(Photo via Harold Neal/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), cropped from original version)
We’ve seen it all this year. One final, much-anticipated awards ceremony’s results remained unknown until Sunday night.
The 96th Academy Awards kicked off at 7 p.m. in Los Angeles at Dolby Theatre in L.A. “Oppenheimer” swept the stage with seven Oscars, followed by “Poor Things” with four wins.
“Oppenheimer” won Best Picture, Director, Actor in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role, Cinematography, Film Editing and Original Score. Robert Downey Jr. won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for “Oppenheimer.”
“I’d like to thank my terrible childhood,” Downey said, before thanking The Academy and his wife, Susan, for — surprisingly — his first-ever Academy Award.
Cillian Murphy won Best Actor in a Leading Role for “Oppenheimer,” making it his first Oscar win and nomination. Steven Speilberg presented for Best Director, which went to Christopher Nolan for his direction of “Oppenheimer.” Al Pacino presented Best Picture, also going to “Oppenheimer.”
“Poor Things” won with Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design. John Cena made a surprise appearance to present Best Costumes completely nude — covered only by the awards envelope — on the anniversary of an Oscars streaker on stage in 1974. Best Actress went to Emma Stone, making this her second Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role, following her win for “La La Land” in 2017.
The first award of the night was for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, which went to Da’Vine Joy Randolph for “The Holdovers,” who began her acceptance speech in tears, saying, “God is so good.” Randolph thanked her mother, who pushed her into acting when she was a young girl.
A brief musical intermission featured Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell performing “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie” on a spinning stage in front of a bright pink screen that opened up to an orchestra. Their performance was met with a standing ovation, and the brother and sister duo won Best Original Song for it later in the night.
The Best Documentary Feature Film was awarded to “20 Days in Mariupol.” Director Mstyslav Chernov, who called for the release of hostages, said he wished the film was never made, to be in a world where the Ukraine War never started.
“I cannot change the history; I cannot change the past,” Chernov said. “We can make sure that the history record is set straight and that the truth will prevail … cinema forms memories and memories form history.”
Host Jimmy Kimmel said Barbie was the biggest movie of the year, echoing the popular sentiment that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie should have been nominated for Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role, respectively. Kimmel then chastised the audience for not voting for them.
All five nominees for Best Original Score performed throughout the night, including Ryan Gosling for “I’m Just Ken.” Gosling could barely keep it together for his live performance, an emotional rollercoaster consisting of backup dancers and Barbie face cutouts. Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash appeared for a guitar solo, and if one thing’s for sure, it’s that Gosling brought the best performance of the awards show to the stage.
Celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo and Billie Eilish donned red pins on their outfits throughout the night to call for a cease-fire in Gaza after 400 Hollywood celebrities wrote a letter to President Biden, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Oscars Red Carpet show aired before the awards ceremony, hosted by Julianna Hough and Vanessa Hudgens, who made her pregnancy announcement on the red carpet.
2024 Academy Award Winners
- Actor in a Leading Role: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
- Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
- Actress in a Leading Role: Emma Stone (Poor Things)
- Actress in a Supporting Role: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
- Animated Feature Film: The Boy and the Heron
- Cinematography: Oppenheimer
- Costume Design: Poor Things
- Directing: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
- Documentary Feature Film: 20 Days in Mariupol
- Documentary Short Film: The Last Repair Shop
- Film editing: Oppenheimer
- International Feature Film: The Zone of Interest
- Makeup and hairstyling: Poor Things
- Music (Original Score): Oppenheimer (Oppenheimer)
- Music (Original Song): What Was I Made For (Barbie)
- Best Picture: Oppenheimer
- Production Design: Poor Things
- Animated Short Film: War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
- Live Action Short Film: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
- Sound: The Zone of Interest
- Visual Effects: Godzilla Minus One
- Writing (Adapted Screenplay): American Fiction
- Writing (Original Screenplay): Anatomy of a Fall
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