Oscars 2022 LIVE COVERAGE and Recap
The 94th Edition of the Oscars is here!
Note: The following was all documented while watching the gala. It was the author’s live reaction to the ceremony, which had a lot to unpack.
The first set of Oscars was handed out during the Red Carpet (starting at 4 pm PST). Dune was the very first winner of the night, nabbing Best Sound (as expected), while The Queen of Basketball won next in the category of Best Documentary Short. Next, The Windshield Wiper won for Best Animated Short, upsetting the favorite Robin Robin. And the last winner in the shorts bundle was The Long Goodbye.
The fifth Oscar of the night went to Hans Zimmer for his Dune score. It is his second Academy Award, almost twenty years after his work on The Lion King. Next up, Joe Walker grabs his first Academy Award ever for editing Dune. This was his third nomination. Right after that, the movie won for Best Production Design. The Eyes of Tammy Faye won next for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
The first televised award of the night was Best Supporting Actress, which went to Ariana DeBose. She is the first openly queer actress to win an Oscar, and the second Latina actress to receive that award, too. The first was Rita Moreno, also for playing Anita in 1961’s West Side Story.
Jason Momoa then entered the stage to introduce the first of the categories recorded during the red carpet — it was Best Sound, which as previously mentioned, went to Dune. Right after, the main trio of White Men Can’t Jump, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, announced Greig Fraser (Dune) as the winner of the Best Cinematography Award.
The Best Visual Effects award, introduced by recently-invited Rachel Zegler together with Jacob Elordi, went to Dune. Spider-Man: No Way Home was the last nominee to be introduced, and the one that got the biggest reaction from the audience. After a performance of Dos Oruguitas, Lily James, Naomi Scott, and Halle Bailey introduced Encanto as the Best Animated Feature of the year.
Youn Yuh-jung, who won the Best Supporting Actress last year, announced CODA‘s Troy Kotsur as the Best Supporting Actor of 2021. He is the second-ever deaf actor to win an acting Oscar — the first was his co-star, Marlee Matlin. After Kotsur’s historic win, Simu Liu and Tiffany Haddish announced Drive My Car as the Best International Feature.
Oscar-winning Black Panther costume designer Ruth E. Carter and actress Lupita Nyong’o introduced the Best Costume Design award, which went to Cruella. This is Jenny Beavan’s third Academy Award, after Mad Max: Fury Road and A Room With a View. As expected, Kenneth Branagh took the Original Screenplay Oscar for his autobiographical Belfast.
One of the few open races of the night, Adapted Screenplay, was announced next. It went to CODA, which pretty much spoiled the Best Picture result.
Shortly afterwards, the most ridiculous and embarrassing moment in many Oscar galas happened. Will Smith punched Chris Rock in the face, and yelled “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*ing mouth”. A truly embarrassing moment for what, at this moment, is looking to be the next Best Actor Oscar winner.
Summer of Soul was then announced as Best Documentary, and then came one of the most awkward “In Memoriam” segments ever, as a group of people danced to joyful music while the classic montage featuring the movie-related people that passed away during this past year was played. It was cringeworthy at best, an attempt by the Academy to celebrate these people’s lives instead of mourning the fact that they are gone, but it did not come off that way at all.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Zoë Kravitz then announced No Time to Die as Best Song of the year. Kevin Costner introduced the Best Director award with a beautiful speech. The statue went, as expected, to Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog. This is her second Oscar win after her Best Writing win for The Piano.
The trio from Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, and Uma Thurman, then awarded the big name of the night, Will Smith, his first-ever Oscar for his performance in King Richard. During his speech, he tried to acknowledge what had happened earlier without ever explicitly saying it. He tried to explain, with tears rolling down his face, that it was out of love and protection for his family (his punch earlier in the ceremony was in response to Chris Rock joking about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald hair, something she has publicly discussed). This will be a moment that will be discussed and remembered for many decades.
The last acting award of the night, Best Actress, was introduced by Anthony Hopkins. After having all the room on their feet, he announced Jessica Chastain’s name as the new Oscar winner in this category. This is her first Oscar ever and her third nomination so far.
After Best Actress, it was all prepared for Best Picture. Lady Gaga and Cabaret‘s Liza Minnelli presented the category and finally crowned CODA as the Best Picture of the Year. So concluded the 94th gala of the Academy Awards.
Here is the complete list of winners:
Best Picture
Belfast
CODA — WINNER
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
Best Director
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) — WINNER
Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) — WINNER
Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)
Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)
Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
Best Actor
Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … BOOM!)
Will Smith (King Richard) — WINNER
Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
Best Supporting Actress
Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) — WINNER
Judi Dench (Belfast)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)
Best Supporting Actor
Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)
Troy Kotsur (CODA) — WINNER
Jessy Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
J. K. Simmons (Being The Ricardos)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Siân Heder (CODA) — WINNER
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe (Drive My Car)
Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve (Dune)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Best Original Screenplay
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) — WINNER
Adam McKay & David Sirota (Don’t Look Up)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Zach Baylin (King Richard)
Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt (The Worst Person in the World)
Best Editing
Hank Corwin (Don’t Look Up)
Joe Walker (Dune) — WINNER
Pamela Martin (King Richard)
Peter Sciberras (The Power of the Dog)
Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum (Tick, Tick … BOOM!)
Best Cinematography
Greig Fraser (Dune) — WINNER
Dan Lausten (Nightmare Alley)
Ari Wegner (The Power of the Dog)
Bruno Delbonnel (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
Janusz Kaminski (West Side Story)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye — WINNER
House of Gucci
Best Sound
Belfast
Dune — WINNER
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
Best Score
Nicholas Britell (Don’t Look Up)
Hans Zimmer (Dune) — WINNER
Germaine Franco (Encanto)
Alberto Iglesias (Parallel Mothers)
Jonny Greenwood (The Power of the Dog)
Best Original Song
Be Alive
Dos Oruguitas
Down to Joy
No Time to Die — WINNER
Somehow You Do
Best Production Design
Dune — WINNER
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Best Costume Design
Cruella — WINNER
Nightmare Alley
Cyrano
West Side Story
Dune
Best Visual Effects
Dune — WINNER
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Best Animated Feature
Encanto — WINNER
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Best International Feature
Drive My Car — WINNER
Flee
The Hand of God
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
The Worst Person in the World
Best Documentary
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul — WINNER
Writing with Fire
Best Animated Short
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper — WINNER
Best Live-Action Short
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye — WINNER
On My Mind
Please Hold
Best Documentary Short
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball — WINNER
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
