The 96th Academy Awards ceremony concluded with few surprises on Monday morning (India time), with Christopher Nolan’s epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer winning a leading seven Oscars. The dark comedy Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, won four awards, while Barbie, Maestro and Killers of the Flower Moon failed to translate any of their combined 25 nominations into wins.
The 96th Oscars marked many firsts – Nolan won his first directing Oscar, while his Oppenheimer stars, Robert Downey Jr and Cillian Murphy, also picked up their debut Academy Awards after long and acclaimed careers. The biggest surprise of the event was Emma Stone winning the Best Actress award over the hotly tipped Lily Gladstone. The Academy is in the midst of a revamp in light of declining ratings and audience interest in the iconic awards, and the presence of major stars and big blockbusters was expected to turn things around this year.
Also read – 96th Academy Awards full winners list: From Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr; Oppenheimer triumphs with 7 honours at Oscars 2024
Here are some of the highlights of the 96th Oscars:
Oppenheimer’s dominance
With seven wins from 13 nods, Oppenheimer didn’t complete a sweep — the movie lost out in the adapted screenplay, visual effects and sound categories — but it marked something of a culmination for Nolan, who’d been building towards Oscars success for years. In addition to his Best Director win, Nolan also picked up the Best Picture award, while Murphy and Downey won in their respective categories. Oppenheimer also won for Best Editing and Best Score.
The nearly three-hour biographical thriller is the highest-grossing Best Picture winner in two decades, and the third-highest grossing after Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Political speeches
While a group of pro-Palestine protesters demonstrated outside the venue, director Jonathan Glazer walked up to the stage to accept the Best International Feature award for The Zone of Interest, about a Nazi family living next to Auschwitz during World War II. “All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present, not to say look what they did then but rather, look [at] what we do now. Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst; it shaped all of our past and present,” he said, as he went on to make a reference to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. “Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people — whether the victims of Oct. 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all are victims of this dehumanisation.”
After winning the Oscar for best documentary feature, “20 Days in Mariupol” director Mstyslav Chernov said he hopes the film reminds people of the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/gnDtT7Nmbo
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 11, 2024
Winners of the Best Documentary Feature category, 20 Days in Mariupol, also referenced the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Director Mstyslav Chernov noted that this was the first Ukrainian film to win an Oscar. “Probably I will be the first director on this stage who says I wish I never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities. We can make sure that the history record is set straight and the truth will prevail, and the people of Mariupol and those who gave their lives will never be forgotten. Because cinema forms memories, and memories form history.”
A clip of the recently deceased Russian opposition leader Navalny, who was the subject of the documentary that won in this category two years ago, was also played at the event.
Flubs, fun banter and flop bits
Game recognises game. Nicolas Cage tipped his hat to nominee Paul Giamatti for wearing a lens in one eye during the entire filming duration of The Holdovers, thereby rendering himself half-blind on set. “Would I have done it?” Cage asked rhetorically from the stage. “Hell yeah! But Paul did it!”
Nicolas Cage reminding the entire audience that he’s a freak who will do anything in a movie…I wouldn’t want it any other way lol. A true king lol#Oscars pic.twitter.com/QlmcyJkvRt
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 11, 2024
Competing with Cage for the made-up award of Best Presenter was John Mulaney, who went on a hilarious tangent about the 1989 film Field of Dreams. He drew a sustained applause from the crowd after finishing his bit.
John Mulaney explaining the entire plot to Field of Dreams instead of presenting his category at the Oscars lol. king pic.twitter.com/5q98HfH5ur
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 11, 2024
But otherwise, the jokes landed with a thud. Host Jimmy Kimmel acknowledged his poorly received opening monologue very early in the show, setting the stage for forced bits to follow. Nobody bombed harder than Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy, however.
Al Pacino was summoned away from daddy duties to present the Best Picture award, moments after Kimmel warned everybody backstage to destroy all previous winners envelopes to avoid the same goof up that happened at the 2017 Oscars, when La La Land was mistakenly announced as the winner instead of Moonlight. And for a second, as Pacino was reading out the winning film’s name, it seemed like he’d made some kind of mistake. Pacino skipped reading the nominees names and straightaway ripped open the envelop. He said, “My eyes see Oppenheimer,” which didn’t convince anybody in the room that Oppenheimer had actually won. But when he began reading the producers’ names, the audience heaved a sigh of relief and broke into applause.
I’m obsessed with the way Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer as Best Picture. couldn’t have been more chaotic or confusing lol
“Best Picture…uh, I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer?”#Oscars pic.twitter.com/a0hNQ4ZP7j
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 11, 2024
Naked John Cena highlights importance of costumes
After Emma Stone visibly rolled her eyes at Kimmel’s joke about the nudity in Poor Things, the host appeared to set up another bit involving a naked actor. This time, he referenced a memorable incident from from the 1974 Oscars five decades ago, when a streaker leapt onto the stage behind presenter David Niven. The bit involved John Cena streaking across the stage, but getting cold feet at the last moment. After being egged on by Kimmel, a naked Cena proceeded to present the Oscar for Best Costume Design with nothing but the envelope bearing the winners’ names covering his modesty. Behind-the-scenes images showed that Cena was actually naked as stage hands rushed to clothe him between shots.
WTF IS JOHN CENA DOING ??!? pic.twitter.com/j098cHFBKO
— juju 💰 (@ayeejuju) March 11, 2024
Here’s how John Cena went from fully naked (!!!) to partially clothed while costume design nominees reel played. Jimmy Kimmel really did help. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/dZPA7qmbgf
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) March 11, 2024
Ryan Gosling channels ‘Kenergy’
They built up to it consistently, and (Oscar nominee) Ryan Gosling delivered the goods with his live performance to “I’m Just Ken,” from Barbie. In character as Ken, Gosling began his performance from his seat, with Billie Eilish visibly sniggering just behind him. He was joined on stage by his fellow ‘Kens’, played by Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Scott Evans. At one point in his performance, Gosling also walked up to director Greta Gerwig, who, along with the front row, was up on her feet.
Ryan Gosling and the cast of “Barbie” perform “I’m Just Ken” at the #Oscars. https://t.co/UNgGySGz3r pic.twitter.com/00hd0Jw8cy
— Variety (@Variety) March 11, 2024
Robert Downey Jr and Emma Stone remind everyone why they’re stars
While most speeches at this year’s Oscars were nothing to write home about, Robert Downey Jr and Emma Stone brought their trademark combination of self-deprecating pizazz and earnestness to the stage. “I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order,” said Robert Downey Jr. in his acceptance speech, before thanking his lawyer of 40 years for “trying to get me insured and bailing me out of the hoosegow.”
A visibly emotional Stone opened her speech by telling the world that she’d torn her dress. She said, “The other night, I was panicking… that maybe something like this could happen. Yorgos [Lanthimos, director of Poor Things] said to me, ‘Please take yourself out of it.’ And he was right, because it’s not about me. It’s about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. And that is the best part about making movies is all of us together. And I am so deeply honoured to share this with every cast member with every crew member with every single person who poured their love and their care and their brilliance into the making of this film.”
India at the Oscars
After a successful streak at the Oscars that culminated with two wins last year, Indian representation this time around came from the documentary film To Kill a Tiger. Executive produced by Priyanka Chopra, Guneet Monga, Mindy Kaling, Dev Patel and others, the film lost out to 20 Days in Mariupol.
But elsewhere, last year’s crossover hit RRR was highlighted in a montage honouring stunt persons, while the late production designer Nitin Chandrakant Desai was honoured in the In Memoriam segment. Last but not the least, the Oscars ceremony itself was co-produced by Indian origin producer fittingly named Raj Kapoor.
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