Best and Worst Moments From the 2024 Oscars

Published: March 11, 2024

Fittingly for an Academy Awards celebrating 2023, the yr of “Barbenheimer,” the flicks that made up that phenomenon commanded our consideration on Sunday evening, too. None of it was a shock, precisely — we knew Ryan Gosling was going to carry out the track “I’m Just Ken,” from “Barbie.” And “Oppenheimer” had been the ceremony’s front-runner since awards season began final fall. Still, we weren’t ready for simply how a lot the ceremony, which for probably the most half ran easily, would get a lift from these twin blockbusters. Here are the highs and lows as we noticed them.

America’s No. 1 Ken, the “Barbie” star Ryan Gosling — who was additionally nominated for finest supporting actor and offered a tribute to stunt performers with Emily Blunt — introduced the home down along with his efficiency of “I’m Just Ken,” one in all two nominated “Barbie” songs. In a shimmering scorching pink tuxedo, backed by a few of his co-stars (Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa) and a bevy of good-looking males in tuxes, he danced and sang his coronary heart out.

Gosling roamed into the viewers, getting Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, America Ferrera and Emma Stone briefly on mic. He was held aloft and spun as large “Barbie” face cutouts twirled round him. The track’s co-writer and co-producer, Mark Ronson, performed bass onstage, as did Slash from Guns N’ Roses and Wolfgang Van Halen, who had all performed on the unique recording. If the Oscars needed a viral video second, they certain bought it (despite the fact that it had been introduced prematurely). And Gosling stays the Hollywood man with maybe probably the most vary. — Alissa Wilkinson

When “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s hit drama in regards to the man who helped create the atomic bomb, received finest image, the victory capped an enormous evening for the movie: seven Oscars complete, together with awards for director (Nolan), actor (Cillian Murphy) and supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.).

Released final summer time to glowing opinions and a worldwide box-office complete nearing $1 billion, “Oppenheimer” was thought-about the front-runner even earlier than awards season started. Though some presumed favorites can’t maintain their momentum over a number of months, “Oppenheimer” by no means faltered, incomes prime prizes from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs and each main Hollywood guild alongside the way in which.

And why shouldn’t it have had a charmed run? When it involves awards-season voters’ typical tastes, “Oppenheimer” might have been designed in an Oscar-friendly Los Alamos lab: It’s a interval drama about a fantastic historic determine, set towards the backdrop of World War II, directed by a serious Hollywood auteur. The cherry on prime is that audiences responded to it, too: It’s now the third-highest-grossing movie to win finest image, behind solely “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” — Kyle Buchanan

Jimmy Kimmel opened the Oscars with ingratiating self-deprecation (“Thank you for that partial standing ovation”) and closed with a nod to Hollywood as a union city. In between, he did simply fantastic, delivering a broad, conversational set, filled with secure roasts (a jab at Robert De Niro courting youthful, a knock on the flop “Madame Web”), a crowd-pleasing cameo by a canine and a corny joke about Robert Downey Jr.’s pants. Nothing hilarious or daring. But it was a assured and clubby set, one you’d anticipate from a veteran host who had been there, accomplished that. — Jason Zinoman

It was the stuff of an Oscar winner’s nightmare. As Emma Stone walked onstage to just accept one of the best actress award for her flip in “Poor Things,” she motioned to the opposite finest actress winners onstage, together with her bestie Jennifer Lawrence, to assist along with her Louis Vuitton robe, which appeared to be ripping, Stone dealt with it with grace, joking, “Oh, boy. My dress is broken. I think it happened during ‘I’m Just Ken.’” After a speech through which she paid tribute to her director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and different colleagues, she instructed the group, “Don’t look at the back of my dress,” and turned to stroll offstage, one hand over the noticeable rip. — Shivani Gonzalez

This yr’s ceremony introduced again a setup that was final seen on the 2009 ceremony: as a substitute of 1 sole presenter, 5 previous Oscar winners launched every of the nominees within the performing classes. Let’s hope it sticks this time. While it meant we didn’t get clips of the actors, properly, performing, it did imply we bought heartfelt tributes that had a number of the winners getting emotional earlier than even taking the stage.

This was very true within the first class of the evening, supporting actress, the place there have been robust private connections between the honorees and people who had triumphed earlier. Lupita Nyong’o, as an illustration, instructed the eventual winner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph: “Your performance is tribute to those who have helped others heal in spite of their own pain. It’s also a tribute to your grandmother, whose glasses you wore in the film. What an honor to see the world through her eyes and yours.” Randolph instantly wiped tears from her face. Later, after Ben Kingsley spoke to the “humanity” in Cillian Murphy’s successful interpretation of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Murphy smiled and bit his lip, nodding with moved affection.

Then there was Robert Downey Jr. After successful his first Oscar on his third attempt for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” he provided breezy, jocular remarks through which he variously thanked his “terrible childhood,” his stylist and a lawyer who he stated spent years making an attempt to get him insured. It all labored. — Esther Zuckerman and Matt Stevens

Kudos to whoever got here up with the good thought of getting Rita Moreno deal with America Ferrera (“Barbie”) throughout the presentation of one of the best supporting actress nominees. It gave Moreno the chance to sing “Ahh-meeeh-riii-ca,” a callback to the veteran Oscar winner’s legendary efficiency of the track of the identical title from “West Side Story” (1961). But it was additionally a celebration, “from one woman to another,” of the highly effective hyperlink throughout generations between two Latin artists who every created cinematic moments which have turn out to be cultural touchstones. — Mekado Murphy

When the comedian John Mulaney took the stage to current the Oscar for finest sound, I’d nearly forgotten about one other sound: that of an viewers genuinely laughing as a substitute of politely chuckling at jokes that will by no means hit in any other case. After a gentle march of milquetoast bits that made even the host Jimmy Kimmel and hilarious actors like Melissa McCarthy appear meh, Mulaney managed to supply us a small style of precise comedy — with quips about silent movies and the 1989 Kevin Costner sports activities fantasy, “Field of Dreams,” no much less! It was a reminder that it’s potential to ship from the Oscars stage, and effortlessly at that. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than my colleagues had been ready to wager on when Mulaney would possibly take the reins for the entire ceremony. As our film critic Alissa Wilkinson put it, “I don’t root for Oscar winners, on principle, but I do root for one thing: John Mulaney to host the Oscars.” — Maya Salam

Unlike latest awards seasons when occasions just like the battle in Ukraine had been truthful sport, little had been stated at 2024 ceremonies about Israel and Hamas. One exception concerned the creators of the Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest.” At the BAFTAs final month, James Wilson, one of many movie’s producers, introduced up the battle throughout an acceptance speech. At the Dolby Theater on Sunday, a number of hours after demonstrations happened close by, the movie’s director was extra pointed. Accepting one of the best worldwide function Oscar, Jonathan Glazer stated: “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked, an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people, whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this dehumanization, how do we resist?” — Stephanie Goodman

Former President Donald J. Trump couldn’t assist himself, Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t resist both, and so the Oscars closed on a political observe. Kimmel used a few of his closing stage time as host to learn a publish printed on Truth Social by Trump. (And sure, he actually did publish it.) “Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars,” Kimmel stated, studying a part of Trump’s missive. “His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be,” Kimmel added. After asking the viewers, “See if you can guess which former president just posted that?” Kimmel provided one closing barb, expressing shock that Trump had stayed as much as watch the telecast: “Isn’t it past your jail time?” he stated. — Matt Stevens

The nice animator and director Hayao Miyazaki was a ghostly presence on the ceremony, like one of many benevolent spirits he creates for his dazzling tales of grief, journey and rising up. He and his fellow nominee, the producer Toshio Suzuki, weren’t there to just accept the award for finest animated function for “The Boy and the Heron,” Miyazaki’s fairy story a few Japanese boy making a journey to the underworld to reconcile himself to the wartime lack of his mom. Miyazaki received the identical award in 2003 for “Spirited Away” and introduced his retirement 10 years later; now 83, he has introduced his retirement once more, saying “The Boy and the Heron” will probably be his final film. It can be significantly grasping to want that he modifies his thoughts as soon as extra, however right here’s hoping. — Mike Hale

Accepting his Oscar for finest tailored screenplay for “American Fiction,” the writer-director Cord Jefferson gave a rousing plea for extra funding in films with modest budgets, saying, “This is a risk-averse industry — I get it. But $200 million movies are also a risk, and it doesn’t always work out, but you take the risk anyway. And instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies.” It might need made a number of the big-budget nominees within the room squirm, nevertheless it was a uncommon, refreshing Oscars second when a winner used their platform to get candid with Hollywood as a substitute of lavishing it with reward. — Julia Jacobs

“I’m just happy that we can finally put this ‘Barbenheimer’ rivalry behind us,” Ryan Gosling instructed the “Oppenheimer” star Emily Blunt after they took the stage to extol the contributions of stunt performers. Last summer time’s film occasion was much less of a contest and extra of an unlikely however entertaining marriage of two radically completely different movies. Hordes of moviegoers exhibiting up in individual buoyed the field workplace numbers for each films, and “Barbenheimer” was stated to be proof that the film business had lastly bounced again post-pandemic. But if “Barbie” triumphed on the field workplace, it rapidly turned clear that “Oppenheimer” can be the awards favourite, and the Oscar stage proved a perfect setting for renewed fight:

Blunt: “The way this awards season turned out, it just wasn’t that much of a rivalry. Just let it go!”

Gosling, explaining that the phrase wasn’t “Oppenbarbie”: “Barbie” was first as a result of “you were riding ‘Barbie’s’ coattails all summer.”

Blunt: “Thanks for Ken-splaining that to me.”

— Chris Kuo

The pink carpet wasn’t dominated by Old Hollywood glamour, because it usually is, however a more recent development some individuals consult with as “mermaidcore.” What that actually means is sea-foam colours and piscine accents, combined with some ethereal Botticelli “Birth of Venus” vibes. Look on the decadent fishlike scales on Anya Taylor-Joy’s costume, impressed by a 75-year-old Christian Dior design. Or the crisp mint robe worn by Emma Stone, harking back to seashells with its peplum prime and jacquard cloth. Lupita Nyong’o wore a pale blue robe dripping in crystals and feathers. Da’Vine Joy Randolph additionally wore a pale blue robe with fringed oversize sleeves. The buttons on Bradley Cooper’s black double-breasted jacket had been an oceanic turquoise blue. The gildings on Florence Pugh’s silvery costume regarded like juicy water droplets. (She additionally wore floating straps — one other surprising, and considerably extra polarizing, development.) — Jessica Testa

There are few canines who’ve been greeted with as rapturous a reception as Messi, the black-and-white Border collie who performs Snoop within the French courtroom thriller “Anatomy of a Fall.” The Dolby Theater erupted when he was noticed Sunday evening in an opulent seat, an enormous black bow tie round his neck — even when the shot was later revealed to have been recorded earlier than the ceremony.

The academy had been toying with followers’ hearts all week. There had been experiences that Messi had been “banned” after some executives behind nominated movies not named “Anatomy of a Fall” complained that his scene-stealing escapades on the Oscar nominees luncheon earlier within the yr — together with snuggling with Billie Eilish — had given the movie an unfair benefit throughout Oscars voting. But when the digicam panned to him throughout Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue within the opening minutes? Sorry, Jenny the donkey, there’s a brand new most-beloved mascot on the town.

This, by the way in which, is a canine who is aware of learn how to pull off a grand finale: After “Oppenheimer” received finest image, the cameras lower to the Hollywood Walk of Fame outdoors the theater, the place Messi lifted his leg over Matt Damon’s star and … properly, that was it. This is a refined actor, in spite of everything! — Sarah Bahr

When Kimmel reminded everybody of the streaker on the 1974 Oscars, it was a setup for wrestler-actor John Cena to current the award for finest costume design — within the buff however for a strategically positioned winner-card envelope. “Costumes … they are so important,” Cena stated to an enormous chortle, earlier than quick-changing right into a toga and asserting “Poor Things” because the winner. But it was a real missed alternative: Barry Keoghan, who was fast to strip down in “Saltburn,” ought to have been the presenter. — Barbara Chai

Lily Gladstone was the primary Native American nominated for finest actress for her function as an Osage lady married to a white man concerned in a murderous conspiracy in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and she or he was using excessive coming into the Oscars. She had taken house honors from the Golden Globes and the New York Film Critics Circle — delivering transferring speeches, typically with a number of strains from the Blackfeet language — and her closest rival, Emma Stone, had reacted with what seemed to be real enthusiasm to Gladstone’s Screen Actors Guild Award win. So when the time got here for the academy to seal the deal and provides “Killers of the Flower Moon” its solely win of the evening, it … gave the statuette to Stone, her second win in seven years. Credit to Stone for delivering a gracious speech in a ripped costume — I share this with you,” she instructed her fellow nominees. — Sarah Bahr

Al Pacino made for a considerably befuddling and anticlimactic best-picture presenter. He shambolically walked us by his means of opening the envelope, explaining, “Here it comes,” to laughter from the group. “And my eyes see ‘Oppenheimer,’” he stated. The cheers that normally accompany such an announcement had been at first tentative, given Pacino’s lack of declaration. It was solely as soon as music began to play that it felt like we dodged a possible “Moonlight”-”La La Land” mixup. “Oppenheimer” was certainly the winner; it was solely Pacino who wasn’t so certain. — Esther Zuckerman

Source web site: www.nytimes.com

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