Sooooo… the Oscars happened last night, and we got all the 2022 Academy Award winners. Doesn’t look like too many people tuned in to the actual broadcast, but those that did were treated to a moment that overshadowed the entire thing: Will Smith came up on stage and slapped Chris Rock for telling a joke about his wife’s baldness, which is caused by alopecia. Will Smith then, later, got up on stage for winning Best Actor for his turn in King Richard and promptly apologized to everyone but Chris Rock during a teary acceptance speech.
There are three things to take away from this:
- Don’t slap people.
- Don’t make jokes about medical conditions.
- No one would really care about the Oscars without this.
Honestly, outside of the slap, would you be discussing the 2022 Oscar winners all that much today? Coda, an absolutely delightful dramedy from Apple TV+, took home Best Picture, making it the first winner of the award for a streaming service. Netflix is probably livid after years and years of trying, but it’s hard to say anyone else really cares in any major way? There were stirring speeches from Best Supporting Actress winner Ariana DeBose of West Side Story and deaf actor Troy Kotsur for his performance in Coda, but their historical importance is pretty much out the window thanks to the slap and the fact that there just isn’t that much historical importance anymore.
The Oscars tried to seem hip and/or with it by making MTV-style awards such as Fan-Favorite and listing the Five Most Cheerworthy Moments, both of which were decided on (shudder) Twitter. All you need to know about that is that Zack Snyder won both. Dune was probably the most popular film to win anything as it swept through almost all of the techy and visual awards, some of which weren’t even televised.
What it comes down to is that they have no idea what they’re doing, and the Academy looks like even more of a joke now than it did before. Its goal is no longer to honor the best of the best but to pull in ratings and act as a marketing tool. No one seems interested, not even me, who is sometimes paid to be interested. If you do happen to want to scroll through a list of the Oscar winners in 2022, it’s below. Winners in bold.
Oscar Winners in 2022
BEST PICTURE
- “Belfast”
- “CODA”
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “Drive My Car”
- “Dune”
- “King Richard”
- “Licorice Pizza”
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “West Side Story”
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
- Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”
- Judi Dench, “Belfast”
- Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”
- Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Ciaran Hinds, “Belfast”
- Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
- Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
- J.K. Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
- Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
- “Drive My Car”
- “Flee”
- “The Hand of God”
- “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”
- “The Worst Person in the World”
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
- “Audible”
- “Lead Me Home”
- “The Queen of Basketball”
- “Three Songs for Benazir”
- “When We Were Bullies”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- “Ascension”
- “Attica”
- “Flee”
- “Summer of Soul”
- “Writing with Fire”
ORIGINAL SONG
- “King Richard” – “Be Alive”
- “Encanto” – “Dos Oruguitas”
- “Belfast” – “Down To Joy”
- “No Time to Die” – “No Time To Die”
- “Four Good Days” – “Somehow You Do”
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
- “Encanto”
- “Flee”
- “Luca”
- “The Mitchells vs. The Machine”
- “Raya and the Last Dragon”
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- “CODA”
- “Drive My Car”
- “Dune”
- “The Lost Daughter”
- “The Power of the Dog”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- “Belfast”
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “King Richard”
- “Licorice Pizza”
- “The Worst Person in the World”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
- Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
- Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
- Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick… Boom!”
- Will Smith, “King Richard”
- Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
- Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
- Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
- Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
- Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
- Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”
DIRECTOR
- Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
- Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”
- Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
- Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
- Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”
PRODUCTION DESIGN
- “Dune”
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
- “West Side Story”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- “Dune”
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
- “West Side Story”
COSTUME DESIGN
- “Cruella”
- “Cyrano”
- “Dune”
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “Westside Story”
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
- “Belfast”
- “Dune”
- “No Time to Die”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “Westside Story”
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
- “Affairs of the Art”
- “Bestia”
- “Boxballet”
- “Robin Robin”
- “The Windshield Wiper”
LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
- “Ala Kachuu — Take and Run”
- “The Dress”
- “The Long Goodbye”
- “On My Mind”
- “Please Hold”
ORIGINAL SCORE
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “Dune”
- “Encanto”
- “Parallel Mothers”
- “The Power of the Dog”
VISUAL EFFECTS
- “Dune”
- “Free Guy”
- “No Time to Die”
- “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
- “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
FILM EDITING
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “Dune”
- “King Richard”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “Tick, Tick… Boom!”
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
- “Coming 2 America”
- “Cruella”
- “Dune”
- “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
- “House of Gucci”
