2022 was an incredible year for film. Technological marvels like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way Of Water”   blasted onto the scene, literally. “Top Gun: Maverick” included amazing visuals, and was, astonishingly, mostly practical effects. “Avatar: The Way of Water” was almost all computer generated, but looked incredibly realistic. On the less technical side, movies like, “The Whale” and “The Fablemans” touched more emotional notes. And the crown jewel of the year, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” managed to have some of the most captivating fight sequences of the decade, while also telling a beautiful story of Nihilism, love, and mother-daughter relationships. So it’s needless to say that the Oscars this year were eventful.

The Basics: First of all, The winner for Best Lead Actress went to Michelle Yeoh, for “EEAAO”, deservedly. Her performance was moving and emotional, while also hitting some hilarious beats. She is the first Asian Actress to ever win in this category, which, while having an unfortunate point about racism in Hollywood, is a great achievement for Michelle Yeoh. The award for Best Sound went to “Top Gun: Maverick” to no one’s surprise. The great sound design truly captured the power of the planes used in filming. Another obvious win went to “Avatar: The Way of Water” for best visual effects. If you’ve seen the movie, you know how much this movie deserves it. After a while of watching, you forget that Naavi isn’t a real species. The award for the best-animated film went to Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pinocchio” A beautiful stop-motion animated film, full of childhood wonder, and dark tones. If you get sad easily, don’t watch the movie. Or do, if you like the pain. And while there are other very deserving winners, we’ll wrap up this part of the summary with the winner for best picture, “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” This film is absolutely amazing, a masterpiece of cinema and acting. Every performance is realistic and beautiful, with the most captivating fight scenes I’ve ever watched. Wacky humor and multiversal cinematography make this movie a unique and fun time. But don’t think that you’re safe from the emotional torment, as the film has the most beautiful story of a mother-daughter relationship I’ve ever seen, not to mention the generational trauma, nihilism, and marriage problems in the film. If you haven’t seen it already, run to your tv to watch it. Now, onto the drama of the night.

The Drama: I would like to start by saying that I love Jamie Lee Curtis. I in no way am saying she is a bad actress, or that she was bad in this role. But Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress for Deirdra in “EEAAO”, and I, along with many others, think it was a mistake. In the movie, Jamie Lee plays a supporting role as an IRS employee performing an audit on the main character, Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh). Deirdra is a major supporting character, and she was hilarious in her role. There were even a few touching moments between her character and Evelyn. So why doesn’t she deserve it? Well, Jamie Lee was nominated

alongside Stephanie Hsu, who played the main antagonist in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, Joy/Jobu Topaki, the daughter of Evelyn turned Nihilist and omnipotent multiversal being. Stephanie Hsu’s performance was life-changing, to say the least. Her acting as a daughter torn apart by the actions of her mother felt so genuine, which is hard to get in a movie where some people have sausage fingers. You first get introduced to her as a being of chaos but realize that she’s just a depressed person who wants someone to understand her pain. Her acting in the role is incredibly captivating, and you can’t look away when she’s on screen. It’s needless to say that if someone from “Everything Everywhere All At Once” was to win in that category, it should be the one who performed so deeply in a role so ridiculous, that it can resonate with audiences all over. Stephanie Hsu achieved that. While Jamie Lee was funny and did well with the role she got, she did not do what Stephanie Hsu did. And that’s okay- she wasn’t supposed to. So the fact that she still won the award, it just feels wrong. Not to mention she was one of the only white actors in a main role in “EEAAO”. Some say it was because of her lifetime achievements, but this wasn’t a lifetime achievement award. This was for one role, in one movie. And Stephanie Hsu deserved it. Ok, I’ve said my drama of the night, let’s get to something more heartwarming.

The Comebacks: No, this is not about insult, comebacks. It’s about career comebacks, and who doesn’t love a good comeback? This year we had multiple. First up, Brendan Frasier for “The Whale”. You may know Brendan Frasier for “The Mummy”, or “George of the Jungle”. What you may not know is that he was pushed out of the acting industry after accusing an ex-president of The Hollywood Foreign Press Association of sexually abusing him. He stepped out of the spotlight and didn’t act for almost 4 years, until “The Whale”. “The Whale” is a movie about an overweight father trying to reconcile with his daughter. Brendan Frasier plays the main character, Charlie, a morbidly obese English Teacher and father. The movie has gotten much praise for its incredible acting and heartwrenching story. At this year’s Oscars, Brendan Frasier finally got the recognition he deserved and won Best Lead Actor. The other incredibly beautiful story from the Oscars is that of Ke Huy Quan, who you may know as Shortround from “Indiana Jones: Temple Of Doom” or as Data from “The Goonies”.

Your favorite kid grew up! Ke Huy Quan is now 51 years old, but he hasn’t lost a bit of his charm. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as Waymond Wang in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”. Waymond is the joyful and ridiculous husband of Evelyn, who tries to always find joy in the little things in his life. He loves his wife but can tell that their marriage is in danger. He also plays multiple different versions of that same character, in different universes. His character has an infectious smile, a heart of gold, and just wants to be kind. Ke Huy Quan, the actor himself, isn’t that different from Waymond. The actor is full of joy and enthusiasm, so who wouldn’t root for him? Ke Huy is a Vietnamese Immigrant of Chinese descent, born in 1971, whose family fled South Vietnam when he was seven years old. Quan, his father, and five of his eight siblings fled to Hong Kong, staying in a refugee camp for a year until being admitted to the United States with his family. He grew up in California and got his first role in Indiana Jones at 12. His role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” was Ke Huy’s first acting job since 1998, where after his childhood and teen success, he found there just weren’t any roles for someone of his descent. After watching the movie “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018, Quan was inspired to return to the spotlight. He was sought out by the directors of “EEAAO” during casting and got the part. At the Oscars, after winning his award he told about his 85-year-old mother watching his acceptance speech at home, saying emotionally, “Mom, I just won an Oscar!”. When “EEAAO” won Best Picture, the award was presented by Quan’s former co-star, Harrison Ford, who played Indiana Jones in “Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom”. The pair shared a beautiful moment and hug. Ke Huy Quan has made it back, and he is getting the recognition he deserved.

So, overall, the Oscars were pretty satisfying, and definitely had a lot of amazing moments. If you haven’t already, watch “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, and all the other amazing films mentioned in this article. And if you’re an aspiring actor, don’t ever let anybody tell you to stop acting, because you never know what will happen in the future. If this year’s stories of comebacks taught us anything, it’s that amazing things do happen.