Oscars 2023: 5 major highlights of the Academy Awards

For three-plus hours, we got some memorable moments filled with chaos, tears, Cocaine Bears, interesting performances and jokes.

A24’s ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ led the pack with 11 nominations at the 95th annual Academy Awards and ended up winning seven awards to no one’s surprise.

The absurdist action comedy-drama film took home the following awards:

The legendary actress ended an exciting awards season by becoming the first Asian woman to win Best Actress at the Oscars. She beat out her main rival, ‘Tár’ Cate Blanchett, a two-time previous Oscar winner.

Quan was greeted by a theater-wide standing ovation. He had to wait for the room to settle down before delivering an emotional acceptance speech that brought the room to tears.

He beat out competitors Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan for ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ Judd Hirsch for ‘The Fabelmans,’ and Brian Tyree Henry for ‘Causeway’ to secure his win for his beloved comeback performance in ‘Every­­thing Everywhere All at Once.’

Holding his trophy with his eyes full of tears, Quan said, “My mom is 84 years old. She’s at home watching. Mom, I just won an Oscar! I spent a year in a refugee camp and somehow I ended up here, on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it is happening to me. This is the American dream! Month after month, year after year, for 20 years, [she] told me that one day my time will come. Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To everyone out there, please keep your dreams alive!”

She has become the first Black woman to win two Oscars. She became the first Black person to win the Oscar for costume design for her work on Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ in 2019. Tonight, she got recognised for her work on the film’s sequel, ‘Wakanda Forever.’

Accepting her award, Carter thanked director Ryan Coogler saying, “Nice to see you again. Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman. She endure, she loves, she overcomes, she is every woman in this film. She is my mother. This past week, Mable Carter became an ancestor. This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of Mom. Ryan Coogler, Nate Moore, thank you both for your vision. Together, we are reshaping how culture is represented. The Marvel family, Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito and their arsenal of genius, thank you. I share this with many dedicated artists whose hands and hearts helped manifest the costumes of Wakanda and Talokan. This is for my mother. She was 101.”

Melissa McCarthy and her costar Halle Bailey took the stage to share a trailer of the highly anticipated ‘Little Mermaid.’

The full-length trailer offers a full-on preview of the tentacled villainess, Ursula, as she casts a spell around her purple cauldron to snatch away Ariel’s voice.

We also get to see other Little Mermaid characters like Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, and Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian.

The trailer also offers glimpses at memorable moments like the “Kiss the Girl” and “Under the Sea” musical numbers.

‘Little Mermaid’ is set to open in theaters on May 26, 2023.