2024 Oscar Round-Up

So let's start with my score card, out of 23 categories I successfully predicted 15!

Best Picture 

Oppenheimer

Best Director

Christopher Nolan

Best Actor

Cillian Murphy

Best Actress

Lily Gladstone

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Downey Jr.

Best Supporting Actress

Da Vine Joy Randolph

International
Best International Film - The Zone of Interest

Documentaries

Best Documentary Feature - To Kill a Tiger

Best Documentary Short - The Barber of Little Rock

Animated

Best Animated Feature - The Boy & the Heron

Best Animated Short - Letter to a Pig

Live Action

Best Live Action Short - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Sound and Score

Best Original Song - What Was I Made For?

Best Score - John Williams - Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny

Best Sound - The Zone of Interest

On Screen

Best Cinematography - Oppenheimer

Best Visual Effects - The Creator

On the Page

Best Original Screenplay - The Holdovers

Best Adapted Screenplay - American Fiction

Production & Post

Best Production Design - Barbie

Best Editing - Oppenheimer

Costume & Make Up

Best Costume Design - Poor Things

Best Make Up - Poor Things

Source: AMPAS

Post Oscar Report

Intro

So what started in September of last year with this season of awards culminated in last night's Academy Awards. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, (who was excellent and should now be the de-facto host), the ceremony started this year at 4pm PT (3 hours earlier than it's usual 7pm slot).

It was an excellent ceremony. Classy, elegant, relaxed and lean, it flowed nicely and the 3½ hours zipped by. 

How Did I Watch It?

I watched the ceremony live from the UK via ITVX but chose to join John Rocha on his YouTube channel for a live watch along together with over 400+ other movie buffs. Thank you to John for his sterling efforts, and for helping me avoid what I understand (this morning) was woeful coverage on ITVX. 

More information on John's YouTube channel can be found here.

The BIG Winners!

The big winner of the evening as expected was Oppenheimer, whilst not winning all 13 nominations, the deserved team went home with no less than 7 awards; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Score.

The next big winner was Poor Things, collecting 4 awards including Best Actress for Emma Stone. 

The Ceremony Itself

As for the ceremony itself it was a return to form for the Oscars after many years in the wilderness. The varied selection of movies nominated this year reminded me of why I love cinema so much, and this year's ceremony reminded me of why there is no award's night like the Oscars. One of the highlights of ceremony had to be Ryan Gosling singing his nominated song "I'm Just Ken" it was never going to win but was a great moment. Best Song went to  Billie Eilish for "What Was I Made For?"

Viewing figures are yet to be published but I'd say it will be considerably up on previous years.

The Host

Kimmel was excellent (as with the great Billy Crystal) he made it about the nominees and not about himself. I especially loved the jibe at Donald Trump towards the end of the show, in responding to a ridiculous post from the former President Kimmel's line "Isn't it past your jail time?" got a raucous response from the audience. 

What about the locks, snubs and shocks?

Locks

As expected, Oppenheimer won for Best Picture, Christopher Nolan for Best Director, Robert Downey Jr. for Best Supporting Actor, Da Vine Joy Randolph for Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers and finally The Zone of Interest for Best Foreign Film.

Snubs!

For snubs, yet again Bradley Cooper is unable to crack that Oscar egg with his movie Maestro not picking up a single award having been nominated in 7 categories. Likewise for Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, despite being nominated for 10 Oscars was firmly shut out. 

Shocks!

No real upsets, (Other than some might say The Zone of Interest, taking Best Sound instead of Oppenheimer). For Best Actress, Emma Stone was genuinely shocked she won for Poor Things, I think her split second reaction may even have been one of disappointment that fellow nominee Lily Gladstone hadn't won. 

Brits Had a Great Night!

As I'm British I would be remiss to not mention what a great night the Brits had! Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy (The first ever Irish born actor to win a Best Actor Oscar no less) equally for Oppenheimer. The Zone of Interest for Best Foreign Film, along with a bevy of awards for costume, make-up and hair. 

A Couple of Quick Notes. 

One brief segment that worked well was Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt's zingy tribute to the "Unsung Heroes" that are the industries stuntmen and women (This is a clear nod to their next movie The Fall Guy due out 3rd May). Instead of finishing the piece with "We salute you" the Academy has to follow in the footsteps of it's newly created Best Casting category (To be debuted next year) in creating Best Stunt Performance, so these heroes walk away with a golden statue rather than just a thanks. 

Although I had The Creator for Best Visual Effects, I am delighted that Godzilla: Minus One won.

What Didn't Work So Well

The only small gripes I had were firstly, when giving out their award the banter between Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy just didn't work. 

Secondly, whilst I enjoyed the live performance for the "In memoriam" section I think this portion of the ceremony may be better served by a classy choice of music than a live performance as I was forced to split my attention between the screen and the performer.

Thirdly (and most notably), whilst not topping Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway's La La Land debacle in 2017, whoever decided that Al Pacino should give the final Best Picture award (without doubt the biggest award of the night) will no doubt be ruing the day. 

The iconic Oscar winning actor who at the age of 83 years old is understandably showing his age, fumbled his way through, not even listing all nominations. His lackadaisical reveal of Oppenheimer as the winner had a hesitant audience trying to understand if his approach was intentional or a genuine faux pas. 

I understand the gravitas of this final award and for it to be read out by a suitable industry heavyweight, but consider the situation of the talent first. 

...and Finally

Congratulations to all the winners!

It was a great night celebrating the movie industry at the highest level and one that once again set the Oscar's above the rest.