Oppenheimer nearly cleans up at 2024 Oscars

The envelopes have all been opened without incident and Oppenheimer walked away for the 96th Academy Awards with 7 of 13 possible statues including well-deserved Best Picture and Best Director.

The live broadcast over three hours long and hosted by late-night tv show host Jimmy Kimmel, featured a beautiful and unique presentation of the top award nomination that should continue in future years. If only the Academy would innovate and put a live stream online, even as a pay per view!

The awards for best actress and actor, as well as the supporting statues, were each introduced by a previous winner of that category, bringing to stage some legends in acting in an introduction that truly valued the contribution these stars have made. For the first time it felt like being nominated was reward enough. And it was a tough year!

Most of the Oppenheimer wins were easy bets, including for actors Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy, however the evening did not go off without a few surprises. Who would have thought a political drama told in Oppenheimer would captivate audiences so much, and it benefited from the Barbinheimer movement which did not rub off on the bigger blockbuster. The look on Emma Stone’s face suggested even she did not expect to win, with Lily Gladstone shut out for her beautifully powerful performance from Killers of the Flower Moon. Da’Vine Joy Randolph won for her stellar performance in The Holdovers (there’s no surprise there), but we’re looking forward to the day with American Ferrera takes home a statue (yes her Barbie performance was Oscar worthy).

Barbie did walk away with a single award for best song, a sure bet given both the song, but also with two songs up from the same movie, a vote split could have stopped the win. “I’m just Ken” may not have won but Ryan Gosling’s live performance both singing the song and riffing on stage with Emily Blunt did show just how funny and talented the Breaker High alum is.

Oppenheimer

Winner Best PictureBest DirectorBest ActorBest Supporting Actor

Poor Things

Winner Best ActressBest Makeup & hairstylingBest Costumer DesignProduction design