Michelle Yeoh took a shot at CNN‘s Don Lemon during her acceptance speech for Best Actress at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday night. She was honored for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. While holding the Oscar on stage, Yeoh told the women in the audience to never let someone tell them they’re past their “prime.” Lemon had been headlines, earlier this year, by remarking that politician Nikki Haley is no longer in her “prime.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” she began her acceptance speech. “This is proof that … dream big, and dreams do come true. And, ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime.”
Michelle Yeoh At The Oscars
Michelle Yeoh at the 95th Annual Academy Awards Governors Ball held at Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
Lemon made his original remark on CNN This Morning while discussing Haley’s announcement that she intends to run for president in 2024. “This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon said in February. “I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
As for the rest of Yeoh’s speech, she dedicated the win to her 84-year-old mother. “I have to dedicate this to my mom [and] all the moms in the world, because they are really the superheroes, and without them none of us would be here tonight,” she said. “She’s 84. I’m taking this home to her. She’s watching right now in Malaysia … with my family and friends: I love you guys! I’m bringing this home to you.” She also thanked her “extended family in Hong Kong, where I started my career. Thank you for letting me stand on your shoulders, giving me a leg up so I can be here today.” In addition to Yeoh winning Best Actress, Everything Everywhere All at Once also took home Best Picture.
The 95th Academy Awards has officially concluded with Everything Everywhere All at Once taking home the highly-coveted award for Best Picture. The ceremony aired live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.
In winning Best Picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once beat out All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” Wins Best Picture
US director Daniel Scheinert (L) and US director Daniel Kwan (R) speak after winning the Oscar for Best Picture for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” onstage during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 12, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Everything Everywhere All at Once ended up taking home much more than just Best Picture as well. The movie also won Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and more.
Other noteworthy award winners included Michelle Yeoh, who took home Best Actress, Brendan Fraser, who won Best Actor, and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who both won Best Director. Earlier in the night, Rihanna took the stage to perform her song, “Lift Me Up,” off the soundtrack for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Lady Gaga also performed “Hold My Hand.” Check out the full list of winners and nominees from the 95th Academy Awards below.
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once The Fabelmans Tár Top Gun: Maverick Triangle of Sadness Women Talking
Best Director
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin WINNER: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans Todd Field, Tár Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness
Best Actor
Austin Butler, Elvis Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin WINNER: Brendan Fraser, The Whale Paul Mescal, Aftersun Bill Nighy, Living
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Tár Ana de Armas, Blonde Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans WINNER: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin WINNER: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Hong Chau, The Whale Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin WINNER: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, The Fabelmans Todd Field, TÁR Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell, All Quiet on the Western Front Rian Johnson, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Kazuo Ishiguro, Living Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Top Gun: Maverick WINNER: Sarah Polley, Women Talking
Best Animated Feature Film
WINNER: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Puss In Boots: The Last Wish The Sea Beast Turning Red
Best International Feature Film
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front Argentina, 1985 Close EO The Quiet Girl
Best Documentary Feature
All That Breathes All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Fire of Love A House Made of Splinters WINNER: Navalny
Best Film Editing
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, The Banshees of Inisherin Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond, Elvis WINNER: Paul Rogers, Everything Everywhere All at Once Monika Willi, TÁR Eddie Hamilton, Top Gun: Maverick
Best Production Design
WINNER: Christian M. Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper, All Quiet on the Western Front Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole, Avatar: The Way of Water Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino, Babylon Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, and Bev Dunn, Elvis Rick Carter and Karen O’Hara, The Fabelmans
Best Sound
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 WINNER: Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, and Mark Taylor, Top Gun: Maverick
Best Visual Effects
Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank, and Kamil Jafar, All Quiet on the Western Front WINNER: 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
Best Cinematography
WINNER: 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, TÁR
Best Music (Original Song)
“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman, music and lyrics by Dianne Warren “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, music and lyrics by Lady Gaga and BloodPop “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, music and lyrics by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, and Ludwig Goransson WINNER: “Naatu Naatu” from RRR, music by M.M. Keeravaani, lyrics by Chandrabose “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne, and Mitski, lyrics by Ryan Lott
Best Music (Original Score)
WINNER: 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
Best Costume Design
Mary Zophres, Babylon WINNER: Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Catherine Martin, Elvis Shirley Kurata, Everything Everywhere All at Once Jenny Beavan, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
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 WINNER: Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Anne Marie Bradley, The Whale
Best Live Action Short Film
WINNER: An Irish Goodbye Ivalu Le Pupille Night Ride The Red Suitcase
Best Animated Short Film
WINNER: 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
Best Documentary Short Film
WINNER: The Elephant Whisperers Haulout How Do You Measure a Year? The Martha Mitchell Effect Stranger at the Gate
Ke Huy Quan brought the crowd to tears with his emotional acceptance speech at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday night. Quan received the award for Best Supporting Actor in honor of his work on Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All at Once. Quan began his speech by thanking his mother who was watching from home.
“My mom is 84 years old and she’s at home watching. Mom, I just won an Oscar!” he said while fighting off tears. “My journey started on a boat. 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’s happening to me. This, this is the American dream.”
Ke Huy Quan On Stage At The Oscars
HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 12: Ke Huy Quan accepts the award for Actor in a Supporting Role at the 95th Academy Awards in the Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
From there, Quan thanked his “Goonies brother for life,” Jeff Cohen, with whom he appeared in the 1985 film, The Goonies. He also thanked his wife, Echo. “I owe everything to my wife, Echo,” he said, “who, month after month, year after year, for 20 years told me that one day my time will come. Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive.”
Other actors nominated in the category included Brendan Gleeson for The Banshees of Inisherin, Brian Tyree Henry for Causeway, Judd Hirsch for The Fabelmans, and Barry Keoghan for The Banshees of Inisherin. Later in the night, Quan’s co-star, Jamie Lee Curtis, took home the award for Best Supporting Actress. By the end of the night, Everything Everywhere All at Once will compete for the highly-coveted Best Picture award. Other nominees include All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking.
Did you know that the guys responsible for one of the most beloved and zany videos of 2014 are nominated for several awards at the upcoming Oscars? Because I sure didn’t.
Actually, let me back up. Somewhere in the recesses of my pop culture-addled brain, I was aware that the 2014 video for the DJ Snake and Lil Jon collaboration “Turn Down For What” was directed by 35-year-old director tandem
But somehow, my brain failed to connect the dots in any meaningful way until my editor pointed out to me that I’ve been talking about that movie pretty much nonstop since it came out last year, and that this was exactly the sort of connection that would allow me to do so in the music section. Also, it’s pretty darn nifty that Daniels were able to earn all those Oscar nominations by essentially just doing all the same things they did in their music video on a larger scale.
The track record for music video directors who turned to film has some truly wild variation. Sure, directors like Francis Lawrence (“Bad Romance,” “I’m A Slave 4 U”) went on to direct blockbusters (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mockingjay) while Spike Jonze (“Buddy Holly” and “Sky’s The Limit”) garnered critical acclaim for his arthouse films (Being John Malkovich, Her). But you also have Michael Bay and Hype Williams. The less said about Belly, the better.
But if you’d told people in 2014 that the people behind the unhinged “Turn Down For What” video would ultimately bring their transgressive commitment to chaos to the big screen – and earn 10 Academy Award nominations in the process – they might not have believed you. But in viewing Everything Everywhere All At Once, they’d see that all of the hallmarks of Daniels’ style remain intact. Which means that even after all their success, “Turn Down For What” might remain their greatest accomplishment yet.
In case you need a refresher on just how wild DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s video gets, here it is. The video opens on the rooftop of an apartment building, with a man staring into the camera as the beat builds. He leaps into the air in an apparent belly flop that smashes through the roof as the beat drops, landing in the apartment below. He proceeds to twerk on and/or hump practically every piece of furniture, terrifying the apartment’s occupant. She phones the police, and at this point, you’re likely expecting the story to proceed from what is an unusual but still altogether believable standpoint.
You’re wrong, though. So wrong. Not only does the phone officer’s face melt off a la René Belloq in Raiders Of The Lost Ark – one of many pop culture callbacks throughout Daniels’ work – but the dancing affliction of patient zero turns out to be somewhat contagious. After the lady’s clothes get blown off with a pelvic thrust, she joins in the debauchery, dropping her derriere right onto the first man’s face and once again crashing through the floor into the next apartment. This time, they disturb a family sitting down for dinner, leading to looks of horror and dismay as the process starts all over again.
The dance moves this time run the gamut of provocative Caribbean and South American styles (my favorite is the Brazilian Surra de Bunda, in which the female dancer rests her legs on her partner’s shoulders and then repeatedly smashes her posterior into his face… it’s so ridiculous) until the family gets into it too. The mother’s mammaries move of their own accord, the dad and daughter start headbanging, and before you know it, yet another apartment is practically demolished. And yes, they once again end up in the unit below, where at least an actual party is taking place.
The unsuspecting partygoers stare at the newcomers for a bit, and then things get really out of hand. A police officer sent over for the noise joins the party (of course), more furniture and flatware gets destroyed, and in the end, everyone ends up slumped over. That doesn’t stop the first guy’s sweatpants from twitching ominously as the video cuts to black.
When the video was first released, it was a phenomenon, leading to thinkpieces in Vox and on music interest sites, memes, and edits that made it even more ridiculous than it originally was. The internet couldn’t get enough; the song itself was licensed for use in films like 22 Jump Street, Furious 7, and the second Angry Birds movie, appeared in comedic sketches on The Tonight Show, and was even used in political campaigns like Rock The Vote and Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative.
But that video was a huge part of the reason it stuck – people couldn’t get enough of it (to date, it’s accumulated well over a billion views on YouTube). And it established many of the signature flourishes of Daniels’ direction style, from irreverent and downright vulgar humor to the prominently Asian cast – which was as revolutionary in its day as that of the multiverse-hopping Oscars multi-nominee. Much like the dancing contagion from the video, Everything Everywhere features a sort of “everybody was kung-fu fighting” plot element in which one character suddenly displays outsized combat proficiency before nearly every other character becomes a drunken master.
Slow-motion butt drops figure prominently into both works, both for comedic purposes and plot advancement. Even the concept of each apartment being its own little ecosystem before the dancers crash through its ceiling is echoed in the use of the multiverse, where each timeline is encroached upon by Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn as she seeks the means to defeat the “villainous” Jobu Tupaki. The film is littered with the same sort of pop culture references that led Daniels to nod to Indiana Jones; a song lyric absent-mindedly inserted into some dialogue by Kwan winds up leading to the song itself becoming the connective tissue between worlds.
Even the song’s title seems to reflect Daniels’ maximalist philosophy. As the multiverse shenanigans get nearly overwhelming, as so many plot points converge that you wonder how they’ll keep track, just when you think Everything Everywhere can’t possibly get any bigger, louder, funnier, more obnoxious, heartbreaking, or poignant, Daniels ask themselves, “Turn down for what?” and go even harder. As it turns out, that could be a winning strategy.
If you haven’t seen A24’s mind-blowing multiversal adventure Everything Everywhere All At Once, don’t worry: Somewhere out there, there’s a version of you that has, and they enjoyed it immensely. To celebrate the film’s unexpected success — it’s got a near-perfect 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and has reduced plenty of packed houses to tears while becoming a box office smash — A24 has shared a “musical multi-verse microsite” bearing a reimagining of “This Is A Life,” the film’s unofficial theme song by David Byrne, Mitski, and Son Lux.
Powered by AI company Bronze, the new site reflects the film’s theme of how a singular entity can exist in infinite parallel realities. The machine learning behind the site changes the song subtly — or dramatically — on each listening, resulting in a completely new experience every time. For instance, the first time I hit play, the song started strong with David Byrne’s vocals first. The second time, it was very downbeat, leading with Mitski’s voice. Meanwhile, in future listenings, it could be all instrumental, or the instruments could change arrangements.
Unfortunately, there’s no telling which version is from the universe with the hot dog fingers (again, go see the movie). But being able to imagine that there are infinite universes where the song sounds different in each one is a cool way to connect the already enigmatic and enjoyable soundtrack with the high-low concept of the film it accompanies.
You can listen to the original version of the song above and check out the microsite here.
A24 has revealed the massive 49-song tracklist for its upcoming science fiction film Everything Everywhere All At Once. Experimental trio Son Lux, who scored the film, enlisted the likes of Andre 3000, playing flute under his birth name Andre Benjamin (as Consequence notes), along with Mitski, Moses Sumney, and Randy Newman for the star-studded soundtrack.
Everything Everywhere All At Once will premiere at SXSW on March 11th, before receiving a wide theatrical release on April 8th. The soundtrack will be released on the same day as the film’s wide release.
“Even though we knew from the moment Daniels [directorial duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert] asked us to score this film that it would push us in new and unexpected directions, we couldn’t have predicted how much we’d learn from the project,” said Son Lux in a statement. “What emerged was our most ambitious undertaking to date, over two years in the making, resulting in two hours of new music. It was an opportunity for us to play, to infuse humor into our work, and to experiment from and beyond our various musical backgrounds.”
Check out the tracklist below.
1. “This Is A Life (Extended)” Feat. Mitski and David Byrne
2. “Wang Family Portrait”
3. “Very Busy”
4. “Vvvery Busy”
5. “What Are You Thinking About?”
6. “What A Fast Elevator!”
7. “Switch Shoes To The Wrong Feet”
8. “Nothing Could Possibly Matter More”
9. “A Choice”
10. “Chapstick”
11. “The Fanny Pack”
12. “Jobu Tupaki”
13. “The Alphaverse”
14. “The Mission” Feat. Nina Moffitt
15. “Deirdre Fight”
16. “Waymond Cries”
17. “I Love You Kung Fu”
18. “My Life Without You” Feat. André Benjamin
19. “The Story Of Jobu” Feat. Nina Moffitt
20. “Rendezvous At The Premiere”
21. “It’s You… Juju Toobootie” Feat. Chris Pattishall and Nina Moffitt
22. “Everything Bagel”
23. “You’re Living Your Worst You”
24. “The Boxcutter” Feat. André Benjamin
25. “Send Every Available Jumper”
26. “Opera Fight” Feat. Surrija and yMusic
27. “Dog Fight” Feat. André Benjamin
28. “Drummer Fight”
29. “Plug Fight”
30. “Pinky Fight” Feat. André Benjamin
31. “I Have Been Watching” Feat. Rob Moose and Nina Moffitt
32. “Somewhere Out There In All That Noise”
33. “Jobu Sees All”
34. “The Temple”
35. “Evelyn Everywhere”
36. “Evelyn All At Once”
37. “This Is How I Fight”
38. “In Another Life”
39. “It All Just Goes Away”
40. “Clair de Lune (Pied au Piano)” Feat. Chris Pattishall
41. “Come Recover (Empathy Fight)”
42. “Your Day Will Come (Empathy Fight)”
43. “Let Me Go”
44. “Specks Of Time”
45. “This Is A Life” Feat. Mitski and David Byrne
46. “Fence” Feat. Moses Sumney
47. “Now We’re Cookin’” Feat. Randy Newman
48. “Sucked Into A Bagel” Feat. Stephanie Hsu
49. “I Love You”
