This past Sunday was the 95th Oscar awards, which occurs each year to recognize the effort and excellence of the film industry. 

The origin of the name “Oscars” has been long disputed. A common explanation is that Bette Davis, the head of the academy in 1941 stated that she named it after Harmon Oscar Neilson, her first husband. To make a movie eligible for consideration, It must be in theaters for at least one week between January 1st and December 31st of last year. 

There are many different categories Oscars are given out for, but the most coveted is the award for best picture. The movie that took the title was ‘Everything Everywhere all at Once’. Though the academy decides which production receives the prestigious title for the year, does the general public agree? I conducted a poll of 62 high school students to get to the bottom of the dilemma. 

Out of 63 participants, 30 said that ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was their favorite movie this year. 15 students said that they would have chosen ‘Elvis’, and the remaining 10 said ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’. Lastly, 8 people enjoyed Avatar: The Way Of Water. 

“My favorite movie by far was ‘Elvis’. It was such a long movie but every second was entertaining. I genuinely saw it in the theater 4 times,” senior, Grey Hansen, said. 

 “I think the best movie this year was ‘Avatar: The Way of Water. The way that they are able to make an entire new world using CGI is crazy and I just think it’s so impressive. It definitely deserved to have won best picture,” senior, Alyssa Allen, said. 

In the end, I think the film industry is subjective to each person and not everyone is going to be blown away by the same movie, and that’s okay!