8 of the biggest surprises from last night's Oscars ceremony

Mar 13 2023, 2:18 pm

It’s been one year since the Oscars slap and we tuned in to see how the show, and its host Jimmy Kimmel, would address it. The movies were great in 2022, and things went smoother last night than last year.

It was jokingly addressed, the favourite movie swept the awards, and we barely got to hear Austin Butler’s Elvis voice, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few fun surprises along the way.

With so many precursor awards and betting sites, predicting Oscar winners is easier than ever, but that’s exactly why the surprises hit harder.

Every year the Academy gets things unforgivably wrong (we still haven’t forgotten about Crash winning over Brokeback Mountain in 2006), but things mostly played out as expected this year.

Many of the frontrunners from last night’s award show, like Everything Everywhere All At Once, did end up sweeping in most of the major categories. It was still a glamorous night with some interesting surprises and great musical performances.

These are the biggest surprises from last night’s Oscar ceremony.

“The Slap” jokes

Jimmy Kimmel

Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK

Getting Jimmy Kimmel to host the Oscars is always a good idea. He’s just a pro, and it’s clear that celebrities love seeing him around. He’ll make some jokes and poke some fun, but never really get too nasty…unless you walk onto the stage and slap somebody.

Kimmel never said his name, but he addressed last year’s slap assault with jokes like how slapping someone will get you the Best Actor award, assigned audience members as security, and made a funny reference to the movie Hitch (starring Will Smith).

It was a moment that needed to be addressed, but there was also a collective feeling about moving on and not letting it overshadow the event and its winners (like it did that night). Kimmel totally pulled it off. Years without an incident? One.

Tom Cruise was a no-show

There were so many predictions and think pieces on Tom Cruise at the Academy Awards. Would he be in the front row? Would Kimmel discuss everyone talking about how he has saved Hollywood and the theatrical experience? Would anyone poke fun at Scientology, and how would he react?

He was the producer and star of one of the biggest movies of the year and all time, so…he would need to be at the Oscars, right?

He didn’t even show up at all! Sure, he’s busy jumping motorcycles into caves while filming the new Mission Impossible, but…he should have been there. It’s one more example of how we have lost the Tom Cruise that would take on risky parts in movies like Magnolia and Collateral. The transformation is complete. Only Ethan Hunt and Maverick are left.

Happy birthday!

academy awards

Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK

An Irish Goodbye won the award on Sunday for Best Live Action Short. That’s not the surprise.

The surprise came in an adorable moment when it was revealed that it was Irish actor James Martin’s birthday. Martin, who has Down’s Syndrome, had the entire star-studded audience at the Dolby Theatre singing him a happy birthday.

Animals making an appearance!

Oscar's surprises

Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s very unlikely that Cocaine Bear will be up for an award in 2024 (who knows?), but at least the bear got its spot in the limelight last night. It helped present the Best Visual Effects with America’s relatable sweetheart, the ultra-talented Elizabeth Banks. It was also a surprise minutes later when it “attacked” Malala.

Not a surprise? That Avatar: The Way of Water won the award.

Also, from EO to The Banshees of Innisherin, donkeys played a big part in cinema this year, and Kimmel acknowledged it by bringing one right on stage with him.

A commercial during the telecast?

The Little Mermaid is the latest live-action Disney movie, and it comes to theatres soon. That’s all well and good, but in a move that has never really happened during the Oscars before, presenters took the stage to set up…a teaser trailer.

Show it in a commercial break. Having presenters promote an upcoming film like this felt weird. Why just one movie? Nothing about it made any sense.

Sarah Polley’s exit music was…interesting?

Oscars

Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK

This wasn’t really a surprise, but it was pretty random and funny, and Twitter seemed to have some fun with it.

Sarah Polley won Best Adapted Screenplay for her work on Women Talking, a movie about women in an isolated religious colony democratically talking about what to do after years of men drugging and raping them. Polley gave an impassioned speech, and as she finished and left the stage, the iconic score from…Pirates of the Caribbean played her off. What?

John Travolta introduces the In Memoriam

John Travolta walked on stage, and it wasn’t clear why he was there. He hasn’t been in an Oscar movie recently, it didn’t seem like he was presenting an award, and then he started choking up with tears in his eyes as it became evident he was thinking of his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John.

It was a touching moment in the telecast, followed up by the In Memoriam, beautifully sung by Lenny Kravitz.

A few more surprises were the snubs from the montage, like Paul Sorvino, Anne Heche, and Tom Sizemore, who all passed away this past year. They didn’t even include Charlbi Dean, who WAS A LEAD IN A MOVIE NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE!

Halle Berry replaces Will Smith

The Best Actress will almost always present next year’s Best Actor award. The Best Supporting actor will almost always present next year’s Best Supporting Actress award. And so on.

So what would they do in the case of replacing Will Smith?

Well, they just replaced his role with Halle Berry. That’s cool with us. She’s a tough badass super-talent who gave the award to another tough badass super-talent: Michelle Yeoh.

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