The mysterious sci-fi film “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” dominated the Oscars yesterday, winning seven gold statuettes, including best picture, Hollywood’s most prestigious award. The unconventional but beloved film, which features multiple universes, sex toys, and hot dog fingers, also won best director, best actress, best original screenplay, best editing, and both best supporting actor and actress awards.
Michelle Yeoh, a Malaysian, becomes the first Asian woman to win best actress for her portrayal of an exhausted Chinese laundromat owner embroiled in a battle with an inter-dimensional supervillain—who happens to be her daughter. “Thank you to the Academy; this is history in the making!” she exclaimed. “Ladies, don’t let anyone tell you that you’re ever past your prime,” added the 60-year-old, whose career began with martial arts films in Hong Kong decades ago.
Brendan Fraser won the Tony Award for best actor for his performance in “The Whale” as a morbidly obese teacher, capping off a remarkable career comeback. “I started in this business 30 years ago, and things didn’t come naturally to me,” he explained. He expressed gratitude to director Darren Aronofsky for “throwing me a creative lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship ‘The Whale.’
“Everything, Everywhere,” the night’s clear winner, is a word-of-mouth smash hit with a global box office total of $100 million. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, two young filmmakers best known for an oddball comedy about a talking corpse, directed the film, which has a predominantly Asian cast.
Kwan thanked his “immigrant parents,” while his counterpart thanked his mother for never “stifling my creativity,” even when he was a child and dressed in drag.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who won best supporting actress, paid tribute to her parents, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, both Oscar nominees who never won.
Other winners on the night included “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” for best animated film and “Avatar: The Way of Water” for best visual effects.
The documentary “Navalny,” about imprisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, won the award for best documentary.
Dozens of dancers performed “Naatu Naatu,” the show-stopping tune from the Indian crowd-pleaser “RRR,” which won the Oscar for best original song.
With four awards, Netflix’s German-language World War I drama “All Quiet on the Western Front” finished second.
Early in the ceremony, it won best international feature and best cinematography.
It also won Oscars for best original score and best production design as the night progressed.
Here is the complete and final list of the 95th Academy Awards winners:
Best Picture: “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”
Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”
Best Actor: Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”
Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”
Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”
Original Song: “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”
Film editing: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Best Director: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”
Best Animated Feature: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
International Feature Film: “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
Documentary Feature: “Navalny”
Live action short: “An Irish Goodbye”
Cinematography: James Friend, “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Makeup and hairstyling: “The Whale”
Costume Design: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Documentary Short: “The Elephant Whisperers”
Animated Short: “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse”
Production Design: “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Music (original score): Volker Bertelmann, “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Visual Effects: “Avatar: The Way of Water”
Original Screenplay: “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”
Adapted Screenplay: “Women Talking”
Best Sound: “Top Gun: Maverick”
