\n<\/p>\n
Fittingly for an Academy Awards celebrating 2023, the year of \u201cBarbenheimer,\u201d the movies that made up that phenomenon commanded our attention on Sunday night, too. None of it was a surprise, exactly \u2014 we knew Ryan Gosling was going to perform the song \u201cI\u2019m Just Ken,\u201d from \u201cBarbie.\u201d And \u201cOppenheimer\u201d had been the ceremony\u2019s front-runner since awards season started last fall. Still, we weren\u2019t prepared for just how much the ceremony, which for the most part ran smoothly, would get a boost from those twin blockbusters. Here are the highs and lows as we saw them.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s No. 1 Ken, the \u201cBarbie\u201d star Ryan Gosling \u2014 who was also nominated for best supporting actor and<\/em> presented a tribute to stunt performers with Emily Blunt \u2014 brought the house down with his performance of \u201cI\u2019m Just Ken,\u201d one of two nominated \u201cBarbie\u201d songs. In a shimmering hot pink tuxedo, backed by some of his co-stars (Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa) and a bevy of handsome men in tuxes, he danced and sang his heart out.<\/p>\n Gosling roamed into the audience, getting Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, America Ferrera and Emma Stone briefly on mic. He was held aloft and spun as giant \u201cBarbie\u201d face cutouts twirled around him. The song\u2019s co-writer and co-producer, Mark Ronson, played guitar onstage, as did Slash from Guns N\u2019 Roses and Wolfgang Van Halen, who had all played on the original recording. If the Oscars wanted a viral video moment, they sure got it (even though it had been announced in advance). And Gosling remains the Hollywood man with perhaps the most range. \u2014 Alissa Wilkinson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When \u201cOppenheimer<\/a>,\u201d Christopher Nolan\u2019s hit drama about the man who helped create the atomic bomb, won best picture, the victory capped a huge night for the film: seven Oscars total, including awards for director (Nolan), actor (Cillian Murphy) and supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.).<\/p>\n Released last summer to glowing reviews and a worldwide box-office total nearing $1 billion, \u201cOppenheimer\u201d was considered the front-runner even before awards season began. Though some presumed favorites can\u2019t sustain their momentum over several months, \u201cOppenheimer\u201d never faltered, earning top prizes from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs and every major Hollywood guild along the way.<\/p>\n And why shouldn\u2019t it have had a charmed run? When it comes to awards-season voters\u2019 typical tastes, \u201cOppenheimer\u201d could have been designed in an Oscar-friendly Los Alamos lab: It\u2019s a period drama about a great historical figure, set against the backdrop of World War II, directed by a major Hollywood auteur. The cherry on top is that audiences responded to it, too: It\u2019s now the third highest-grossing film to win best picture, behind only \u201cTitanic\u201d and \u201cThe Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.\u201d \u2014 Kyle Buchanan<\/em><\/p>\n Jimmy Kimmel opened the Oscars with ingratiating self-deprecation (\u201cThank you for that partial standing ovation\u201d) and closed with a nod to Hollywood as a union town. In between, he did just fine, delivering a broad, conversational set, full of safe roasts (a jab at Robert De Niro dating younger, a knock on the flop \u201cMadame Web\u201d), a crowd-pleasing cameo by a dog and a corny joke about Robert Downey Jr.\u2019s pants. Nothing hilarious or daring. But it was a confident and clubby set, one you\u2019d expect from a veteran host who had been there, done that. \u2014 Jason Zinoman<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It was the stuff of an Oscar winner\u2019s nightmare. As Emma Stone walked onstage to accept the best actress award for her turn in \u201cPoor Things<\/a>,\u201d she motioned to the other best actress winners onstage, including her bestie Jennifer Lawrence, to help with her Louis Vuitton gown, which seemed to be ripping, Stone handled it with grace, joking \u201cOh, boy. My dress is broken. I think it happened during \u2018I\u2019m Just Ken.\u2019\u201d After a speech in which she paid tribute to her director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and other colleagues, she told the crowd, \u201cDon\u2019t look at the back of my dress,\u201d and turned to walk offstage, one hand over the noticeable rip. \u2014 Shivani Gonzalez<\/em><\/p>\n This year\u2019s ceremony brought back a setup that was last seen at the 2009 ceremony<\/a>: instead of one sole presenter, five past Oscar winners introduced each of the nominees in the acting categories. Let\u2019s hope it sticks this time. While it meant we didn\u2019t get clips of the actors, well, acting, it did mean we got heartfelt tributes that had some of the winners getting emotional before even taking the stage.<\/p>\n This was especially true in the first category of the night, supporting actress, where there were strong personal connections between the honorees and those who had triumphed earlier. Lupita Nyong\u2019o, for instance, told the eventual winner, Da\u2019Vine Joy Randolph: \u201cYour performance is tribute to those who have helped others heal in spite of their own pain. It\u2019s 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.\u201d Randolph immediately wiped tears from her face. Later, after Ben Kingsley spoke to the \u201chumanity\u201d in Cillian Murphy\u2019s winning interpretation of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Murphy smiled and bit his lip, nodding with moved affection.<\/p>\n Then there was Robert Downey Jr. After winning his first Oscar on his third try for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d he offered breezy, jocular remarks<\/a> in which he variously thanked his \u201cterrible childhood,\u201d his stylist and a lawyer who he said spent years trying to get him insured. It all worked. \u2014 Esther Zuckerman and Matt Stevens<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Kudos to whoever came up with the brilliant idea of having Rita Moreno address America Ferrera<\/a> (\u201cBarbie\u201d) during the presentation of the best supporting actress nominees. It gave Moreno the opportunity to sing \u201cAhh-meeeh-riii-ca,\u201d a callback to the veteran Oscar winner\u2019s legendary performance of the song of the same name from \u201cWest Side Story\u201d (1961). But it was also a celebration, \u201cfrom one woman to another,\u201d of the powerful link across generations between two Latin artists who each created cinematic moments that have become cultural touchstones. \u2014 Mekado Murphy<\/em><\/p>\n When the comic John Mulaney took the stage to present the Oscar for best sound, I\u2019d almost forgotten about another sound: that of an audience genuinely laughing instead of politely chuckling at jokes that would never hit otherwise. After a steady march of milquetoast bits that made even the host Jimmy Kimmel and hilarious actors like Melissa McCarthy seem meh, Mulaney managed to offer us a small taste of actual comedy \u2014 with quips about silent films and the 1989 Kevin Costner sports fantasy, \u201cField of Dreams,\u201d no less! It was a reminder that it is possible to deliver from the Oscars stage, and effortlessly at that. It wasn\u2019t long before my colleagues were prepared to bet on when Mulaney might take the reins for the whole ceremony. As our movie critic Alissa Wilkinson put it, \u201cI don\u2019t root for Oscar winners, on principle, but I do root for one thing: John Mulaney to host the Oscars.\u201d \u2014 Maya Salam<\/em><\/p>\n Unlike recent awards seasons when events like the war in Ukraine were fair game, little had been said at 2024 ceremonies about Israel and Hamas. One exception involved the creators of the Holocaust drama \u201cThe Zone of Interest.\u201d At the BAFTAs last month, James Wilson, one of the film\u2019s producers, brought up the war during an acceptance speech. At the Dolby Theater on Sunday, a few hours after demonstrations took place nearby<\/a>, the film\u2019s director was more pointed. Accepting the best international feature Oscar, Jonathan Glazer said: \u201cRight 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?\u201d \u2014 Stephanie Goodman<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Former President Donald J. Trump couldn\u2019t help himself, Jimmy Kimmel couldn\u2019t resist either, and so the Oscars closed on a political note<\/a>. Kimmel used some of his final stage time as host to read a post published on Truth Social by Trump. (And yes, he really did post it.) \u201cHas there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars,\u201d Kimmel said, reading part of Trump\u2019s missive. \u201cHis opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be,\u201d Kimmel added. After asking the audience, \u201cSee if you can guess which former president just posted that?\u201d Kimmel offered one final barb, expressing surprise that Trump had stayed up to watch the telecast: \u201cIsn\u2019t it past your jail time?\u201d he said. \u2014 Matt Stevens<\/em><\/p>\n The great animator and director Hayao Miyazaki<\/a> was a ghostly presence at the ceremony, like one of the benevolent spirits he creates for his dazzling stories of grief, adventure and growing up. He and his fellow nominee, the producer Toshio Suzuki, were not there to accept the award for best animated feature for \u201cThe Boy and the Heron<\/a>,\u201d Miyazaki\u2019s fairy tale about a Japanese boy making a journey to the underworld to reconcile himself to the wartime loss of his mother. Miyazaki won the same award in 2003 for \u201cSpirited Away\u201d and announced his retirement 10 years later; now 83, he has announced his retirement again, saying \u201cThe Boy and the Heron\u201d will be his last movie. It would be particularly greedy to wish that he changes his mind once more, but here\u2019s hoping. \u2014 Mike Hale<\/em><\/p>\n Accepting his Oscar for best adapted screenplay for \u201cAmerican Fiction<\/a>,\u201d the writer-director Cord Jefferson gave a rousing plea for more investment in movies with modest budgets, saying, \u201cThis is a risk-averse industry \u2014 I get it. But $200 million movies are also a risk, and it doesn\u2019t always work out, but you take the risk anyway. And instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies.\u201d It might have made some of the big-budget nominees in the room squirm, but it was a rare, refreshing Oscars moment when a winner used their platform to get candid with Hollywood instead of lavishing it with praise. \u2014 Julia Jacobs<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m just happy that we can finally put this \u2018Barbenheimer\u2019 rivalry behind us,\u201d Ryan Gosling told the \u201cOppenheimer\u201d star Emily Blunt when they took the stage to extol the contributions of stunt performers. Last summer\u2019s movie event was less of a competition and more of an unlikely but entertaining marriage of two radically different films. Hordes of moviegoers showing up in person buoyed the box office numbers for both movies, and \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d was said to be proof that the movie industry had finally bounced back post-pandemic. But if \u201cBarbie\u201d triumphed at the box office, it quickly became clear that \u201cOppenheimer\u201d would be the awards favorite, and the Oscar stage proved an ideal setting for renewed combat:<\/p>\n Blunt: \u201cThe way this awards season turned out, it just wasn\u2019t that much of a rivalry. Just let it go!\u201d<\/p>\n Gosling, explaining that the phrase wasn\u2019t \u201cOppenbarbie\u201d: \u201cBarbie\u201d was first because \u201cyou were riding \u2018Barbie\u2019s\u2019 coattails all summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Blunt: \u201cThanks for Ken-splaining that to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u2014 Chris Kuo<\/em><\/p>\n The red carpet wasn\u2019t dominated by Old Hollywood glamour, as it typically is, but a newer trend some people refer to as \u201cmermaidcore.\u201d What that really means is sea-foam colors and piscine accents, mixed with some ethereal Botticelli \u201cBirth of Venus\u201d vibes. Look at the decadent fishlike scales on Anya Taylor-Joy\u2019s dress, inspired by a 75-year-old Christian Dior design. Or the crisp mint gown worn by Emma Stone, reminiscent of seashells with its peplum top and jacquard fabric. Lupita Nyong\u2019o wore a pale blue gown dripping in crystals and feathers. Da\u2019Vine Joy Randolph also wore a pale blue gown with fringed oversize sleeves. The buttons on Bradley Cooper\u2019s black double-breasted jacket were an oceanic turquoise blue. The embellishments on Florence Pugh\u2019s silvery dress looked like juicy water droplets. (She also wore floating straps \u2014 another unexpected, and significantly more polarizing, trend<\/a>.) \u2014 Jessica Testa<\/em><\/p>\n There are few dogs who\u2019ve been greeted with as rapturous a reception as Messi, the black-and-white Border collie who plays Snoop in the French courtroom thriller \u201cAnatomy of a Fall.\u201d The Dolby Theater erupted when he was spotted Sunday night in a plush seat, a big black bow tie around his neck \u2014 even if the shot was later revealed to have been recorded before the ceremony<\/a>.<\/p>\n The academy had been toying with fans\u2019 hearts all week. There were reports that Messi had been \u201cbanned\u201d after some executives behind nominated films not named \u201cAnatomy of a Fall\u201d complained that his scene-stealing escapades at the Oscar nominees luncheon earlier in the year \u2014 including snuggling with Billie Eilish<\/a> \u2014 had given the film an unfair advantage during Oscars voting. But when the camera panned to him during Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s monologue in the opening minutes? Sorry, Jenny the donkey<\/a>, there\u2019s a new most-beloved mascot in town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This, by the way, is a canine who knows how to pull off a grand finale: After \u201cOppenheimer\u201d won best picture, the cameras cut to the Hollywood Walk of Fame outside the theater, where Messi lifted his leg over Matt Damon\u2019s star and \u2026 well, that was it. This is a refined actor, after all! \u2014 Sarah Bahr<\/em><\/p>\nMost Charmed Film: \u2018Oppenheimer\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Most Confident Host: Jimmy Kimmel<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Biggest Surprise: Emma Stone Wins as Her Dress Tears<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Wisest Choice for Presenters<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Most Moving Choice for a Presenter<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Most Potentially Interesting Choice for a Host<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Most Political Moment, Part 1: Jonathan Glazer, \u2018The Zone of Interest\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Most Political Moment Part 2: Jimmy Kimmel vs. Donald Trump<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Best Win for a Director Who\u2019s Retired (We Think)<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Best Jab at Hollywood<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Best Jabs on Behalf of \u2018Barbenheimer\u2019: Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Boldest Fashion Trend: \u2018Mermaidcore\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Sweetest Good Boy: Messi, the \u2018Anatomy of a Fall\u2019 Dog<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Barest Presentation\/Worst Missed Opportunity: John Cena<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n