Best Pictures #95: The 95th Academy Awards: My Pick

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #95: The 95th Academy Awards 

The 95th Academy Awards for films released in 2022 were held on March 12, 2023. Unpopular changes like handing out awards for the technical categories before the start of the ceremony were done away with and this ceremony embraced that it would be long, to the betterment of the ceremony. There were no major incidents or controversies though, as ever, the In Memorium could have included more people. Highlights of the night included Ke Huy Quan’s win for Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All At Once, an appearance by the “real” Cocaine Bear, and the performance and win of “Naatu Naatu” for Best Original Song from the hyper-entertaining Indian film RRR. Host Jimmy Kimmel made several jokes about the previous year’s slapping incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock, but he took no low shots at the nominated movies. Recently the ceremony has taken an embarrassed, almost apologetic tone towards the nominated movies. This year felt like a real celebration of movies. 

As awards season rolled along and Everything Everywhere All At Once picked up more and more accolades, it suffered the same minor problem as Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water in 2017 in that its frontrunner status made it the conventional choice, though the movie is far from conventional. So, many of its wins did not come as total surprises, however, this did not stop the excitement of this sci-fi multiverse martial arts movie winning a total of 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. It is no overstatement to say that Everything Everywhere won big, picking up the most awards by a Best Picture winner since Slumdog Millionaire at the 2008 Oscars. The impressive tally of wins include: Best Picture, Director, Actress-Michelle Yeoh, Supporting Actress-Jaime Lee Curtis, Supporting Actor-Ke Huy Quan, Original Screenplay, and Editing. 

The flipside of Everything Everywhere winning big, along with the remake of All Quiet on the Western Front, which won 4 Oscars, is that films with multiple nominations like The Banshees of Inisherin (9), Elvis (8), The Fabelmans (7), and Tar (6) went home empty handed. Typically, the Academy spreads the wealth, but not this year. 

Everything Everywhere is a fun and exciting choice for Best Picture, a nice change from the last couple years in which the Academy has awarded Best Picture to films that were good but not very daring. For me, the Best Picture nominees of 2022 were a mostly great selection of films and I was torn about which film would be my choice, if I had a vote, because for the first time in a long while not one but two of my absolute favorite films of the year were nominated for Best Picture. On my personal list of the best of 2022, Top Gun: Maverick and The Fabelmans are tied for first place, but if I can only award one…

My Pick for Best Picture of 2022: Top Gun: Maverick

There are scenes in Top Gun: Maverick that do not advance the plot but are important because they grow the characters. This is not done through dramatic monologues or speeches or cheap tricks but in intimate person to person moments. These moments feel honest; they add humanity into an action movie, something that is not strictly necessary but greatly enhances the movie. Jennifer Connolly’s character Penny is a great addition, a real challenge for Maverick, since flying comes so easy to him. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is close enough to the character you remember, but a lot of time has passed and the screenplay and Tom Cruise are not afraid to show us a different, mature version of a familiar character. The scenes of the F-18s in action will always dazzle and they are more than pure spectacle because of the work the cast and crew put into every aspect of the movie. It is difficult to blend action and emotion but, here, every thrill and every heartfelt moment are well earned. I can’t wait to watch it again.