documentary follows an indigenous couple who take care of a baby elephant. Director Kartiki Gonsalves thanks the Academy for "recognizing our film, highlighting Indigenous people and animals."
9:44 p.m. - All Quiet on the Western Front wins Best International Feature Film. The German movie from Netflix is also nominated for Best Picture, making this an easy win. It's also Germany's third time taking this award.
9:27 p.m. - Ruth Carter wins Best Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making history as the first Black woman to ever win two Oscars. Carter also won for the first Black Panther, but her win here wasn't expected, as Elvis was the favorite.
"Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman," Carter says. "She endures, she loves, she overcomes. She is every woman in this film."
Carter also pays tribute to her mother, who recently died, saying, "Chadwick [Boseman], please take care of mom."
9:26 p.m. - The crowd goes wild as Jimmy Kimmel brings out a donkey he claims is Jenny from The Banshees of Inisherin. We're feeling a bit star-struck even from here. Kimmel thankfully restrains himself from telling a joke about how if you try to slap him, Jenny will eat your fingers.
9:19 p.m. - Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Anne Marie Bradley win Best Makeup and Hairstyling for The Whale. The team, who transformed Brendan Fraser into a 600-pound man, were in a tight race, competing against Elvis — possibly foreshadowing a Fraser win over Elvis' Austin Butler in Best Actor later this evening. Morot thanks Fraser, an "amazing actor."
9:06 p.m. - James Friend wins Best Cinematography for All Quiet on the Western Front, marking the night's second win for Netflix. "It's not my birthday, but I feel like it is," he jokes. "What an honor."
8:59 p.m. - Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy come on stage to introduce the new trailer for the live-action The Little Mermaid, making this an unusual example of a trailer premiering as part of the actual Oscars ceremony, not just during a commercial break. Twitter doesn't react kindly to the moment, which is seen as Disney using the Oscars to advertise itself, with Polygon's Matt Patches tweeting that it's "one of the most egregious moments in recent Oscar history." Did they have to make this part of our world tonight?
8:56 p.m. - An Irish Goodbye wins Best Live Action Short Film, a slight upset over the favorite, the Disney+ short Le pupille. The winners successfully get the entire theater to sing happy birthday to James Martin, the star of the film. And many more!
8:53 p.m. - Navalny wins Best Documentary Feature Film. The movie centers on Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Director Daniel Roher notes that Navalny remains in solitary confinement amid Putin's "unjust war of aggression in Ukraine," adding that "we must not be afraid to oppose dictators and authoritarianism whenever it rears its head." Navalny's wife Yulia then takes the stage, saying her "husband is in prison just for telling the truth" and for "defending democracy," adding that she's dreaming of "the day when you will be free and our country will be free."
Introducing the presenters, Kimmel jokes that this is the category where that "little skirmish" happened last year, as Chris Rock was presenting the documentary Oscar when Will Smith slapped him. So Kimmel jokes he hopes that this time, it "goes off without a hitch, or at least without Hitch." The slap reference counter continues to climb.
8:38 p.m. - She's officially a final girl and an Oscar winner. Jamie Lee Curtis wins Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once. It's the Halloween star's first Oscar win and her first nomination.
"I know it looks like I'm standing up here by myself, but I am not," she says. "I am hundreds of people."
Curtis tells everyone she worked with on the movie, including directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, that "we just won an Oscar," before adding, "To all of the people who have supported the genre movies I have made all these years … we just won an Oscar, together!" She also chokes up while thinking about her parents, both of whom were nominated, growing emotional as she concludes, "I just won an Oscar!"
Not even 40 minutes into the show, Everything Everywhere has already won half of the year's acting awards. Now that's what you call a frontrunner.
8:33 p.m. - Hold on to your potatoes! Ke Huy Quan wins Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All at Once. It marks a major comeback for the actor, a former child star from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies who quit acting for 20 years due to difficulty finding roles.
"My journey started on a boat," Quan says. "I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood's biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it's happening to me. This, this is the American dream!"
He also thanks Hollywood for "welcoming me back," telling viewers at home, "Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive."
8:19 p.m. - Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio wins Best Animated Feature Film, a widely expected win for the director's animated passion project from Netflix. "Animation is cinema," del Toro says. "Animation is not a genre. Animation is ready to be taken to the next step. We are all ready for it. Please help us."
8:16 p.m. - And we're off! The ceremony begins with a montage of various movies from 2022, which ends with host Jimmy Kimmel being digitally inserted into Top Gun: Maverick and pretending to parachute into the theater. "Give me a second to adjust my danger zone," he jokes.
Kimmel's monologue, naturally, includes jokes about Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at last year's ceremony. "If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point in the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for Best Actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech," he jokes, adding that should anyone do anything violent, "just do what you did last year: nothing." He also quips that because there are five Irish actors nominated this year, "the odds of another fight on stage just went way up."
Other material covered in Kimmel's monologue includes Nicole Kidman's AMC ad (Kidman "has finally been released from that abandoned AMC"), DC's cancellation of Batgirl for a tax write-off ("Batgirl became the first superhero to be defeated by an accounting department"), and the fact that no women were nominated for Best Director this year. After noting that James Cameron didn't receive a directing nomination, Kimmel jokingly asks, "What do they think he is, a woman?"
Kimmel also cracks a brutal quip about Babylon being a box office bomb. After noting that there are key differences between TV and film, Kimmel says, "For example, a TV show can't lose $100 million. Is the gang from Babylon here? They know." Way to kick them while they're down, Jimmy!
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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