This is the third installment of “Working Title,” a podcast where staff member Rachel Ning shares her thoughts on select films and the film industry. In this episode, Rachel presents and explains her reactions to this year’s Academy Awards. 

Hello, and welcome to “Working Title,” a podcast where I take you through some of my favorite filmography finds and important pieces of visual media that I think deserve a moment to shine. I’m Rachel, and I will now be reacting to how the night turned out.

I’ve tried avoiding any news reports or things like that, that have been following the Oscars, but I kind of couldn’t resist and already know some of these results. But yeah, let’s just kick it off with Best Picture. Okay, so it went to “CODA.” Again, I believe that was my pick, and my prediction just because of the way that everything turned out, and I have nothing to complain about that. I’m super happy with that results. Again, I was rooting for it. It is definitely a movie that is super important and topical to our time. And it winning Best Picture is definitely just going to gain more traction for it, and hopefully it’ll reach more people than it already has. Yeah, I’m very happy about that. I think it was definitely an underdog for a lot of the award season but I’m happy that it finally came out and showed up when it mattered the most.

Okay, next up is Best Director in that went to [Jane Campion]. Yeah, I feel like the season was pretty predictable. It went to Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog,” which I believe was my prediction as well, but it wasn’t my pick. Jane Campion has now been one of three female directors that has gotten an Oscar for Best Directing, so go her! Again, I think this is a very deserving award. It personally wasn’t my favorite, but it is very well done, and again, not many surprises there.

Okay, next up is Best Actor. This is one that I already figured out because of everything that happened with Will Smith and Chris Rock. Will Smith got it for “King Richard,” but it kind of sucks, because this one is his first win, but it’ll probably be overshadowed by what went down with Chris Rock. But in terms of my picks and predictions, it wasn’t my pick, but it was my prediction. He had been sweeping and it just was a biopic. It seemed like the realistic choice that the Academy would go with. So again, no surprises there.

Okay, next up is Best Actress, which went to Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” This was a category that I was really holding out hope for and I was really passionate about my pick, which was Kristen Stewart for “Spencer.” The likelihood of her getting it, realistically, was extremely low. “Spencer” was not nominated for anything else. It was only nominated in the Best Actress category, but I just really wanted her to win for that, because she just did a stellar job in that performance, but Jessica Chastain was the realistic option. She has been nominated for three Oscars now, so she won on a third try, and she’s been sweeping. She got I believe the SAG critic, everything like that. And so again, not surprising, but a little bit disappointing for me, because I did really want Kristen Stewart to win. Kristen Stewart did such a stellar job in “Spencer” and she didn’t get recognized for it. She did get her nomination, but I ultimately did also want her to win. But we can’t get everything. It’s fine. Oh, it’s fine.

Okay, because next is Best Supporting Actor, which would to Troy Kotsur for “CODA.” This was kind of a lock for Troy Kotsur, but there was still a slim chance that Kodi Smit-McPhee would get it for “The Power of the Dog,” but obviously it went to Troy Kotsur, which I am so happy about. He is the first male actor who is deaf to ever win an Oscar, and that is huge in and of itself, and he just is so deserving of it. He did such a good job in “CODA.” He really knows how to do his job well. And again, I really hope that the attention that “CODA” has gotten tonight will bring more attention to the deaf community and have them be shunned less from this industry, because there are plenty of deaf actors that are completely capable of anything any hearing actor can do, and Troy Kotsur proves that he’s so good in “CODA” and I’m very happy about that. I believe he was my pick, he was my pick.

Okay, next up is Best Supporting Actress which went to Ariana DeBose for “West Side Story”; this is really not anyone’s surprise. This is not. This really was not a surprise to anyone. She had swept everywhere. There were no questions asked. No one else’s performance compared to her, and her hard work paid off. And I’m reading from a New York Times article, and it says that she has become the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar, so I’m very happy about that. And I think she’s one of the few people to win an Oscar again for a role that has already been played, by Rita Moreno, and I think Rita Moreno got the Oscar in 1961 or 1962. So yeah, again, totally deserving. Her performance was stellar. It was eye catching, it was vibrant, and nothing could have beat Ariana DeBose out. She just had a straight line to the Oscar, and it came to fruition tonight.

Okay, the next category is Screenplay, which went to “Belfast.” That’s okay. I was predicting either “Belfast” or “Licorice Pizza,” but I really wanted “The Worst Person in the World” to win. Again, it was kind of like Kristen Stewart for “Spencer,” where the chances are pretty slim, but it was my ride or die option. I really wanted it to win, and it sucks because the only other category that “The Worst Person in the World” was nominated for was International Feature Film. And “Drive My Car” definitely got that, there’s no questions asked. So “The Worst Person in the World” didn’t get any Oscars. But the fact that it went to “Belfast” is also disappointing, because “Licorice Pizza” was also one of the big contenders for it, and I would have given it to “Licorice Pizza” over “Belfast.” “Licorice Pizza” was so funny, [and] it was so well done. Paul Thomas Anderson is a genius at what he does. He has been nominated 11 times and still has not gotten anything. And “Belfast” was just fine, it was nothing special. I think the acting was good enough, the writing was good enough, the directing was good enough. There was nothing that was super special about it, which again, is my personal opinion. I know a lot of people loved it, but maybe I’m being too harsh. It was a good movie. It was a sweet child actor who was very good, Jude Hill. But again, I just think there were other contenders in this category that are more deserving of it than “Belfast” was, but yay for Kenneth Branagh.

Okay, and then the next category is Adapted Screenplay, which went to “CODA.” So, “CODA” won all three of the nominations that they were nominated for. Yay! This was another one that was in between “The Power of the Dog” and “CODA,” but obviously “CODA” managed to finish on top. Again, super happy about this. I don’t know what else to say about it. But “CODA” is just a great movie. I feel like everyone should go check it out. It’s cheesy, but it’s just good, and it’s sweet. I have nothing else to say about that, except for that I am happy that “CODA” had a good night tonight.

Okay, next was International Feature Film, which went to “Drive My Car” from Japan. This was one that I also already knew beforehand, and also, it was so obvious that “Drive My Car” was gonna get it. Like there was “The Worst Person in the World,” again, my pick, but ultimately, everyone knew that “Drive My Car” was going to get it again, because it had a Best Picture nomination. So I watched the acceptance speech that Ryusuke Hamaguchi gave and they like, cut him off, which I thought was weird, but the Oscars do that a lot. But he had only spoken for like 40 seconds; I wonder why they thought that was going to be the end of a speech. But yes, “Drive My Car” was a stellar film. It was so beautiful, and the way that it used a bunch of different languages to connect all these sorts of characters was very well done. So this award is very righteously given to “Drive My Car” but again, I was hoping that “The Worst Person in the World” was going to get it, just because that movie has quickly become like, probably one of my top 10 movies of all time. It is just amazing.

So yeah, those are my reactions to the 2022 Oscars, and it is the end of award season for movies, and this is my favorite time of year. I love it so much. I love Gold Derby. I love betting on things. I love hearing people’s different opinions about the movies that will get nominated, which movies will win, which actors and actresses are going to get more attention. Yeah, I’m really glad that you guys came to tune in and thank you so much for joining me. Bye!