The 96th Academy Awards was certainly highly anticipated this year, with the fan-favorite films Barbie and Oppenheimer both vying for the coveted Best Picture award.
Settling the debate once and for all, Oppenheimer took home the trophy, with director Christopher Nolan also taking home his first Best Director award.
Oppenheimer continued to sweep the ceremony, with big wins for Editing and Original Score, along with actors Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy taking the Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor awards as well.
Barbie wouldn’t leave empty-handed, however, as Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connor won for their song, “What Was I Made For?”
The rest of the award show was dominated by Poor Things, an artistic reimagining of Frankenstein starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo.
Poor Things would sweep the artistic categories, taking home awards for Makeup, Production Design, and Costumes.
Meanwhile, Emma Stone won Best Actress for portraying Bella Baxter in the film.
Best Supporting Actress would go to Da’Vine Joy Randolph for her performance in The Holdovers.
The ceremony itself was entertaining as well. Jimmy Kimmel hosted once again to mixed results, but the overall show had several memorable moments. As a nod to the fiftieth anniversary of the Oscar streaker, John Cena presenting the award for Best Costume wearing nothing but the winner’s envelope will certainly be talked about for years. One of the main highlights of the show was when the internet got their wish for Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” live on stage.
As if that weren’t enough, various other Ken actors from the film also joined the performance, with Guns N’ Roses Slash, Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang Van Halen, and “I’m Just Ken” songwriter Mark Ronson all playing guitars.
The Barbienheimer rivalry was even given a skit during the show, with supporting stars Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) and Gosling engaging in banter during the stunts tribute, with Gosling stating Barbenheimer was named that in that order because Oppenheimer “was riding Barbie’s coattails all summer.”
All in all, the 96th Academy Awards was memorable and very entertaining. It was certainly one of the standout ceremonies in recent years, with plenty of humor and intriguing films to capture the 19.5 million viewers it raked in last Sunday night.
