2023 Oscars: The Best Movies and Unmissable Moments

 

As the American awards season ramped up, Nigerian movie fans found themselves drawn to the outcomes of the glitz-and-glamour affair that is the Academy Awards. History-making nominations and winners, accolades for innovative films and brilliant soundtracks, the 2023 Oscars showed it is still the center of conversations globally.

If you're looking to pick your ideal 2023 Oscar nominee to stream now or the ones that you should add to your watch list, ExpressVPN reveals the ideal viewing order. The handy flowchart asks questions to narrow down your top pick and depending on your mood, relationships, or even your favorite food, you could end up watching The Banshees of Inisherin, Tár, The Whale, Everything Everywhere All at Once, or even Top Gun: Maverick.

Best movies to stream from the 2023 Oscar nominations

For cinema lovers – of which there are many in Nigeria – the Oscar nominations list always provides fertile ground for discovering incredible movies, be they because of the story, cinematography, music, or lead performance. Still, there are a fair few films to get through, and not all of the greats end up with awards.

If that process seems a bit much and you’d rather just keep your time to those that won the awards, as all of the winners have been announced, you can make an even shorter list. To experience the song that somehow beat Tems’ effort, check out RRR for Naatu Naatu, but the big winner of the night was Everything Everywhere All at Once, netting a massive seven awards.

Moments to catch up on from the 2023 Oscars

The headline act for Nigerians hoping that history would be made once again was Tems. This year, Temilade Oyeniyi became the first Nigerian to ever be a part of a nomination for an Oscar and the first Nigerian to secure a Grammy Award.

The alternative singer was hoping that Rihanna’s vocals on her song would pull in the award, but even without getting to go up on stage, Tems couldn’t be missed. In an outfit from Lessja Verlingieri, it was the huge headpiece that made Tems unmissable.

Nominated for her part in writing the original song Lift Me Up for the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Tems certainly made the most of her appearance at the showpiece awards evening. Tems didn’t end up taking away the prize but there were still some superb movies and performances landing awards.

On the flip side to Tems’ approach, the artist who sang her song, Rihanna, arrived at the Dolby Theatre in a bucket hat, trainers, and an NFL jersey. Somehow, it worked. Also on the red carpet, fellow singer Lady Gaga reaffirmed her status as a fan favorite when she broke character to quickly help up a photographer who tripped.

A more peaceful ceremony

In the theatre, with the unavoidable event of last year very much the chatter of onlookers, host Jimmy Kimmel was quick to address the elephant in the room. As detailed in this Vogue article, the popular TV show host jokes about the chances of a fight being up due to the Irish contingent – there for The Banshees of Inisherin – and that everyone should feel safe, especially himself.

As the show progressed: Everything Everywhere All at Once continued to add to the pile of statuettes; Kimmel brought a donkey out onto the stage; Ruth E Carter made history with her second Oscar; Tems’ song received an unforgettable performance by Rihanna; Michelle Yeoh also made history and Sarah Polley poked fun at the Academy when receiving her award.

Even without the headlines made by last year, the highlights of the 2023 Oscars are well worth a watch, as are the movies that made the shortlists for the prestigious awards.