THE 2023 OSCARS HAD TO BE THE MOST EMOTIONAL EVER

Every year Hollywood celebrates those in the business that put their time and talents into entertaining everyone. The greatest actors, actresses, directors, and every once else involved in the making of a movie are recognized at the Academy Awards most known as The Oscars. Sometimes controversial and full of commentary, sometimes pretty low key except for a few upsets and surprises, and sometimes just plain awful. Most people can’t tell you who own what last year as it was completely overshadowed by “the slap heard round the world” interaction between Chris Rock and Will Smith. This year people were excited because it was the first full year with audiences back in the theaters since March of 2020. You could really feel a positive vibe leading up to the show. I think a lot of that was coming from so many redemption stories and other award shows where people weren’t just happy for those winning due to their superb talents, but that genuinely good people – one that just got frustrated that he couldn’t roles that had been wrongly blacklisted were getting their ultimate redemption. “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” won almost all of the biggest awards, including best picture and director the Best Actress Award to Michelle Yeoh was a long time coming as was the Best Supporting Actor and Actress wins for Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. While those wins were amazing and heart touching the win for Best Actor to Brendan Frasier for the movie “The Whale” was the biggest of all. Fraser had brought sexual assault charges against a member of the Foreign Press association and many felt he had been blacklisted due to it. That, along with several surgeries he needed due to wear and tear from his previous action roles in movies like “The Mummy” and it’s sequels he was in a state of depression that paused his career for a good deal of time. The In Memoriam segment of stars and other Hollywood workers is always a bit heart touching, but it went to another level when John Travolta gave a tearful presentation of it thinking of the loss of his good friend Olivia Newton-John. Jimmy Kimmel was a great host and kept it light with several good “slap” jokes right up to his final walk off the stage and Hugh Grant had a hilarious joke at his own expense. Add in two powerful performances from a stripped down version of Lady Gaga without out makeup and wearing ripped jeans and a t-shirt with a jam band playing her song from “Top Gun: Maverick” called “Hold My Hand” and Rhianna with her song “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. I haven’t seen most of the nominated films that were honored last night, but you had a reason to cheer for PEOPLE to get their well deserved honors.