After a long-haul awards season, the 94th annual Academy Awards happened at last. Hollywood’s biggest night saw Oscar statues doled out across 24 categories — though eight of those honors were, controversially, handed out in the hour before the ceremony.
Tonight marked a moment of redemption for many of the most dogged Oscar campaigners, who’ve been on the awards circuit since the fall of 2021. The telecast this year features three hosts: Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer.
But whatever good came out of this evening’s “post”-pandemic Oscars was overshadowed by Best Actor winner Will Smith’s unscripted onstage confrontation of Best Documentary Oscar presenter Chris Rock, who made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith that did not go over well.
Onward. In any case, they were joined by a variety of musical guests including Beyonce (“King Richard”), Billie Eilish and FINNEAS (“No Time to Die”), Reba McEntire (“Four Good Days”), and Sebastián Yatra (“Encanto”), among other musical guests. Plus, the Academy assembled an “all-star band” featuring the likes of blink-182 drummer and “The Kardashians” star Travis Barker, percussionist and singer Sheila E., and genre-spanning pianist Robert Glasper.
Presenters included Rachel Zegler (arriving at the Oscars after not originally being invited), Lady Gaga, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bill Murray, Jacob Elordi, Venus and Serena Williams, DJ Khaled, Jennifer Garner, H.E.R., Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Tony Hawk, Bill Murray, Elliot Page, Kelly Slater, Tracee Ellis Ross, Uma Thurman, Kevin Costner, Zoë Kravitz, Rosie Perez, Chris Rock, Ruth E. Carter, Jason Moma, Josh Brolin, Shaun White, and many more — including last year’s acting winners Daniel Kaluuya, Anthony Hopkins, and Yuh-Jung Youn.
As a reminder, last year’s Oscars were dominated by “Nomadland,” winning Best Picture, plus Best Actress Frances McDormand and Best Director Chloe Zhao. Yuh-Jung Youn won Best Supporting Actress for “Minari,” Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” and Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for “The Father.” Last year’s ceremony took place at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles in a limited-capacity pandemic affair. This year, the Oscars are back at the Dolby, albeit with a slightly limited capacity (2,500 vs. the usual 3,300 plus), and as visible on the afternoon red carpet, Hollywood is excited to be back home at the storied venue at Hollywood and Highland.
Best Picture
“Belfast”
“CODA” (Winner)
“Don’t Look Up”
“Drive My Car”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Winner)
Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”