“Everything Everywhere All At Once” won some of the night’s most coveted awards at the 2023 Oscars, including best actress and best picture. It was a remarkable evening for the cherished multiverse-hopping masterwork of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, which brought Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan well-deserved victories. Yet there must always be a loser, and “Everything Everywhere All At Oncehistoric “‘s popularity meant that many other movies, from “Avatar: The Way of Water” to “Tár,” were completely kept out.
Despite having many deserving competitors, many of the show’s winners received widespread acclaim. Despite touching performances by each performer during the night, the Tollywood song “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” won best original song, beating out Lady Gaga and Rihanna. Yet, Lady Gaga’s joyous response to the Tollywood song’s victory speaks for itself. While others, like Hugh Grant, were unhappy for reasons unrelated to the evening’s winners or losers, others, like first-time candidate Paul Mescal, were simply delighted to be there. Nonetheless, some defeats hurt more than others.
Bassett was recognized for her work in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” with a nomination for best supporting actress. She portrays Queen Ramonda, the mother of T’Challa, who was portrayed in the first “Black Panther” by the late Chadwick Boseman. There was a lot of talk about Bassett winning after her performance, which was a masterful display of power and anguish. Her nomination alone was significant because it was the first time an actress from a Marvel film has been nominated for an Academy Award. Nonetheless, Jamie Lee Curtis won the award for her portrayal of a sarcastic IRS agent in “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.”
“The Banshees of Inisherin” was nominated for a total of nine Oscars, and it left with zero. The bleak comedy set on the shores of the real Irish island Inis Mór had resulted in nominations for Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Brendan Gleeson, Hong Chau, and Kerry Condon, though none of them took home the golden statuette.
In general, despite a number of nominations, the Irish did not fare well at the Oscars. There were, however, a number of Irish jokes courtesy of host Jimmy Kimmel — who quipped about the increased likelihood of a fight breaking out onstage thanks to the show’s heavy Irish presence in one of the evening’s many references to Will Smith’s infamous Oscars’ slap. Also, at one point, Kimmel also brought out a donkey that he claimed was Jenny, a scene-stealing performer in “Banshees of Inisherin.” It turns out that the donkey was just a stand-in, though, so fortunately the real Jenny didn’t cross the Atlantic for nothing.
