After sweeping the Directors, Producers, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as the Golden Globes, Oppenheimer was a shoo-in for Best Picture. Nominated in 13 (!) categories, it won seven – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Supporting Actor, Cinemaphotography, Editing, and Score. Poor Things took home the Oscar for Best Actress, Production Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Costume Design. The Zone of Interest was selected as Best International Film and also for its unnerving Sound. The Boy and the Heron and 20 Days in Mariupol won Best Animated Feature and Documentary, respectively. The screenplay awards went to Anatomy of a Fall (Original) and American Fiction (Adapted). Barbie with its 8 nominations won just one, Original Song, “What Was I Made For?”.
The show opened with Jimmy Kimmel inserted next to Barbie in the movie sitting at the bus stop in the real world. It was the first of several references to the blockbuster of the summer. Humorous highlights were a “naked” John Cena honoring the streaker at the Academy Awards 50 years ago and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito giving Batman Michael Keaton a hard time. The pinnacle of fun was undoubtedly the rousing performance of “I’m Just Ken” with pink-clad Ryan Gosling on lead vocals, an army of dancers and…Slash on guitar. Near the end of the evening, Kimmel read Donald Trump’s scathing review of him as Oscar host. “Mr. Trump, I’m surprised you’re still up, isn’t it past your jail time?” It wasn’t all fun and games as the winners for The Zone of Interest and 20 Days in Mariupol addressed the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine, respectively. Andrea and Matteo Bocelli sang the beautiful “Time to Say Goodbye” during the always poignant In Memoriam tribute, although once again some of the names were too small to read or obscured by the singers.
Barbenheimer was cited several times for saving the movies this summer. Did it draw people into tuning in and sticking around to watch the ceremony? Yes, ratings were the highest in four years with 19.5 million viewers. The Awards program continued the back-to basics approach of last year with the single repeat host, presenting all 23 categories (and not removing eight behind-the-scenes awards from prime time as they did in 2022), and letting most of the acceptance speeches play out without the dreaded “wrap it up” music. They also brought back the “All-Star” groups of five previous winners to present the four acting awards. Maybe they’ve finally given up on trying to shorten the program. The show ran 3:26, within minutes of the last couple years. This won’t entice the TikTok generation to pay attention, but it’s the traditional way to honor our films. A rich heritage of almost 100 years.
Here are all the winners (I picked 16/20 missing Visual Effects, Sound, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling)
- Best Picture: Oppenheimer
- Director: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
- Lead Actor: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
- Lead Actress: Emma Stone (Poor Things)
- Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
- Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
- Original Screenplay: American Fiction
- Adapted Screenplay: Anatomy of a Fall
- Documentary Feature: 20 Days in Mariupol
- Animated Feature: The Boy and the Heron
- Cinematography: Oppenheimer
- Visual Effects: Godzilla Minus One
- Film Editing: Oppenheimer
- International Film: The Zone of Interest
- Costume Design: Poor Things
- Makeup and Hairstyling: Poor Things
- Production Design: Poor Things
- Sound: The Zone Of Interest
- Score: Oppenheimer
- Original Song: “What Was I Made For” (Barbie, Billie Eilish)
Trivia: What film became the first Best Picture winner at the inaugural 1929 Academy Awards?
Answer: Wings, starring Clara Bow, directed by William Wellman, and the only silent film to win Best Picture. (The film was awarded the Outstanding Picture, the equivalent of today’s Best Picture. Several other names were given for this Award before the Academy settled on Best Picture in 1962.)
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