The time has finally come for the 2022 Oscars, and with it comes plenty of questions about who is going to win and take home the big prizes. And for the first time in a long while, I don’t really know the answer to it! What’s so fascinating about this year’s award circuit is that every ceremony resulted in different actors taking home awards or a different movie getting its time in the spotlight, and so now, who knows what is going to happen?!
This year was a big one for movies changing the way we look at this ceremony. With nominees like Drive My Car rightfully taking a Best Picture nomination and CODA leading the charge, there are plenty of nominees that deserve to take home the Oscars!
Now that the ceremony is underway, we’re seeing wonderful performances from the cast of Encanto, seeing how our three hosts (Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall) are doing, and, of course, seeing who will go down in history as the next Oscar winner! (Please be sure to read that with a Cher accent.)
But it can also be hard to keep up with the winners, so here is a list of everyone who has won at this Academy Awards this year!
And the winner is…
[Updating …]
BEST PICTURE: CODA
(image: Apple TV+)
CODA takes home the big award of the night for Best Picture! A movie that explores the life of the hearing daughter of a deaf family and her journey into a music school, CODA is uplifting and beautiful and the kind of movie that can inspire us all in the best of ways.
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: JESSICA CHASTAIN IN THE EYE OF TAMMY FAYE
Bringing to life the trials and problems of Tammy Faye Bakker’s history, Jessica Chastain completely transported herself into the role and made us believe she was Tammy Faye. This is a brilliant choice and once that is well earned.
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: WILL SMITH FOR KING RICHARD
King Richard gives us all a look into the life of Serena and Venus Williams and their father Richard and how he trained them to be the athletes we all know and love. Will Smith brilliantly brought Richard to lifer and while his speech was all about his love for his own family and how it played into his portrayal, he was an incredible addition to the Best Actor category.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: ARIANA DeBOSE FOR WEST SIDE STORY
Ariana DeBose made history as the second woman to win for playing the role of Anita in West Side Story as she took home the Best Supporting Actress win! Anita, the guiding light for María as she’s trying to navigate the fight between the Sharks and the Jets and her love for Tony. DeBose is more than well-deserving and it’s wonderful to see a North Carolina native take home the trophy!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: TROY KOTSUR IN CODA
Troy Kotsur took home the Best Supporting Oscar for his work in the movie CODA and it is beyond well deserved. Playing Frank Rossi in the film, he is one of our great actors and helped bridge the gap between the acting world and the deaf world with his work in CODA and his win is a historic one!
BEST DIRECTOR: JANE CAMPION FOR THE POWER OF THE DOG
Jane Campion is now the third woman to take the title of Best Director for her work on The Power of the Dog. Bringing to life the cowboys of Montana, the film is about longing and suppressing your feelings and is another powerful entry into Campion’s catalog of films and this is an impressive win for the New Zealand director.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: ENCANTO
Encanto took the world of the Madrigal family and showed us the struggle of family trauma and brought to life Colombia through Mirabel Madrigal as she tries to learn about her uncle and the secrets of her family. Winning Best Animated Feature is a perfect win!
BEST ANIMATED SHORT: THE WINDSHIELD WIPER
The Best Animated Short this year went to The Windshield Wiper which is described as follows: “Inside a cafe while smoking a whole pack of cigarettes, a man poses an ambitious question: “What is Love?”” One of the best aspects of animated films is sometimes the shorts before it and The Windshield Wiper is now part of history!
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM: DRIVE MY CAR
Drive My Car was, personally, one of my favorite movies of this year and winning Best International Feature Film is beyond well deserved. When an actor is trying to cope with the death of his wife (and being forced into not being allowed to drive his own car), he has to unpack his own grief and it’s a beautiful exploration of grief, pain, and art. It’s beyond deserved and definitely a must see.
BEST SOUND: DUNE
Dune took home the award for Best Sound prior to the start of the ceremony. The Denis Villeneuve film brought to like Frank Herbert novel in part one in a way that captivated audiences and brought us into the world of Arrakis and explored the character of the Herbert novel in a new and refreshing way. Taking home the Best Sound helped set the scene for the film in the best way!
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: THE LONG GOODBYE
Proving yet again that Riz Ahmed is one of our best working actors, The Long Goodbye took home the award for Best Live-Action Short. The film is described as follows: “An immigrant family in Britain is preparing its home for a wedding celebration, until a right-wing march spirals out of control and chaos erupts.” And if it means that Ahmed got an Oscar win, we love to see it!
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: CRUELLA
Is this surprising? Cruella took home the award for Best Costume Design and as the movie has her as a fashion designer so having her win best costumes honestly isn’t that surprising.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: BELFAST
Belfast may be a look into the upbringing of Kenneth Branagh but it is also an absolutely incredibly look into a child trying to make heads of what is happening around him. Branagh taking the Best Original Screenplay for this makes sense and is a nod to the brilliance of his film.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: CODA
CODA is a film that not only gives us a cast of deaf actors and presents us a heartwarming world of a daughter trying to make her future her own versus whatever her family wants for her. it’s not an upsetting movie but, instead, an uplifting one and a must-see!
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: DUNE
With Dune, the score by Hans Zimmer truly set the scene for Denis Villeneuve’s film in the best of ways and created a world for the film that helped tell the story of Paul Atreides.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: NO TIME TO DIE BY BILLIE EILISH AND FINNEAS
No Time to Die ushered in the end of Daniel Craig’s run as James Bond but gave us another perfect entry into the Bond song line-up for Craigs movies. Sung by Billie Eilish and written by her and her writing partner FINNEAS, it’s a great Bond song and a fantastic win for the writing duo.
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield were nearly unrecognizable in The Eyes of Tammy Faye and so the film taking home the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar makes sense given just how completely they changed into Tammy Faye Bakker and Jim Bakker.
BEST EDITING: DUNE
Again, Dune is a masterpiece and having it take home awards for editing and production make sense, given the cinematic scope of the film. With Editing, the Denis Villeneuve film brought to life different worlds and characters in such a way that this is a win that makes complete sense.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: SUMMER OF SOUL
When it comes to Best Documentary Feature, there are plenty of brilliant films in the category who have one and this year’s is no different! Summer of Soul is described as follows: “Over the course of six weeks during the summer of 1969, thousands of people attend the Harlem Cultural Festival to celebrate Black history, culture, music, and fashion.”
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL
The Best Documentary Short went to The Queen of Basketball and was another look into women in sports in the best of ways! The Queen of Basketball is described as follows: “Lusia “Lucy” Harris Stewart is a pioneer in women’s basketball, leading a rural Mississippi college to three national titles, scoring the first basket in women’s Olympic history in 1976, being the first and only woman to be drafted into the NBA.”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: DUNE
When it comes a film that is a visionary masterpiece, Dune is the peak for this award season. So again, it taking home Production Design isn’t surprising.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: DUNE
Yet again, Dune is a very visual movie so nabbing the cinematography makes the most sense. It’s an honorable win and one that I’m not angry about.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: DUNE
Dune is a movie that transports us into a completely new universe and part of that comes with visual effects. So taking home Visual Effects for the movie at large is very much within the wheelhouse of the Denis Villeneuve film.
(featured image: Richard Harbaugh – Handout/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty)
