11am – It’s time!

Hollywood’s night of nights is finally here! It’s time to celebrate (some of) the best films of the last year, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the third time. Kimmel opens the show and keeps his material fairly safe, only briefly referencing the shocking events of last year’s ceremony in which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.

There are 16 first-time nominees this year, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Ana De Armas, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan (the latter two garnering the loudest cheers from the star-studded audience).

Providing behind-the-scenes tidbits from Oscar 95’s nominated films, Kimmel also shares Steven Spielberg is the first person to be nominated in six different decades – that’s (at least) one nomination a decade for his entire career!

Kimmel does call out the glaring lack of diversity among this year’s nominations, citing missing nods for Till and The Woman King, before adding jokingly that since all 23 categories will be broadcast, the winners’ acceptance speeches should be kept to a minimum, unless they want to be danced off by the cast of RRR.

11:16am — Best Animated Feature Film

Jungle Cruise co-stars Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson are presenting Best Animated Feature Film. Johnson takes the time to give animators a much-needed shout-out, despite tongue-in-cheek warnings from Blunt to keep it moving.

Here are the nominees:

• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

• Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

• Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

• The Sea Beast

• Turning Red

The winner is Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio! The director’s moving speech, dedicated to family, also pleads with us to “keep animation in the conversation” because “animation is cinema”.

11:28am — Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role

Last year’s Best Supporting Actress and Actor winners, Ariana De Bose (In The Heights) and Troy Kotsur (CODA), take to the stage to present this year’s awards.

Here are the nominees for Best Supporting Actor:

• Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)

• Bryan Tyree Henry (Causeway)

• Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)

• Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)

• Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Season favourite Ke Huy Quan wins his first Academy Award. With tears streaming down his face, Quan begins by speaking directly to his 84-year-old mother watching at home, exclaiming, “Mum, I just won an Oscar!”

Recounting his time in a refugee camp upon moving to America, Quan says, “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can’t believe it’s happening to me. This is the American dream!” He then points at the camera and implores us all watching at home to “please keep your dreams alive.”

It’s so inspirational and we’re not crying, you’re crying!

And now for the hotly contested women’s category:

• Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

• Hong Chau (The Whale)

• Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

• Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

• Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Jamie Lee Curtis takes home her first Oscar for her performance as an intimidating IRS worker in The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All At Once, thanking the “hundreds of people” who helped her along the way. If she wasn’t an icon already, shouting “I just won an Oscar!!” is THE moment.

11:48am — Best Documentary

Riz Ahmed and Questlove are presenting the statue for Best Documentary, highlighting the unique lens and creative storytelling the nominated filmmakers have brought to their particular subjects.

• All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer)

• All The Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov)

• Fire Of Love (Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman)

• A House Made Of Splinters (Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström)

• Navalny (Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris)

The winner is the team behind Navalny, who a message from anti-corruption activist, Russian opposition leader and subject of their documentary Alexei Navalny, who is currently incarcerated.

12pm — Best Cinematography

Presenters and Creed III co-stars Michael B Jordan and Johnathan Majors relish in trading compliments and boxing puns about innovative cinematography throughout the years, including the groundbreaking work of Ernest Dickerson on Malcolm X.

Here are the nominees for Best Cinematography:

• James Friend (All Quiet On The Western Front)

• Darius Khondji (Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths)

• Mandy Walker (Elvis)

• Roger Deakins (Empire Of Light)

• Florian Hoffmeister (Tar)

Sadly, Australian Mandy Walker doesn’t earn the gold statue this time. If she had, it would have made her the first woman to win this category in the history of the Oscars (as it stands, only three women have ever been nominated). James Friend wins for All Quiet On The Western Front and says that although it’s not his birthday, he feels like it is.

A delightfully mind-bending performance of ‘This Is A Life’ from Everything Everywhere All At Once by Mitski and David Byrne – complete with hot dog fingers – punctuates a break in the award-giving, complete with resplendent white costumes and accompanying visuals of Raccacoonie.

Watch Popcorn Podcast’s interview with Elvis writer and director Baz Luhrmann now

12.16pm — Best Make-Up and Hairstyling

Jennifer Connelly and Samuel L Jackson are here to wish their “friends and therapists” – the artists behind hair and make-up – luck in the next category. Makes sense when hair and make-up are the frontline soldiers who have to wrangle a pre-coffee dishevelled actor who rolled out of bed at the crack of dawn into a camera-ready superstar.

Here are the nominees:

• Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová (All Quiet On The Western Front)

• Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine (The Batman)

• Camille Friend and Joel Harlow (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

• Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti (Elvis)

• Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley (The Whale)

The winners are the team behind the groundbreaking prosthetics used to transform Brendan Fraser in The Whale. But they are unfortunately played offstage mid-acceptance. Given the more lenient amount of time previous high-profile winners were gifted, it proves there are some categories still considered less important when it comes to the broadcast.

12:25pm — Best Costume Design

Kimmel brings out adorable “emotional support donkey” Jenny, from The Banshees Of Inisherin, if anyone needs a cuddle throughout the night (or a finger eaten), she’s there to provide.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is joined by Paul Dano (The Fabelmans) to present the next category and is feeling fine, quipping about all the costumes that “fall into gym bags” after production has wrapped. Dano compliments Louis-Dreyfus on her plunging floor-length black dress featuring sparkling stars, which the Seinfeld actor replies is from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 1989.

Here are the nominees for Best Costume Design:

• Mary Zophres (Babylon)

• Ruth Carter (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

• Catherine Martin (Elvis)

• Shirley Kurata (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

• Jenny Beavan (Mrs Harris Goes To Paris)

Ruth Carter wins for her incredible design work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Who could forget Queen Ramonda’s (Angela Bassett) shoulder mantle and crown. Carter begins by thanking the Academy for “recognising the superhero that is a black woman. She endures, she loves, she overcomes.”

This makes Carter the first black woman to win multiple Oscars in any category after she also took the statue for her work on the first Black Panther.

Next, we’re treated to a raucous performance of Best Original Song nominee ‘Naatu Naatu’ from RRR. We’re exhausted just watching them, but it’s truly an energising spectacle!

Listen to Popcorn Podcast’s no-spoiler Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review

12:41pm — Best International Feature Film

Scorchers Salma Hayek Pinault and Antonio Banderas join forces to present the award for Best International Feature Film, saying that “although these filmmakers may be from different countries and cultures, they have proven the language of storytelling is universal.” Truer words were never uttered in such sexy accents.

Here are the nominees:

• All Quiet On The Western Front

• Argentina, 1985

• Close

• EO

• The Quiet Girl

All Quiet On The Western Front wins again! Writer and director Edward Berger shouts out all the new friends he made making this film, including cinematographer (and now Oscar-winner) James Friend.

12:50pm — Best Documentary and Animated Short Films

Elizabeth Olsen and Pedro Pascal strut their way onstage to present the next two awards, both for shorts.

Here are the nominees:

• The Elephant Whisperers

• Haulout

• How Do You Measure A Year

• The Martha Mitchell Effect

• Stranger At The Gate

The Elephant Whisperers team wins. Guneet Monga is among the first producers from India to be inducted into the Academy and begins by speaking to the “sacred bond between us and our natural world, for the respect of Indigenous communities and empathy towards other living beings we share our space with.”

Then it’s time for the award for Best Animated Short Film, here are the nominees:

• The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse

• The Flying Sailor

• Ice Merchants

• My Year Of Dicks

• An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse wins, with Matthew Freud admitting in his extremely British acceptance speech that he’s more comfortable apologising than showing gratitude and that they’ve never made a film before so the win is “bewildering”.

Next up, an understated Lady Gaga introduces herself singing a stirringly powerful rendition of the “deeply personal” ‘Hold My Hand’ from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack, saying, “there are heroes all around us, but you might find you can be your own hero if you feel broken inside.” The performance is dedicated to original Top Gun director Tony Scott.

1.09pm — Best Production and Set Design

Four Weddings And A Funeral co-stars Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell reunite onstage for two reasons. The first, Grant says, is “to raise awareness of the vital importance of using a good moisturiser, Andie has been wearing one everyday for the past 29 years… [she is] still stunning… [I’m] basically a scrotum.” Besides this hilarious observation, they’ve also got to hand out the gongs for Best Production and Set Design.

Here are the nominees:

• Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper (All Quiet On The Western Front)

• Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole (Avatar: The Way Of Water)

• Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino (Babylon)

• Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn (Elvis)

• Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara (The Fabelmans)

The Oscar goes to All Quiet On The Western Front! Are we starting to see a pattern here? This could be a record-breaker for Netflix.

Mindy Kaling and John Cho are here to hand out the award for Best Original Score and highlight what a difference a good soundscape can make to instantly help us set the mood in a film or foreshadow an important moment.

Here are the nominees:

• Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet On The Western Front)

• Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)

• Carter Burwell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

• Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

• John Williams (The Fabelmans)

We’re officially entering sweep territory, as All Quiet On The Western Front wins again! This is unprecedented for a streamer (Netflix) to win so many major awards.

1.25pm — Best Visual Effects

Cocaine Bear director Elizabeth Banks almost has a Jennifer Lawrence moment as she stumbles her way across the stage to talk visual effects with someone in a bear costume. As the bear mimes asking whether the visual effects in various movies are practical or computer generated – Top Gun: Maverick? = real. Avatar: The Way Of Water? = CGI. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? = totally real.

Here are the nominees:

• Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar (All Quiet On The Western Front)

• Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett (Avatar: The Way Of Water)

• Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy (The Batman)

• Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

• Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher (Top Gun: Maverick)

Listen to Popcorn Podcast’s Top Gun: Maverick movie review

James Cameron is nowhere to be found at this year’s ceremony (Kimmel quipped earlier it may have been because he wasn’t nominated), but his visual effects team take the win.

Once again, this deserving technical team are played offstage mid-acceptance in favour of a baffling bit from Kimmel asking questions from viewers at home. He begins by approaching Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala to ask whether she thinks Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival premiere of Don’t Worry Darling, to which the activist replies, somewhat uncomfortably, “I only talk about peace”. You can hear the crickets in the auditorium on that one.

Moving on! Danai Gurira gives a powerful introduction to Rihanna’s performance of ‘Born Again’ from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which receives a standing ovation.

1.40pm — Best Original and Adapted Screenplay

Andrew Garfield joins Florence Pugh to present the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award, saying, “The best screenplays to read are just as alive as the films they eventually become.”

Pugh adds: “Before the words can flow, writers need that creative spark.” Well, these films have sparked their way to an Oscar nomination:

• The Banshess Of Inisherin by Martin McDonagh

• Everything Everywhere All At Once by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

• The Fabelmans by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

• Tar by Todd Field

• Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund

The energy of The Daniels as they accept their award is off-the-charts chaos and joy, as they thank the teachers who changed their life and call out a touch of imposter syndrome. Seems even Oscar-winners doubt their abilities from time to time!

Now it’s time for Best Adapted Screenplay:

• All Quiet On The Western Front by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery by Rian Johnson

• Living by Kazuo Ishiguro

• Top Gun: Maverick by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

• Women Talking by Sarah Polley

What an incredible win for writer and director Sarah Polley, who thanks the Academy for not being offended by the words “women” and “talking” so close together.

1.45pm — Best Sound Design and Original Song

Glass Onion co-stars Janelle Monae and Kate Hudson dazzle as they present the sound categories.

Here are the nominees:

• Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte (All Quiet On The Western Front)

• Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges (Avatar: The Way Of Water)

• Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson (The Batman)

• David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller (Elvis)

• Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor (Top Gun: Maverick)

The sound design team recorded real aircraft carriers and jet engines to craft the soundscape of winner Top Gun: Maverick and the attention to detail shows! Much has been made about Maverick’s role in rebuilding the cinema experience after the pandemic, and sound was integral in a crafting a heart-pounding film.

Next up is Best Original Song, here are the nominees:

• Applause from Tell It like a Woman; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

• Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick; Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

• Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

• Naatu Naatu from RRR; Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose

• This Is A Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once; Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

‘Naatu Naatu’ from RRR wins and M.M. Keeravaani hilariously adapts The Carpenters’ ‘Top Of The World’ as an acceptance speech.

An emotional John Travolta introduces the In Memoriam segment, tearing up as he references being “hopelessly devoted” to those we’ve lost, including his dear friend and Grease co-star Olivia Newton John, who recently succumbed to her battle with cancer. Lenny Kravitz takes to the piano, as we farewell actors, including Ray Liotta, Robbie Coltrane, James Caan, and Raquel Welch, plus singer Irene Cara, composer Burt Bacharach and sadly many more.

2pm — Best Editing

Avatar co-stars Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana are here to present the Oscar for Best Editing.

Here are the nominees:

• Mikkel E.G. Nielsen (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

• Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond (Elvis)

• Paul Rogers (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

• Monika Willi (Tar)

• Eddie Hamilton (Top Gun: Marverick)

There’s a bit of a theme emerging from this year’s ceremony, with newbie filmmakers bringing their fresh talent to the Academy. Paul Rogers adds to that sentiment with “this is only my second movie, this is crazy!”

We’re getting to the pointy end of the event now, with Idris Elba and Nicole Kidman in attendance to present the award for Best Director. These names need no introduction:

• Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

• Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

• Steven Spielberg (The Fablemans)

• Todd Field (Tar)

• Ruben Östlund (Triangle Of Sadness)

The Daniels take the win, declaring the result to be “weird”. This is somewhat ironic considering the aesthetic of their incredibly popular film. They also dedicate their win to all the “mummies of the world.” Heck yeah!

2.15pm — Best Actor and Actress

Here we are, with only three awards left. Oscar-winners Jessica Chastain and Halle Berry are here to present the best performances in film from the past year.

The nominees for Best Actor are:

• Austin Butler (Elvis)

• Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)

• Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

• Paul Mescal (Aftersun)

• Bill Nighy (Living)

Drum roll, please… Brendan Fraser wins his first Oscar for The Whale! The Brenaissance is officially sealed in history. Fraser is overwhelmed, exclaiming: “This is what the multiverse looks like!” Of course, he thanks his fellow nominees and co-stars, in particular praising the talents of Hong Chau. “Only whales can swim at the depth of the talent of Hong Chau,” he says.

Listen to Popcorn Podcast’s The Whale movie review

Now, we’re on to the hotly contested Best Actress:

• Cate Blanchett (Tár)

• Ana De Armas (Blonde)

• Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie)

• Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)

• Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Another awards season favourite has taken the win – Michelle Yeoh secures Best Actress in a Leading Role! Collecting her award to a standing ovation, Yeoh sends a message to “all the little girls and boys who look like me watching tonight” that this award is a beacon of hope and possibilities. She echoes her co-star Quan’s sentiment that “dreams do come true” and addresses all the ladies with, “Don’t let anyone tell you you’re past your prime!” If there was an award for best Oscar acceptance, Yeoh would win that, too.

2.30pm — Best Film

Harrison Ford flies solo onstage for the final award of the night. It’s time for the big one! He speeds through reading the nominees for Best Film:

• All Quiet On The Western Front

• Avatar: The Way Of Water

• The Banshees Of Inisherin

• Elvis

• Everything Everywhere All At Once

• The Fabelmans

• Tar

• Top Gun: Maverick

• Triangle Of Sadness

• Women Talking

Everything Everywhere All At Once wins! From 11 nominations tonight, The Daniels’ multiverse monster of a film has won seven. But the best part of the historic moment has to be Ke Huy Quan screaming and jumping all over his Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom co-star Ford (thank you to the Academy for that beautiful moment) while smothering him in kisses. Is there anything more pure?

And that marks the end of the 95th Academy Awards. It was an expectedly tame affair by all accounts; the Academy no doubt overcorrecting after the events of last year. But the magic of seeing recipients who were truly humbled and grateful for the accolades bestowed on them made Oscars 2023 a special one.