The resounding victory of Everything Everywhere All at Once, featuring Michelle Yeoh in the lead role, at the 2023 Oscars established several memorable milestones in the history of the awards, which has been held 95 times.
In terms of genre, Everything Everywhere All at Once is the first science fiction or action-comedy film to win the Best Picture award. It is also regarded as the first film to sweep the Oscars with 7 wins since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) expanded the Best Picture category to a maximum of 10 nominations in 2010. The last film to achieve a “sweep” was Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which won 8 out of its 10 nominations.
Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
With Everything Everywhere All at Once, directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won the Best Director award. This marks only the third time a duo has triumphed in this category, following Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961) and the Coen brothers for No Country for Old Men (2007). Daniel Kwan is the fourth person of Asian descent to hold the Best Director Oscar, following Ang Lee (twice, for Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi), Bong Joon-ho (for Parasite), and Chloe Zhao (for Nomadland). All of these wins have occurred within the last 20 years.
2023 Oscar-winning cast (from left to right): Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Jamie Lee Curtis
Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman and the second woman of color to win the Best Actress award for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The previous and only other win for a woman of color was Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball (2001).
The Best Supporting Actress award went to Jamie Lee Curtis for Everything Everywhere All at Once. She is the second person with parents who were previously nominated for Oscars but did not win, after Laura Dern. Additionally, at the age of 64, Curtis is among the 10 oldest actresses ever honored in this category.
Michelle Yeoh’s globally viral speech, the dazzling glory for Everything Everywhere All at Once, but the 2023 Oscars still felt too safe!
The outstanding performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once earned Ke Huy Quan the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He is the second Asian to win this award after Dr. Haing S. Ngor (from Cambodia) for The Killing Fields (1984).
Besides the three names mentioned above, Brendan Fraser won the Best Actor award for The Whale. All four actors who received acting Oscars this year are over 50 years old, with Ke Huy Quan being the youngest (51) and Jamie Lee Curtis the oldest (64). Furthermore, it has been 46 years since Network (1976) that audiences have witnessed a film winning three acting Oscars like Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was announced as the winner in the Best Costume Design category. This is the fifth sequel or spin-off film to receive this honor, following The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2008), Fantastic Beasts (2016), and Mad Max: Fury Road (2014). However, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the first film to win after its predecessor (Black Panther, 2018) also won the same award.
Scene from Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).
Not only is James Cameron the “king of the box office,” but he can also be considered the “king” of the Best Visual Effects category. Throughout his career, 6 out of the 9 films directed by Cameron have won this award, with Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) being the latest. Only 3 of his films have not won this honor: Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), The Terminator (1984), and True Lies (1994).
While Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire (2008) previously won the Best Original Song award, Danny Boyle’s film is actually considered British. Therefore, Naatu Naatu from RRR (2022) this year can be regarded as the first Indian musical product to take home this Oscar.
Top Gun: Maverick won only one award at the 95th Academy Awards, in the Best Sound category. The number of Oscars won by the blockbuster, which grossed nearly $1.5 billion globally, matches that of the original film. Top Gun (1986) previously won just one award with Take My Breath Away in the Best Original Song category.
All Quiet on the Western Front happily walked away with 4 Oscars, including Best International Feature Film. The war film from Germany shares the record for the most wins for a non-English language film with Fanny and Alexander (1982), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and Parasite (2019). Italy and France still hold the record for the most wins in this category, with 14 and 12 wins, respectively. However, just counting the 21st century, Germany currently leads with 3 wins.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) is the second stop-motion animated film to win the Best Animated Feature award. The first film to receive this honor was Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).
