The year 2022 will go down in history as the year that streaming officially became the go-to place for cinema, with Apple TV’s Coda picking up the Oscar for Best Picture — the first time a streamer has achieved the feat.
The film picked up a total of three awards, with Troy Kotsur also making history as the first deaf actor to win an Oscar, and writer/director Sian Heder also landing Best Adapted Screenplay. We can only assume Netflix isfuming after both Roma and The Irishman tried, but failed, to break the big screen’s stranglehold on the Academy’s hearts.
Oscars 2022 winners list: 'Coda' wins top prize on film's biggest night
Coda’s success was something of a surprise, although the Oscars rumour mill had seen the film about a deaf Massachusetts family’s chances of winning increase significantly in the days leading up to the ceremony, while previous favourites The Power of the Dog and Belfast slipped behind. The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion picked up Best Director, however, making her only the third female director to do so following Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for The Hurt Locker and Chloe Zhao in 2021 for Nomadland.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the best-dressed women on the Oscars 2022 red carpet:
-
Zendaya, wearing a Valentino shirt and sequinned skirt two-piece, attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards. AFP -
Mila Kunis, wearing a blush-pink Zuhair Murad gown. AP -
Jessica Chastain, wearing purple and gold sequinned Gucci. Getty Images -
Jada Pinkett Smith, wearing green Jean Paul Gaultier. AFP -
Jamie Dornan and Amelia Warner, wearing gold Giambattista Valli. AP -
Serena Williams, wearing dusty rose Gucci, with black floral detail and gloves. AFP -
Alana Haim, wearing a scalloped sequinned Louis Vuitton gown. EPA -
Lily James, wearing a pink lace Atelier Versace gown. AP -
Jennifer Garner, wearing red Brandon Maxwell. AFP -
Lupita Nyong'o, wearing gold floral Prada. Getty Images -
Olivia Colman, wearing a draped metallic gown. AFP -
Zoe Kravitz, wearing a blush Saint Laurent strapless gown. EPA -
Kristen Stewart, wearing Chanel. EPA -
Regina Hall, wearing a dusty-brown gown. AFP -
Penelope Cruz, wearing a black Chanel gown. AFP -
Venus Williams, in white Elie Saab. AFP -
Uma Thurman, wearing a Bottega Veneta shirt and skirt. EPA -
Tiffany Haddish, wearing green Dolce & Gabbana. AFP -
Ava DuVernay, wearing studded Louis Vuitton. AFP -
Molly Sims, wearing red Elie Saab. EPA -
Rachel Zegler, wearing black Dior. -
Billie Eilish, wearing black Gucci. Getty Images -
Megan Thee Stallion, wearing a blue Gaurav Gupta gown. EPA -
Cynthia Erivo, wearing black Louis Vuitton. AFP -
Julianne Hough, wearing a honey yellow gown. EPA -
Nicole Kidman, wearing steel blue Armani Prive. EPA -
Maggie Gyllenhaal, wearing black and gold Schiaparelli. AFP -
Ariana DeBose, wearing a caped red Valentino two-piece. AP -
Emilia Jones, wearing ombre sequinned Louis Vuitton. AFP -
Kirsten Dunst, wearing red Christian Lacroix. AFP -
Marlee Matlin, wearing a red silk gown. AFP -
Becky G, wearing golden Etro. Reuters -
Amy Schumer, wearing navy Oscar de la Renta. AP -
HER, wearing neon yellow Carolina Herrera. AFP -
Maya Rudolph, wearing a feathered orange dress. AFP -
Aunjanue Ellis, wearing a rich orange Atelier Versace gown. AFP -
Caitriona Balfe, wearing off-white Louis Vuitton. Getty Images -
Jessica Serfaty, wearing baby blue Tony Ward. EPA -
Tracee Ellis Ross, wearing a red mermaid gown by Carolina Herrera. EPA -
Este Haim, wearing a blue satin dress. AFP -
Judi Dench, wearing an ivory dress and dress coat. AP -
Queen Latifa, wearing yellow Pamella Roland. AFP -
Saniyya Sidney, wearing Armani Prive. AFP -
Naomi Scott, wearing purple beaded Fendi. Getty Images -
Christine Baumgartner, wearing black and white Tony Ward, and Kevin Costner. AFP -
Carolina Gaitan, wearing dusty pink Tony Ward. AP -
Amy Forsyth, wearing red Marchesa. EPA -
Demi Singleton, wearing purple Miu Miu. AFP -
Renate Reinsve, wearing black and cream textured Louis Vuitton. Reuters -
Vanessa Hudgens, wearing black sequinned Michael Kors Collection. AFP -
Sofia Carson, wearing black tulle Giambattista Valli. Getty Images -
Raya Abirached, wearing black Zuhair Murad.
Belfast also didn’t have an entirely wasted night, with Kenneth Branagh picking up a statue for Best Original Screenplay — incredibly his first award, having previously been nominated eight times in seven different categories.
Strangeness in the air
The event itself was a strange affair, certainly strange enough to make Coda’s win appear fairly normal. Will Smith’s apparent physical assault on host Chris Rock has obviously stolen the limelight, but there was something undeniably odd about this year’s ceremony even before that piece of TV history.
It’s been two years since we had a full-blown live Oscars ceremony, courtesy of the pandemic, but this year the event was back in full flow, with hosts, guests, a red carpet, the removal of less interesting awards from the live broadcast, and a couple of new audience awards aimed at, well, enticing an audience which has been rapidly declining in recent years in common with other big entertainment industry bashes.
We couldn’t honestly say these attempts to return to normality, and improve on the pre-covid Oscars, were an unqualified success.
This year’s hosts were comedians Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, and actress Regina Hall. The three are all eminently qualified in their respective fields, but as a trio they lacked chemistry throughout the night, exemplified best during a skit where the three dressed as characters from nominated films, culminating in Schumer dropping in from the ceiling in a Spider-Man costume. The reason for that remains unknown, but largely chalked up to comedy.
Tedium, audience favourites and 'boring' awards
The guests were obviously dictated by this year’s Oscars nominees, and they were mostly fine, but with a four-hour running time, it’s a little disappointing that among the tedious speeches and tears, the whole event was essentially a snoozefest until Smith marched onstage to slap Rock and shout expletives.
The new audience awards were also very strange. The first — Most Cheerable Moment — seemed to have potential. The arrival of the Millennium Falcon in The Force Awakens, the final blow that sees off Thanos in the Marvel Universe, even Tommy Wiseau’s “I did not hit her” speech in The Room, have all raised cheers in cinemas in the past. But it was won by The Flash achieving Speed Force, a scene so memorable it didn’t even make it into the cinematic cut of The Justice League.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the best-dressed men at the 94th Academy Awards:
-
Actor Will Smith attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, in suit and tie. AFP -
Riz Ahmed, wearing an oversized burgundy suit. EPA -
'Dune' actor Timothee Chalamet wearing Louis Vuitton but no shirt on Oscars night. Getty -
Actor Rami Malek brings Prada to the red carpet. AFP -
Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee turns convention on its head with baby-blue Bottega Veneta. AFP -
Actor Jason Momoa wears a black tuxedo and shirt to the Academy Awards. EPA -
Daniel Kaluuya, star of The Judas and The Black Messiah, brings contrasts in teal satin Gucci. EPA -
Actor Bill Murray in a Dior suit and a beret. AP -
Andrew Garfield, a 2017 Academy Award nominee, wears claret velvet Saint Laurent. EPA -
Actor and producer David Oyelowo wears a bold yellow-and-black floral suit. AFP -
Bradley Cooper, accompanied by his mother Gloria Campano, wears a Gucci tuxedo. Reuters -
'Dune' actor Josh Brolin wears a black tuxedo. Getty -
American television host Karamo Brown wears Brunello Cucinelli. AFP -
Oscar-nominated writer and director Pawo Choyning Dorji wears traditional Bhutanese dress. AFP -
Actor Wesley Snipes goes head-to-toe burgundy. Reuters -
Actor and director Tyler Perry wears a white tie and a Ukraine ribbon. EPA -
'Belfast' actor Jamie Dornan on the red carpet in Valentino. EPA -
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal wears a bow tie-less navy tuxedo. AFP -
Canadian actor and Marvel movie star Simu Liu wears a red tuxedo. Getty -
Elliot Page, a 2008 Academy Awards nominee, wears Gucci. AFP -
Oscar winner Sir Kenneth Branagh wears a navy three-piece suit. EPA -
Actor Ciaran Hinds wears navy Brunello Cucinelli. AFP -
Actor Jay Ellis wears a white tuxedo. AFP -
Musician and TV star Travis Barker wears black Maison Margiela. AFP -
'Dune' director Denis Villeneuve wears a white tuxedo jacket. AFP -
'Belfast' star Jude Hill wears a Thom Browne tuxedo. Reuters -
Colombian singer Sebastian Yatra wears a pink tuxedo. AFP -
Australian actor Jacob Elordi in a classic black tux. AFP -
Canadian singer Shawn Mendes wears a classic black tuxedo. AFP -
Spanish actor Javier Bardem on the red carpet. Getty -
Actor Woody Harrelson goes head-to-toe black. AFP -
Olympian and pro snowboarder Shaun White wears a classic black tuxedo. AFP
The second audience prize, for Oscars Fan Favourite, went to Netflix’s Army of the Dead. An abject lesson, perhaps, in why you shouldn’t hand over Oscars judging to Zack Snyder’s Twitter following. Two audience awards, two Snyder films.
As for cutting out “boring” awards such as Best Editing and Best Live Action Short, and giving them out before the live broadcast, one can see the logic of this for an overly lengthy ceremony that has been haemorrhaging viewers for some time. But then they showed recorded footage of the awards being presented anyway, leaving people scratching their heads as to why they did it in the first place.
Overall, it was a strange event, and one that will ultimately be remembered for one thing — and it's not Coda’s surprise win, Wesley Snipes’s interesting fashion choices, nor the hosts’ failing punchlines.
How the world has reacted to Will Smith hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars 2022
