The 95th Academy Awards took place on March 12, and A24’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once” swept in historic fashion. The heavy frontrunner coming into the ceremony, everything went according to plan for this season’s darling.

“Everything Everywhere,” won Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Best Original Screenplay (Kwan and Scheinert), Best Film Editing (Paul Rogers), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan) and Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis). 

A24 also took home Best Actor for Brendan Fraser’s work in “The Whale,” beating out other frontrunner and my personal pick, Austin Butler. This made them the first studio in history to take home seven of the top eight awards of the night (Picture, Director, the four acting awards, and Original Screenplay), missing out only on Best Adapted Screenplay, which went to the much-deserving Sarah Polley for “Women Talking.”.

Sweeps at the Oscars are rare. “Everything Everywhere” became the first film to win seven awards since 2013’s “Gravity,” and is the third film in history to win three acting categories, following 1951’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” and 1976’s “Network.”

While I think that there is much to be celebratory about regarding the wins, mainly Michelle Yeoh becoming only the third woman of color and first Asian actress to win Best Actress, I can’t help but wonder how this ceremony will be looked back upon as the years go on. 

Lee Curtis and Huy Quan’s wins for the film both were undeniably narrative-based. I do think Huy Quan was legitimately deserving, he had my favorite performance in the film, and his character was one of the vessels for the films central themes of kindness and empathy. But, his nomination stems from his comeback story, and an expert campaign trail. 

Lee Curtis’ win is far more egregious in my mind. While I love Jamie Lee Curtis for her work in the handful of good “Halloween” movies and “True Lies” among other things, this award reeked of being a career achievement for those films, rather than for her actual work in the “Everything Everywhere,” which was minimal and nowhere near Oscar-worthy. 

The win is even more disappointing when her co-star Stephanie Hsu was also nominated, gave a far better performance and was so much more vital to the film than Curtis was. 

With “Everything Everywhere” going home with seven awards, and Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” picking up four, that left little room for other films to sneak away with anything. “Avatar: The Way of Water” left with just Best Visual Effects, “Top Gun: Maverick” brought home Best Sound, and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” won Best Costume Design. 

“Tár,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “The Fabelmans,” “Triangle of Sadness” and “Babylon” all left with zero wins. Cate Blanchett deserved to win Best Actress for her role in “Tár,” flat-out. It was one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen, and I predict that will be a snub we look back on in the same vein as David Fincher (“The Social Network”) losing Best Director to Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech”) in 2011. 

But, at the same time, it’s impossible to not be incredibly happy for Yeoh. She was great in “Everything Everywhere,” and we don’t know if she will ever get an opportunity like this again, which is a whole other problem in terms of diversity. 

Obviously, not winning Oscars isn’t the end of the world for the people behind the camera, or for the people watching. But I can’t help but fear that films like “Tár,” “Banshees” and “The Fabelmans” won’t be remembered as highly as they should be because of a lack of recognition. 

However, my main gripe is that this sweep signals an era for the Oscars which would eliminate unpredictability. I’ve kept my ears against the wall for this awards-season, following as much coverage as I can (Mostly from “The Big Picture” podcast, which has become my hyperfixation over the last 9 months) and pretty much every single win of the night had been telegraphed for months prior. The only slight roadbump in the way of “Everything Everywhere”‘s sweep was “All Quiet on the Western Front” dominating the BAFTA awards, otherwise “Everything Everywhere” coasted through awards season.

The only true surprise of the night came when “Wakanda Forever” won for Costume Design. 

Perhaps this year is an anomaly, but if we are entering an era of hyper-predictability, then what is the fun in talking about, writing about and debating the Oscars in the first place? I correctly guessed 17 of the 22 awards at my Oscars party (I would’ve had 20 but I voted with my heart for Blanchett and “Babylon’s” nominations), and while I did win a $50 Fandango gift card, I much rather would’ve been consistently surprised for the duration of the show, instead of feeling like I was going through the motions.

Thankfully, 2023 seems to be on pace to be a fantastic year in film. Movies like “Creed III” and “John Wick: Chapter 4” while not necessarily being Oscar-contenders have already set the stage to expect quality projects in the mainstream. And even so, with the ascendance of “Avatar” and “Top Gun” into being involved in the Oscars race, it wouldn’t be particularly impossible for Chad Stahleski to see his name involved in the Best Director conversation for “Wick” come the winter. And perhaps Cruise finds his way back to the awards show with this summer’s “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One” (Greatest title ever.)

On the other end of the spectrum, many high-level filmmakers make their return to the big-screen this year, many of whom will be gunning for the gold. Martin Scorsese returns with “Killers of the Flower Moon” starring Leonardo DiCaprio this fall. Michael Mann’s biopic on Enzo Ferrari starring Adam Driver “Ferrari” is expected to release this year as well. Plus, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” open on the same day this summer, July 21. But all will be forgiven if this trend of sweeps continues with “Dune: Part Two”. Let the spice flow, baby.