You never know what you are going to get from the Oscars, and this year’s certainly didn’t disappoint. Jimmy Kimmel took to the stage as a now four time Oscar host in a monologue which referenced the writers and actors strikes, the Barbie snubs, and made an *interesting* gag about Robert Downey Jr’s past which seemed to be taken in the way it was intended. At one point, Kimmel brought out a lot of people who work behind the scenes on films that we don’t normally see to celebrate their work as well. Nice touch!
This time around, there was very little straying away from the awards. It certainly felt more focused. Minus a very brief section where Guillermo Rodriguez gave our tequila to the audience. Lucky them! This was certainly a ceremony where a lot of the writing for the presenters worked, the acting categories brought back previous winners in a lovely tribute to the awards as well as the people. Seeing people return like Nicolas Cage, Ke Hue Quan, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and more was genuinely heartwarming.
As for the multiple duos of presenters, there were a lit of laughs all round. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt duking it out on what was nore popular, Barbie or Oppenheimer. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito getting up close and personal with an angry Batman aka Michael Keaton. John Cena’s naked routine which could have been distasteful but he has the comedy chops to pull it off as he presented Best Costume. However it was Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer’s presenting that just felt as if the jokes fell short of the standard of the night. It’s not that hard! The less said about Al Pacino’s presenting skills, the better. Perhaps they should have had Messi, the dog from Anatomy of a Fall, to give out the final award instead.
He was stealing the show constantly! But, this is the Oscars, and if it was anyone’s to steal, it was Ryan Gosling’s! He may have walked away empty-handed (your time will come), but he pulled off one of the great Oscar moments we’ll ever see. He reprised his Oscar nominated role as Ken to perform I’m Just Ken, with 60+ dancers including Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, and more. This was a go hard or go home moment, and he went hard as Ken, and we’re all the luckier for it!
The awards themselves, for the most part, there were no big surprises other than Godzilla Minus One winning Best Visual Effects, defeating the frontrunner, The Creator. On top of that, those who worked on the film had Godzilla shoes and brought toys of the monster with them as well. Very cool. Still need to see that!
All in all, it was a fun night that didn’t go on too long. Fingers crossed, they get rid of the whole lot who were the ITV correspondents, and that was truly dreadful! Ill informed people who make frankly stupid comments is not why I stayed up. Maybe next year will be different. Until then, here are all the winners and nominees from this year’s awards!
Best picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer – WINNER
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best actor in a leading role
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) – WINNER
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Best actor in a supporting role
Sterling K Brown (American Fiction)
Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey Jr (Oppenheimer) – WINNER
Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Best actress in a leading role
Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
Emma Stone (Poor Things) – WINNER
Best actress in a supporting role
Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
America Ferrera (Barbie)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) – WINNER
Best directing
Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan) – WINNER
Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
Best animated feature film
The Boy and the Heron – WINNER
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best adapted screenplay
American Fiction – WINNER
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best original screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall – WINNER
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives
Best cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer – WINNER
Poor Things
Best costume design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things – WINNER
Best documentary feature film
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol – WINNER
Best documentary short film
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop – WINNER
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó
Best film editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer – WINNER
Poor Things
Best international feature film
Io Capitano
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Teachers’ Lounge
The Zone of Interest – WINNER
Best makeup and hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things – WINNER
Society of the Snow
Best original score
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer – WINNER
Poor Things
Best original song
The Fire Inside (Flamin’ Hot)
I’m Just Ken (Barbie)
It Never Went Away (American Symphony)
Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) (Killers of the Flower Moon
What Was I Made For? (Barbie) – WINNER
Best production design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things – WINNER
Best animated short film
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko – WINNER
Best live action short film
The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – WINNER
Best sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest – WINNER
Best visual effects
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One – WINNER
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Keep. It. Reel.
Neels Reel Deel 