Ah, the Oscars. A chance for comedians to insult Leonardo Dicaprio’s dating habits and opportunity for Bradley Cooper to not win for Best Actor. A place that Will Smith is banned from. So hop on your private jets and work on your climate change speeches, here are the results of the 2024 Oscars.
I actually have yet to see “Oppenheimer”; I heard it wasn’t really a see with your parents kind of movie. But, as predicted, they got basically every award the Academy could get away with. Although I’m sure the other movies nominated were just as deserving, everything about “Oppenheimer” just screams “Oscar winner”. Sorry Bradley, maybe the 13th time’s the charm. From what I’ve seen, Cillian Murphy was definitely very deserving of his Oscar. Although he and Christopher Nolan have been working together for a long time, they both got their first big Oscar wins together.
I’m not really sure why Ryan Gosling was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in “Barbie”. I like him, but his role in that movie was nothing eye opening. He just wore big coats and made puppy eyes at Margot Robbie. He did it very well, though. I don’t think he ever really had a chance of winning, but it was cute that they nominated him. Although I’m very happy for Robert Downey Jr. winning for “Oppenheimer,” I was hoping for Mark Ruffalo in “Poor Things”. He’s short and sweet. Although, I’m so proud of them both being nominated after coming from such humble beginnings in superhero movies.
I love Emma Stone, although I’m a little surprised they gave her her second Oscar before the age of 36. I was really betting on Lily Gladstone winning since she’s so new to the scene, but she was a very graceful loser. Carey Mulligan is always so elegant and lovely, but I’m not surprised they didn’t give it to her. Somehow I knew that “Maestro” was going to get robbed in every category. Again, sorry Bradley.
When I see Emily Blunt looking like a disheveled housewife in “Oppenheimer”, I assume she’s going to win. The Academy just eats up roles surrounding poor, disheveled mothers; people that they would never come close to. But, I didn’t really know anything about Da’Vine Joy Randolph in “The Holdovers”, so maybe she was very deserving. My second guess was going to be America Ferrera, but “Barbie” ended up getting snubbed all the way around. Rip Barbie.
As for costume design, “Oppenheimer” might be historically accurate, but I’m so glad the award went to “Poor Things”. Bella’s outfits are a perfect cross between historical fashion and quirky modernism, and I don’t think any other movie deserved the award. The outfits in “Barbie” were no doubt stunning and fun, but they didn’t particularly stand out to me.
While the production design for “Poor Things” was really impressive in that category, I personally think “Barbie” was more deserving of the award. I wasn’t a huge fan of the movie, but just look at it; it’s an entire world of cheap pink architecture and plastic palm trees. It may sound dumb, but it’s actually a masterful combination of urban planning and tacky patterns.
I’m definitely not surprised that Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki won the Oscar for best animated feature. I hadn’t evenheard of half of the other nominations, and Miyazaki already had three Oscar wins prior to this. While his star-studded casts probably do give his films a little edge, the creativity of the concepts and beauty of the animation has stayed constant for 40 years of filmmaking.
I’m also not really surprised he didn’t show up to accept his award; he also did not attend the 2003 Oscars when “Spirited Away” won for best animated feature. According to the CCO of Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki felt “too old” to attend the Oscars. How cute. Personally, I think he really just couldn’t care less about the Oscars, but the age is a good excuse.
All in all, I’m still very happy with how the Oscars went. No one got slapped, the musical numbers were nice, and Ariana Grande’s dress was still able to fit in her chair. Congratulations to all the winners, and to the losers, do better. Thank you!