THE 95TH ACADEMY AWARDS from the cynical perspective of a college Film Critic

By Liv Ream, Film Critic

EFORE WE BEGIN…I understand the importance of film achievement and recognizing the people responsible for giving us art. I don’t want to disparage anything that people find entertaining. That being said, I will disparage egregious displays of wealth disguised as anything other than elitism. An argument can certainly be made for Oscar speeches being used as a platform to share important social and political messages… as long as those messages are in a neat 45-second package. This entire event seems hollow to me, so I won’t pretend it doesn’t. And I probably won’t talk about every single category because I do not want to.

Brendan Fraser won best actor for The Whale, and I have nothing negative or snarky to say about it. He gives the impression of a genuine man even if I have a bias for the star of the real mummy franchise (Tom Cruise could never). The Whale is also known for the use of intense prosthetics and makeup on Brendan Fraser, so I am not surprised the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling went to Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley.

Michelle Yeoh won best actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which makes her the first Asian woman to win an Oscar. Everything Everywhere All at Once won 7 out of 11 nominations, including Academy to the person who posted my rapist on their snapchat story i know you didn’t mean to toss me down the rabbit hole but seeing his face sent a shock through my entire body it reminded me of the chaos that was formed inside me it reminded me of the way he was able to turn my body into a graveyard it reminded me of the day i was attacked and begging every God to put me out of my misery it reminded me that my body is nothing more than a barcode reading she too was ripped apart it reminded me of the moment i felt the light turn off inside me and heard nothing but the sound of my own bones breaking it reminded me of the anniversary of my survival it reminded me that every seven years your body recreates its cells and i no longer have a body he took advantage of it reminded me that i stand hand-in-hand with the survivors of sexual assault and we turn havoc into hope

Award for Best Picture. Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan each took home Best Actor in a Supporting Role, while Best Film Editing, Best Original Screenplay and Directing wins went to Paul Rogers and co-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Overall, I think this film deserves all the recognition it gets. Just because I don’t enjoy the Oscars doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy when good movies win.

Unsurprisingly, Avatar: The Way of Water won the Academy Award for Visual Effects. This was the only award the film was recognized for. I like to believe it was a consolation prize, costing James Cameron only 250 million dollars. Similarly, Top Gun: Maverick took home one Academy Award for Sound. I guess Scientology should have spent more money on their Oscar campaign. My advice? To raise membership prices for their cul- I mean busineI mean sca- RELIGION. That’s the one! If they do that, hopefully we can skip seeing John Travolta cry next year.

Last, and certainly least, ELVIS WON NOTHING. That’s all we can really ask for during Women’s History Month.