Oscars 2023 updates: Everything Everywhere All at Once wins big

It was a night of historic wins at the 95th annual Academy Awards that took place on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Two films emerged as dominant forces in the race to pick up the most Oscar trophies: the German-language war epic All Quiet on the Western Front and the topsy-turvy multiverse action-comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once.

This year’s Oscars included a record number of Asian artists nominated for the acting categories. Sunday’s ceremony made good on that promise, crowning 60-year-old screen icon Michelle Yeoh its first Asian best actress.

India also celebrated a historic night after a breakout hit song from the action movie RRR and a short documentary, The Elephant Whisperers, won Oscars.

Here is our complete list of winners.

Each of the big blockbusters up for Oscar awards tonight came away with one big win apiece.

Top Gun: Maverick took home best sound design for its high-flying action sequences, while the sci-fi fantasy Avatar: The Way of Water grabbed best visual effects.

And the Marvel sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever scooped up a win for best costume design.

Its recipient, designer Ruth Carter, previously became the first African American woman to top the category in 2019. That Oscar came for her work in the original film, Black Panther.

Despite high hopes and nine Oscar nods, the Irish black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin was shut out at the 2023 Oscars, with no prizes awarded to it.

That comes in stark contrast to writer-director Martin McDonagh’s previous effort, 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. That film took home two Oscars for acting.

Also coming up empty was Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis, considered a top contender in the best actor category.

Directors Steven Spielberg and Todd Field had both been nominated multiple times in the past, but they too went home empty-handed tonight for their efforts in The Fabelmans and Tar, respectively.

Women Talking, a tightly woven drama about sexual assault, was almost shut out as well, but writer-director Sarah Polley emerged with a best adapted screenplay Oscar before the night was done.

It was a triumphant evening for the indie darling Everything Everywhere All at Once, with its multiverse-spanning tale of an immigrant mother exploring her infinite potential.

The martial arts-themed action-comedy was the dominant force at the Oscars tonight, taking home seven trophies including one of the night’s biggest honours, best picture.

It squeaked past the initial frontrunner All Quiet on the Western Front, which grabbed four Oscars early in the broadcast, including for best cinematography and best international feature.

Another big winner was the play adaptation The Whale, with two wins honouring the transformation actor Brendan Fraser underwent for his role: one for best actor and another for best hairstyling and makeup.

Everything Everywhere All at Once claimed the night’s final honour, taking home its seventh Oscar for the prestigious best picture category.

“There is no movie without our brilliant and bighearted cast and crew,” said producer Jonathan Wang.

The two-person team of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert returned to the stage again after winning awards for best director and original screenplay, as did Michelle Yeoh, who became the first Asian woman to win the award for best actress.

Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis won awards for best supporting actor and actress, respectively, and the film also won the award for best editing.

The hotly contested best picture category included films such as Tar, All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking.

Everything Everywhere All at Once continued its domination of the acting categories with a best actress win for Michelle Yeoh, who plays the film’s multiverse-hopping heroine Evelyn.

“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is the beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof [to] dream big and dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up,” the 60-year-old told the crowd.

“I have to dedicate this to my mom, to all the moms in the world, because they are really the superheroes. And without them, none of us would be here tonight.”

Yeoh, who hails from Malaysia, is the first Asian best actress winner in Oscar history.

American-Canadian actor Brendan Fraser completed his triumphant return to the big screen with a win for best actor in the drama The Whale.

“I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement,” Fraser said in a tearful acceptance speech. Acknowledging his fellow cast members, he added: “Thank you again, to each one and all. I’m so grateful to you.”

Also nominated were Austin Butler in Elvis, Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin, Paul Mescal in Aftersun and Bill Nighy in Living.

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER BRENDAN FRASER #Oscars pic.twitter.com/YRUVNdhaa7

— Letterboxd (@letterboxd) March 13, 2023

The two-person team The Daniels topped more established names like Steven Spielberg to win their first Oscar for best director.

“Our fellow nominees, you guys are our heroes. This is weird. We want to dedicate this to all the mommies,” Daniel Scheinert told the audience.

He dedicated the award to his parents. “Thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody,” Scheinert said to a roar of approval, a seeming reference to anti-drag legislation around the United States.

“The world is opening up to the fact that genius does not stem from individuals like us on stage, but rather genius emerges from the collective,” Daniel Kwan said in his speech.

“We are all descendants of something and someone, and I want to acknowledge my context, my immigrant parents.”

Jumping for Oscar winning joy! Presenting your Best Original Screenplay winners: the Daniels. #Oscars95

Photo Credit: @landonnordeman pic.twitter.com/VqM4dOmJkw

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 13, 2023

Paul Rogers won best editing for the multiverse adventure Everything Everywhere All at Once, bringing the film’s tally up to four Oscars for the night.

“This is my second film, y’all. This is crazy,” Rogers told the Dolby Theatre. “To the cast, it’s been the honour of my career to work with you. I hope I did right by you. I care deeply about every one of you.”

The ceremony paused for a sombre tribute to people in the world of cinema and entertainment who passed away in the last year.

Those honoured included actress Angela Lansbury, whose decades-long career spanned Hollywood and Broadway.

Also featured was actress Raquel Welch, whose bombshell appearance in a fur bikini in 1966’s One Million Years BC propelled her to a career that included a Golden Globe Award.

The tribute also paid homage to actors Ray Liotta and James Caan, both known for their legendary performances in gangster films Goodfellas and The Godfather, respectively.

Many behind-the-scenes workers who make movies possible were also honoured.

Top Gun: Maverick took home best award for achievement in sound for its exciting portrayal of the world of air warfare.

Mark Weingarten, James H Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor accepted the award, with Weingarten thanking supporters for going out and seeing the film in theatres.

The sequel to the original Top Gun was a hit, bringing in nearly $1.5bn at the box office with Tom Cruise reprising his role as white-knuckle fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

Also nominated were All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman and Elvis.

Now that’s worth kicking up your heels for! The Indian film RRR took home the Oscar for best song with “Naatu Naatu”, earning a roar from the crowd.

It is India’s first nomination and first win for best song.

“I grew up listening to The Carpenters, and now here I am with the Oscars,” composer MM Keeravaani told the crowd as he accepted the award with lyricist Chandrabose.

“There was only one wish on my mind,” Keeravaani sang as part of his speech, to the tune of one of The Carpenters’ hits: “RRR has to win, pride of every Indian, and must put me on the top of the world.”

Canadian actor-turned-director Sarah Polley earns her first Oscar of the night for Women Talking, a drama based on real events.

The film tells the story of a group of Mennonite women who discover they have all experienced acts of sexual violence by men in their isolated religious community. It is based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews.

“I want to thank the Academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘women’ and ‘talking’ so close together like that,” Polley said in her acceptance speech.

She called Toews’s book “an essential novel about a radical act of democracy”, where listening was more important than violence.

She wrapped up her remarks by reciting the last line of her film, dedicated to her three kids: “Your story will be different from ours.” She called it a promise to the next generation.

Everything Everywhere All at Once took home a third win, clinching the prize for best original screenplay.

Writer-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — collectively known as The Daniels — gave moving acceptance speeches, thanking sources of support and inspiration such as parents, spouses, previous school teachers and fellow nominees.

The other nominees were The Fabelmans, Tar, Triangle of Sadness, and The Banshees of Inisherin.

Rihanna’s song “Lift Me Up” from the soundtrack of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever marks her first solo recording in nearly six years — which was when her last album, 2016’s Anti, was released.

But Rihanna’s been busy since then. During her hiatus, she gave birth to her first child and expanded her lingerie and beauty brand Fenty.

2023 may be her comeback year, though: She received critical acclaim as the headliner for the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show, her first public concert in years. This Oscar performance is her hotly anticipated follow-up.

She received a standing ovation from the audience.

“Lift me up. Hold me down. Keep me close, safe and sound.”

Rihanna performs the wistful R&B ballad “Lift Me Up” tonight at the Oscars — and if the song seems mournful compared with more upbeat best-song nominees, that’s because it is.

The Barbadian pop star cowrote the song with Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson, Nigerian singer Tems and director Ryan Coogler as a tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman, the star of Marvel’s 2018 blockbuster Black Panther.

Boseman was meant to return in the film’s sequel, but he died from colon cancer in 2020. “Lift Me Up” came to be part of the reimagined sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which grapples with the central character’s death.

Filmmaker James Cameron’s massive blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water picked up its first win of the night for best visual effects.

The film immersed viewers in the aquatic world of Pandora, in a follow-up to the first Avatar movie, which was also praised for its stunning visuals when it was released in 2009.

The competition was steep, with other nominees including All Quiet on the Western Front, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Top Gun: Maverick.

Host Jimmy Kimmel joked that the after-party would take place at “CGI Fridays”.

Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel mixed with the audience for a question-and-answer segment with some of the night’s celebrity guests.

He stopped to chat with Nobel winner Malala Yousafzai, asking her the hardest-hitting question of the night: “Do you think Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?”

The question — about a rumoured feud during the marketing of the 2022 film Don’t Worry Darling — cracked a smile from Yousafzai.

“I only talk about peace,” Yousafzai replied, not missing a beat and eliciting a round of applause from the audience.

Teasing Oscar nominee Colin Farrell over his Irish accent, Kimmel also joked with him about his furry on-screen co-star in The Banshees of Inisherin: “If you and the donkey go out after, text me.”

German composer Volker Bertelmann nabs the Oscar for best original score for All Quiet on the Western Front, which has swept up four trophies tonight so far.

Bertelmann explained that his work on the antiwar film made him think of a moral his mother taught him as a child: “When you want to change humanity and empathy in the world, you have to start with yourself and your own surroundings.”

All Quiet on the Western Front continues its streak with an award for best production design, clinching the win over fellow nominees Avatar: The Way of Water, Babylon, Elvis and The Fabelmans.

Christian M Goldbeck accepted the honour for the film’s production design, with Ernestine Hipper joining on stage for set decoration.

The German film has already won awards for cinematography and best international feature film earlier in the night.

Best Production Design Oscar 🤝 'All Quiet on the Western Front'

Congratulations to the talented production design team behind @allquietmovie! #Oscars #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/q6bym2jXE0

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 13, 2023

Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud took home the award for best animated short for their film The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.

“I know the protocol is to say thank you a lot, but I’m British, so instead I’ll say sorry,” said Matthew Freud in his acceptance speech.

Mackesy added that, on a recent visit to his village back in the United Kingdom, a resident had told him that making a film takes “courage”.

Other nominees included The Flying Sailor, Ice Merchants, My Year of Dicks and An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It.

At the end of Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise soars into the sunset with his on-screen love interest Jennifer Connelly to the tune of the Oscar-nominated song “Hold My Hand”, on stage now.

A full-throated power ballad, “Hold My Hand” is the “heartbeat” of the film, according to its star Tom Cruise.

In an interview with The Late Late Show with James Corden, Cruise tipped his hat to the songwriter Lady Gaga.

“She’s amazing. It just opened those doors to the emotional core of the film that we had,” Cruise told Corden. He added that Gaga isn’t just featured on Top Gun: Maverick’s soundtrack: “She actually helped to compose the score.”

“You can be your own hero, even if you feel broken inside.”

Pop star Lady Gaga makes a surprise onstage appearance at this year’s Oscars after show organisers announced she wouldn’t be able to perform due to a filming conflict.

She sings her Academy Award-nominated song “Hold My Hand” from the film Top Gun: Maverick tonight.

But this isn’t her first Oscar appearance — not by a long shot. She’s performed three times previously.

Her first appearance came in 2015 to mark 50 years of the Hollywood classic The Sound of Music. She returned the following year with “Til It Happens to You”, a song cowritten with another of tonight’s nominees, Diane Warren, for the documentary The Hunting Ground.

Then, in 2019, she brought home Oscar gold for best original song with “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, performed on stage with co-star Bradley Cooper. Check out their winning performance:

The story of an orphaned baby elephant and the Indigenous people who cared for it has taken home the statuette for best documentary short, a big win for the film’s country of origin, India.

Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga, the filmmakers behind The Elephant Whisperers, took the stage to accept the award. Gonsalves dedicated the Oscar “to my motherland, India,” and thanked the subjects of her documentary for sharing their tribal knowledge.

“I stand here today to speak for the sacred bond between us and our natural world,” she said.

The German film All Quiet on the Western Front took home its second award, winning the category of best international feature film after taking an award for cinematography earlier in the night.

Other nominees included Argentina 1985, EO, Close and The Quiet Girl.

The famous antiwar film could still add to its already impressive haul: It is also a contender in the race for best picture, where it faces competition from movies such as Tar and Everything Everywhere All at Once.

The Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wins best costume design.

“Together we are reshaping how culture is represented,” said winner Ruth Carter in her acceptance speech.

Her speech also paid tribute to deceased actor Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer at age 43 in 2020 and brought the character T’challa to life in the first Black Panther film.

Carter also dedicated the win to her mother, who recently “became an ancestor” at the age of 101.

“Chadwick, please take care of mom,” she said.

Babylon, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Elvis were also nominated.

Congratulations to Ruth E. Carter for her Academy Award win for Best Costume Design for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: #WakandaForever! #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/UNY9EpUJXQ

— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) March 13, 2023

Love that distinctive beat from the Oscar-nominated song “Naatu Naatu”?

The song’s composer MM Keeravani wanted something that felt distinctly local. (The song’s name, after all, translates loosely to “rustic” or “local”.) So he looked to the rhythms of Indian folk songs — and ultimately incorporated the sound of the duff, a traditional hand drum that you tap with a stick.

Check out that backdrop!

The song “Naatu Naatu” from the film RRR has an interesting backstory. It was filmed at the Mariinsky Palace in Ukraine in August 2021 — six months before the Russian invasion began.

The palace, a turquoise-and-pink baroque confection located in Kyiv, serves as the Ukrainian president’s residence in real life.

But in the world of RRR, it is the site of a garden party in British-occupied India that turns into a pivotal dance-off between the film’s heroes — two Indian revolutionaries — and the disdainful colonialists who look down upon them.

You can see a facsimile of the palace on stage at the Oscars during tonight’s performance.

The scene-stealer from the Irish black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin made a guest appearance tonight: Jenny the Donkey.

Host Jimmy Kimmel led out the miniature pack animal to applause and a kiss blown by co-star Colin Farrell.

Her tragic on-screen demise is the film’s turning point, transforming Farrell’s farmer Padraic into a character increasingly consumed by anger.

Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley have won the award for best makeup and hairstyling for their work in The Whale.

For the film, the team helped transform Fraser into a reclusive, 270-kg (600-lb) English teacher. The film was hailed by some as a triumphant return for Fraser but criticised by others for its use of a fat suit.

In a speech introducing the nominees, which included Elvis, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Batman and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, actor Samuel L Jackson quipped that hair and makeup stylists are “our friends” and “our therapists”.

Margot Robbie and Morgan Freeman mark the 100th anniversary of the classic Hollywood studio Warner Brothers, which was founded by four immigrant brothers of Polish-Jewish descent — and ultimately became a powerhouse in filmmaking.

They introduced a montage of some of Warner Brothers’s greatest hits, including the blockbusters The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight, The Maltese Falcon and The Shining.

Can David Byrne make it a repeat? The Talking Heads frontman and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is back at the Oscars this year for his second nomination, as part of the film Everything Everywhere All at Once.

But his first nomination earned him Oscar gold in 1987. That was the year the film The Last Emperor swept every category it was nominated in — including best original score. As part of the composing team, Byrne was among the winners.

Now, Byrne is only an Emmy away from the coveted title of EGOT, an acronym for artists who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. But an extra Oscar tonight for best song certainly can’t hurt.

Conflict and war remain persistent themes at this year’s awards, with an adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 antiwar novel All Quiet on the Western Front winning the award for best cinematography.

“Well it’s not my birthday, but it feels like it is,” said cinematographer James Friend in his acceptance speech. “What an honour.”

The Netflix film won plaudits for its unflinching portrayal of the horrors of the First World War, and it beat rivals Tar, Elvis, Empire of Light and Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths for the cinematography trophy.

Talking Heads singer David Byrne and the experimental band Son Lux have taken the stage with Stephanie Hsu, star of Everything Everywhere All at Once, for a rendition of the Oscar-nominated song “This Is a Life”.

But this track is nothing like the other nominees in the best song category — and that’s intentional, according to Son Lux frontman Ryan Lott.

Rather than opt for a traditional Hollywood power ballad, “This Is a Life” is heartfelt but odd, like the film itself.

“There’s this sort of beating heart of it all — a kind of heart-on-your-sleeve, unrestrained emotional quality that is a trademark of much of the Son Lux discography,” Lott told NPR.

In a year when Russian politics are taking up plenty of space in the headlines, it should perhaps come as no surprise that the documentary Navalny about Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny won best documentary feature film.

“My husband is in prison just for telling the truth. My husband is in prison just for defending democracy,” said his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, in a speech on stage. “Stay strong my love.”

Canadian director Daniel Roher noted in his speech that Navalny had spoken out against “Vladimir Putin’s unjust war in Ukraine”, adding that the documentary was a reminder of the need to speak out against dictatorship wherever it emerges.

Congratulations to 'Navalny,' this year's Best Documentary Feature Film! #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/xOp8ujCa4k

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 13, 2023

Tom Berkeley and Ross White win the best live action short film for An Irish Goodbye.

But rather than rattle off the traditional list of people to thank in their acceptance speech, they spent their time on stage serenading star James Martin with a rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

They quipped the Oscar win was “the second-most important thing” to happen today, behind Martin’s birthday. The 31-year-old actor hails from Belfast, and as someone with Down’s syndrome, he is also an activist for those with disabilities.

'An Irish Goodbye' secures the Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film #Oscars #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/jpvXpEmqaI

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 13, 2023

Jamie Lee Curtis wins best actress in a supporting role for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, the film’s second win of the night. It is also nominated in categories such as best picture, best director, and best actress.

Angela Bassett was seen as a likely winner for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In her speech, Curtis celebrated her win as a success for all of those who have supported her along the way.

“My mother and father were both nominated for Oscars in different categories,” she said in her speech. “I just won an Oscar!”

Jamie Lee Curtis wins the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once #Oscars2023 pic.twitter.com/63S04YYq9y

— Total Film (@totalfilm) March 13, 2023

What have been some of songwriter Diane Warren’s biggest movie hits?

Some of her most memorable film anthems came in the late 1990s when she penned a string of blockbuster ballads that became chart toppers in their own right.

Warren composed Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” for the 1996 romance Up Close & Personal. While the film was a dud, the song was a hit. She followed that up with 1997’s “How Do I Live” for the thriller Con Air, which set a record at the time for its staying power on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Then came 1998’s collaboration with the rock band Aerosmith for the disaster film Armageddon’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”. All three songs picked up Oscar nominations.

You may not know Diane Warren’s name. But chances are, you have heard her music.

The 66-year-old songwriter has collaborated with dozens of chart-topping musicians over the course of her career, including Brandy, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and Christina Aguilera.

She has also received 14 nominations for best song at the Academy Awards, including for tonight’s ballad “Applause”, on stage now.

In November, her frequent collaborator Cher presented her with an honorary Oscar. ”I’ve been waiting a long f****** time for him,” Warren quipped, holding up the golden statuette. “I’ve waited 34 years to say this: I’d like to thank the Academy.”

youtube.com/watch?v=4h29mdV2-K8

Disney Channel star Sofia Carson and songwriter Diane Warren take the stage to perform their Oscar-nominated song “Applause” — but the movie it represents may be something of a mystery to many viewers.

The anthology film Tell It Like a Woman received only a limited release in theatres despite its all-star cast, including Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson and model Cara Delevingne. It tells seven stories of women around the world facing struggles related to their gender.

As Warren explained on a panel for the publication Deadline, the challenge she faced was writing a single song that could bring together each chapter of the anthology. “These are stories about strong women. I wanted the song to reflect that,” she said.

Troy Kotsur and Ariana DeBose, last year’s winners for best supporting actor and actress, presented the award this year to Ke Huy Quan, in his first Oscar nomination and win.

The star of Everything Everywhere All at Once made his big screen debut as a child in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, following that up with a starring role in the action-adventure The Goonies.

“Oh my god,” an emotional Quan said as he took the stage, sniffling and tearing up. “My mom is 84 years old, and she’s at home watching. Mom, I just won an Oscar.”

“They say stories like this only happen in the movies,” he continued. “This is the American dream.”

He recalled his early childhood in a refugee camp in Hong Kong, after fleeing Vietnam. In his acceptance speech, he also thanked his wife and family for their unwavering support, even as his career faltered.

“Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine,” he said, calling on the audience to “keep their dreams alive”.

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro’s magical remake of Pinocchio takes home best animated picture, beating out competitors Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, The Sea Beast, Turning Red and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

The meticulously constructed film portrayed the adventures of the famous puppet with emotional and compelling scenes set against the backdrop of Benito Mussolini’s Italy. In one scene, Pinocchio even insults the fascist dictator in a humorous musical score.

“Animation is cinema … animation is ready to be taken to the next step,” said Del Toro, who dedicated the film to his family.

“Animation is cinema, animation is not a genre, and animation is ready to be taken to the next step.” —Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) #Oscars pic.twitter.com/4h71KlzLlO

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) March 13, 2023

“I saw all your movies. Now it’s my turn to make you sit in a theatre for three hours.”

Host Jimmy Kimmel knows the Oscars are long. But he warned Oscar winners that, if their speeches run overtime, a group of performers from the Indian musical RRR would arrive to dance them off stage.

Let’s see if he makes good on that promise.

Host Jimmy Kimmel teased the absent director James Cameron for his streak of “drowning Kate Winslet” in his films, from the blockbuster Titanic to the underwater sequences of Avatar: The Way of Water.

But Kimmel quickly pivoted to a more serious issue: the lack of diversity in Hollywood.

He speculated that Cameron might be absent as a result of not getting a best director nod. “What do they think he is, a woman?”

“It was some year for diversity and inclusion,” Kimmel continued. “We have nominees from every corner of Dublin. Five Irish actors are nominated tonight. Which means the odds of another fight on stage just went up.”

Host Jimmy Kimmel ribs Hollywood for its numerous remakes and sequels, including some of the top nominees at this year’s Oscars, Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick.

“Poor Steven Spielberg had to make a film about Steven Spielberg,” Kimmel quipped, in a reference to Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans.

“Give me a second to adjust my danger zone here.”

Three-time Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel parachutes onto the stage in a Top Gun: Maverick tribute, an entrance that gives him a little trouble with his tuxedo pants.

The multiverse action-comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once might seem unstoppable coming into tonight’s Oscar ceremony. But what could weigh against it in the final vote tally?

Nearly 9,500 members of the Academy are eligible to vote for tonight’s winners, which are announced live on stage.

But historically, the Academy’s membership has skewed old and its tastes traditional. What are the strengths and weaknesses behind tonight’s contenders? Read on to find out.

Director Darren Aronofsky told the Los Angeles Times that he approached his adaptation of the play The Whale as “this great exercise in empathy”. But the film has received criticism for being anything but.

The Whale tells the story of Charlie, a 270kg (600lb) English professor who attempts to rekindle a relationship with his estranged daughter as his health starts to decline.

Some critics connected to its themes of honesty in the face of regret. But others, including The Guardian’s Lindy West, lambasted the film as “shallow and stigmatising” for its portrayal of a fat man as an object of sympathy – or even failure.

There was an equal outcry for actor Brendan Fraser’s use of a fat suit in the role, with some critics deploring it as a poor substitute for the lived experiences of fat artists.

“If it continues on the path it’s on, the Oscars will become redundant,” Tania Bhattacharya said.

“Like the British monarchy, it will be closely followed and discussed even, but it will have little relevance in the real world.”

Brendan Fraser doesn’t mind that people have called his turn in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale a “comeback”. But that’s not the word he would choose.

“If anything, this is a reintroduction more than a comeback,” Fraser told the AP. “It’s an opportunity to reintroduce myself to an industry, who I do not believe forgot me … I’ve just never been that far away.”

In The Whale, Fraser plays Charlie, a reclusive English teacher grappling with his past and a dire prognosis. Production took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Fraser explained that the threat of cancellation motivated his performance.

“I gave it everything I had every day,” he said. “An actor’s job is to approach everything like it’s the first time. I did but also as if it might be the last time.”

Turquoise, pink, lemon yellow — this year’s Oscar fashions bring to mind a child’s Easter egg basket with a bright array of spunky, upbeat colours.

It’s a burst of cheery optimism for a ceremony that hopes to celebrate Hollywood’s post-pandemic rebound, with nominees like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water posting high numbers at the box office last year.

Steven Spielberg may win his third Best Director Oscar this year for the semi-autobiographical movie The Fabelmans, following previous wins for 1994’s Schindler’s List and 1999’s Saving Private Ryan.

But the Daniels – a directorial team composed of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – could come from behind with their juggernaut of a film, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Among the sea of stars parading down the Oscar’s new champagne-coloured carpet tonight, a classic trend is emerging: sparkling, effervescent gowns, reminiscent of bubbly in their own right.

Check out Jamie Lee Curtis, a Best Supporting Actress nominee, in her shimmering frock, and activist Malala Yousafzai in a glittering ensemble.

The film Blonde may have been reviled by many critics, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any who didn’t admire Ana de Armas’s portrayal of Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe.

De Armas prepped for a year to tackle the role – and her first day on set was harrowing. She filmed a nightmare sequence in which her character rescues a baby from a dresser drawer as the walls burn around her.

That and other scenes were staged inside the real-life homes where Monroe lived throughout her life. De Armas, a Cuban-Spanish performer, also had to master Monroe’s breathless speech patterns. Her second day of filming was her first with dialogue, depicting a dramatic sequence where Monroe visits her mother in a psychiatric hospital.

Ana de Armas is Marilyn Monroe.

Blonde premieres September 28. pic.twitter.com/jpyvzRKXqv

— Netflix (@netflix) August 24, 2022

India could score big at tonight’s Oscars, with two documentary-related nominations for the short film The Elephant Whisperers and the feature All That Breathes.

But the country has already made history with its first nod in a highly competitive category: best original song.

The toe-tapping banger “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu-language film RRR is an anthem to local traditions and pride. The film — set in the 1920s, when India was under British rule — follows two revolutionaries who, unbeknownst to each other, are both trying to infiltrate the colonial power structure.

At a garden party at a fancy British estate, the two men team up to challenge the stiff white colonialists to a dance-off. But they set the terms. “Not salsa, not flamenco, my brother,” they explain. “Do you know naatu?”

Ultimately, “Naatu Naatu” leaves the colonialists in the dust. It now is the frontrunner in a category that features music by pop stars Lady Gaga, David Byrne and Rihanna, having already earned a Golden Globe.

WE CREATED HISTORY!! 🇮🇳

Proud and privileged to share that #NaatuNaatu has been nominated for Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards. #Oscars #RRRMovie pic.twitter.com/qzWBiotjSe

— RRR Movie (@RRRMovie) January 24, 2023

Some of the nominated films are still in cinemas but many are also available online to stream now, depending on your location.

Here’s where you can find many of the movies vying for glory.

One of this year’s most controversial fashion choices won’t be strolling down the red carpet this year. That’s because there is no red carpet – a stunning departure from nearly 60 years of tradition.

The walkway to the Oscars this year is covered in a champagne-coloured carpet, part of a growing trend away from the traditional crimson during award season.

Fashion critics predict the muted, beige palette for this year’s carpet will allow artists to arrive in a more stunning array of colours, no longer fearing they will clash with the red.

English performer Andrea Riseborough spun heads when she unexpectedly landed among this year’s Best Actress nominees with her little-known indie film To Leslie, about a lottery winner whose fortunes have tumbled.

Her nomination was secured thanks largely to the grassroots efforts of To Leslie’s director Michael Morris and his wife, actor Mary McCormack.

They urged stars to see the film and either host a screening or praise Riseborough’s performance on social media. And a whole lot of them did: Amy Adams, Charlize Theron, Courteney Cox, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Winslet all held screenings.

Al Jazeera analyst Tania Bhattacharya believes the Oscars – and Hollywood as a whole – have a long way to go to achieve diversity on screen and behind the scenes.

“Those who hold true power and wealth in Hollywood have continued to harbour the same notions about who or what is relevant and what it isn’t,” Bhattacharya told Al Jazeera.

“In spite of years of conversations and promises made, equal pay is still a pipe dream in the industry. Labour rights are abysmal. Minorities are regularly discriminated against and everything continues to be seen through the white male privilege lens.”

“To change Hollywood, and to make it more diverse, the decision-makers need to be diverse. There must be a serious reshuffle at the top,” she added.

The Oscars courted controversy this year for its high-profile snubs of two prominent Black performers: Neither Viola Davis of The Woman King nor Danielle Deadwyler of Till earned Best Actress nominations.

Instead, Michelle Yeoh is the only non-white actor in the category at this year’s Academy Awards. The Best Actor category also includes only white men, and the Best Director nominees don’t feature any women or Black filmmakers.

Of the 13,252 nominees since the Oscars began in 1929, only 6 percent are from underrepresented ethnicities, a USC Annenberg Inclusion at the Academy Awards report said. And out of all Academy Award winners, only 2 percent have been women of colour.

This year’s Oscar nominations have the highest number and percentage of Asian nominees of all time, with 20 nominations. Half of those nominees come from a single film, though: Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Let’s face it: Donkeys, in general, don’t have a great reputation. But at this year’s Oscar ceremony, they might finally be getting their due.

Two Oscar contenders prominently feature the notoriously stubborn pack animal in their cast: the Irish comedy The Banshees of Inisherin and Poland’s EO.

The latter chronicles a donkey’s fantastical journey from Poland to Italy, across forests and cities, where he encounters a startling spectrum of humanity.

In The Banshees of Inisherin, Jenny the donkey is a prized companion for lonely farmer Pádraic, and her death is the character’s breaking point.

But don’t let Jenny’s cuteness fool you. During filming, she was known to kick Oscar nominee Colin Farrell on the knee.

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh made history last month when she became the first Asian to win best actress at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, raising hopes she might even take home an Oscar this weekend.

Yeoh, a Malaysian of Chinese origin, got her start in the movie industry in Hong Kong in the 1980s. She currently stars in the Oscar-nominated hit Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Min Lim, head of production at Kuala Lumpur’s award-winning production house Double Vision, said the success of Malaysian artists has “nothing to do with race and everything to do with ambition”.

“Malaysia is a small country with limited opportunities in our industry given the market size, so if anyone wants more than what is available here, they will have to go beyond our borders,” Lim told Al Jazeera.

Read more here.

Michelle Yeoh has been rehearsing all of her life for the role of Evelyn Wang in @allatoncemovie. ⭐ #Colbert pic.twitter.com/AzSnJpgItw

— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) March 2, 2023

Austin Butler spent so much time and energy preparing to play Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s colourful biopic that he finds it difficult to talk about it without “sounding incredibly pretentious and self-important”, he told AP. “There are certain aspects that even I don’t fully understand.”

But as the Oscars approach, Butler has been grappling with unexpected wins and losses. He came away with the trophy for Best Actor in a Drama at January’s Golden Globes, but then two days later, Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s real-life daughter, died.

“I just wish Lisa Marie were here with us to celebrate,” Butler told the AP. “At times, in the midst of intense grief and just a shattering loss, it feels sort of bizarre to celebrate. But I also know how much this film meant to Lisa Marie, how much her father’s legacy meant to her. So I feel so proud and humble to be a part of that story.”

“What fascinated me from the outset was stripping away the icon of Elvis, finding who he is when nobody’s around. Putting his life into context, he’s embodying the American dream: coming from nothing and then being able to have your dreams come true.” – Austin Butler pic.twitter.com/rt3w45je7l

— Elvis Movie (@ElvisMovie) February 27, 2023

Of the five films nominated in the best international feature category, only one hails from outside Europe: the historical drama Argentina, 1985.

The film tells the story of a real-life trial against members of Argentina’s military regime accused of the torture and murder of dissidents who were never seen again.

Headlining the cast is a familiar face for Latin American filmgoers: Ricardo Darin. Not only has Darin rejected the siren call of Hollywood, famously sticking to Spanish-language films, he also helped bring home Argentina’s last Oscar for an international feature, with 2009’s The Secret in Their Eyes.

Composer John Williams has given audiences the trumpeting bravado of the Star Wars theme. The insistent dread of the Jaws soundtrack. And the heartbreaking score for Schindler’s List.

But at age 90, the five-time Oscar winner may be close to ending his silver-screen career in favour of concert music. His Oscar-nominated score for The Fabelmans, with frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg, may be one of his last movie compositions.

“At the moment I’m working on Indiana Jones 5,” Williams told the Associated Press earlier this year. But he confessed to being inspired by star Harrison Ford, who is rumoured to be considering a retirement from film.

“I thought: If Harrison can do it, then perhaps I can also,” Williams explained. But he added he would never rule out returning to film: “I don’t want to be seen as categorically eliminating any activity.”

Tar wouldn’t exist without Australian actor Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for 2004’s The Aviator.

The role of classical music maestro Lydia Tar was written specifically for Blanchett, and she worked with real-life conductors to learn precisely how to interpret music through movement.

“I am still processing the experience, not only because it spoke to a lot of things that I had been thinking about, but I feel so expanded by having been in [director Todd Field’s] orbit,” Blanchett said. “It was a very, very fluid, dangerous, alive process making the film.”

"Cate Blanchett proves she is our greatest living actor." – Rolling Stone#TÁR pic.twitter.com/HxzmI1Ob3n

— TÁR (@tarmovie) March 3, 2023

Awards are given out in 23 categories, including film editing, directing, cinematography, acting, music, costume design, and makeup and hairstyling.

Best picture tends to be the most anticipated award. This year, 10 films are competing for one of the most prestigious distinctions in filmmaking.

CODA won best picture in 2022, and films including Parasite, Moonlight and The Shape of Water have claimed the award in recent years.

Martin McDonagh’s tragicomic film The Banshees of Inisherin was an opportunity for the director to reunite with two actors he’d formed a deep bond with 14 years ago: In Bruges’s Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.

Set on a small Irish island in 1923, the trio’s new film tells the story of the end of a friendship. Gleeson’s musician character Colm has grown tired of Farrell’s soft-hearted farmer Pádraic. But that rejection sparks a newfound anger in Pádraic, a transformation that gave Farrell his first Oscar nod.

“He has an innocence where he can’t comprehend why his friend of so many years has cut him out,” Farrell said of his character last year at the Venice Film Festival, where he’d go on to win the best actor prize. “It shakes him to his core.”

Let’s Just Be Honest.
For Your Consideration – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN#BansheesMovie pic.twitter.com/UFVAST8UkS

— The Banshees of Inisherin (@Banshees_Movie) March 7, 2023

Michelle Yeoh from Everything Everywhere All at Once may have a slight edge over Cate Blanchett’s Tár for best actress.

Best actor is harder to call though, with Brendan Fraser in The Whale and Austin Butler’s Elvis in the mix.

In the supporting actress category, Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the frontrunner, though Jamie Lee Curtis’s win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards may signal an upset.

And Everything Everywhere’s Ke Huy Quan appears primed to continue his winning streak in the best supporting actor category.

"Please, be kind. Especially when we don't know what's going on." 💌 Everything has led to this. pic.twitter.com/1Nr1UEtqGG

— Everything Everywhere (@allatoncemovie) February 27, 2023

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s indie sci-fi hit Everything Everywhere All at Once comes in with a leading 11 nominations.

Close on its heels though are the Irish dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin and Netflix’s World War I film All Quiet on the Western Front, tied with nine nods apiece.

All signs point to a full slate of musical performances, with Rihanna singing “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava performing Chandrabose and MM Keeravaani’s “Naatu Naatu” from the film RRR.

Show producers also announced that singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz will deliver a performance for the “In Memoriam” tribute.

In the film Living, Bill Nighy plays a British civil servant who receives a terminal diagnosis in 1953 London.

The movie – an adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa classic Ikiru – gave Nighy a chance to reflect on contemporary events as the globe grappled with lives lost to the COVID pandemic.

“I was very moved by it when we were making it, the fact that we were making it, that we were back and that it was the first thing I’d done since the pandemic,” Nighy told the AP news agency.

“The pandemic forced us to look at our priorities in our lives and all that, and this film discusses how to make the most of every day. So I suppose in that regard it was timely.”

Last year, awards for eight Oscar categories — including hair and makeup, and film editing — were pretaped to cut the ceremony’s running time.

But that prompted an uproar among the Academy’s members who perceived the move as a slight. In response, the Academy is committed to announcing all the winners live on today’s broadcast.

The pivotal moment of The Fabelmans – spoiler alert – comes when Mitzi Fabelman, a fictionalised version of director Steven Spielberg’s mother, reluctantly leaves her husband for his best friend.

But in bringing Mitzi to life, five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams found herself understanding the scene, not as a romantic impulse but rather as a life-or-death decision. Mitzi had already sacrificed her dreams of being a concert pianist to be a housewife – a kind of artistic death, Williams argues.

“Do I stay in this marriage, or do I allow myself to go where my heart is leading,” Williams explains of her character’s mental state. “She knows that she can’t die again. There will be nothing left of her.”

Organisers of the 95th Academy Awards are preparing for the unexpected after Will Smith’s infamous slapping of Chris Rock convulsed last year’s ceremony.

For the first time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has created a crisis team to respond to any mishaps.

“It is our hope that we will be prepared for anything,” the Academy’s CEO, Bill Kramer, told Time magazine. “Because of last year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars.”

The Academy was heavily criticised for allowing Smith to remain in the audience and accept the best actor trophy after attacking Rock on stage over a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Films often score Oscar nods thanks to the power of the production companies behind them, Al Jazeera analyst Tania Bhattacharya explains. Studios can spend millions on Oscar campaigns.

“The fact that any movie and its cast require months of lobbying and marketing to even make it to the shortlists prove that nominations aren’t always about top-quality talent and stories,” Bhattacharya said.

Paul Mescal did not expect to make friends with an 11-year-old on the set of Aftersun but that’s what happened with his co-star Frankie Corio. Their on-screen bond landed Mescal his first Oscar nod.

Mescal plays the doting father to Corio’s character in Charlotte Wells’s deeply personal film, set during a vacation in Turkey in the 1990s. The Irish actor told AP he and Corio met up two weeks before filming started to flesh out their characters.

“We just spent the two weeks where I was playing, like, pretending to be her dad,” Mescal said. “It’s one of the greatest professional experiences that I’ve had. It really surprised me. I fell in love with her and I adore her and she’s just a phenomenal actor.”

“The relevance of the Oscars has been waning considerably,” Al Jazeera’s analyst Tania Bhattacharya said.

“Once upon a time, it may have been taboo to speak up against the biases in choosing the ‘best’ film, actor, actress, etc, but over the years, people have pointed out how the event is essentially white, male and old,” she added.

“I don’t think the Oscars objectively glorify the ‘best’ in any category anymore.”

The Oscars have lost viewers in recent years, particularly among younger audiences. Executive Producer Glenn Weiss said tonight’s team plans to pepper the show with moments they hope will spread on Twitter and TikTok.

After decades in Hong Kong cinema and starring in mainstream hits like Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Michelle Yeoh is a movie queen.

The directing team “the Daniels” originally named the heroine of their action-comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once Michelle, as a tribute and “love letter” to Yeoh. But when Yeoh herself came on board, she had the character’s name changed to Evelyn.

The character, Yeoh explained, “deserves a voice of her own. She is the voice of those mothers, aunties, grandmothers that you pass by in Chinatown or in the supermarket that you don’t even give a second glance to.”

“The intensity of the emotions, and the sincerity of the love, is so tangible and so real that you want to be a part of Evelyn and Deirdre's world.” 💞 Everything has led to this. pic.twitter.com/c7UPv1LhDP

— Everything Everywhere (@allatoncemovie) March 3, 2023

The opening of the 95th Academy Awards is going to be a “moment”, the show’s producers have promised.

They won’t say exactly what’s in store, but Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, this year’s executive producers, are certain it’s going to pull audiences.

Weiss and Kirshner are live television veterans. They’ve done the Grammys, Tonys, Emmys, the Super Bowl and even a presidential inauguration. But the Oscars are a first for Kirshner.

“There’s only a few shows on the bucket list,” Kirshner said. “I needed to go for the awards show EGOT [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards].”

Thanks for joining us as we build up to the highly anticipated 95th Academy Awards.

Millions of people are expected to tune in today to watch one of the most prestigious awards ceremonies in the world of filmmaking.

If you’re wondering where to watch it, the ceremony can be livestreamed with a subscription to Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and Fubo TV in the United States.

If you are outside of the US, these are the available options.

It’s #Oscars week! @TheAcademy @ABCNetwork pic.twitter.com/jMzxlZhqLj

— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) March 6, 2023