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| The cast and crew of Oppenheimer accept the award for Best Picture (Courtesy NPR) |
The 96th Academy Awards were another year of celebration and dedication. For starters, five previous award-winners each presented and commended each of the twenty acting nominees for the first time since 2010. Starting with Da'Vine Joy Randolph's Supporting Actress win for The Holdovers (a very inspiring way to begin the ceremony), several of this year's nominated films managed to take home at least one Oscar statue.
Some of these films included Hayao Miyazaki's seven-years-in-the-making anime masterpiece The Boy and the Heron (a surprise victory against the more ambitious Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), Justine Triet & Arthur Harari's original screenplay for their morally-ambiguous courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall (that film's dog, Messi, was in the audience!), Jonathan Glazer's haunting Holocaust drama-thriller The Zone of Interest (which won Best International Feature, and for its chilling sound), Cord Jefferson's adapted screenplay for the sharp satire American Fiction, and Wes Anderson's short film adaptation of Roald Dahl's witty and entertaining The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Jefferson even made an eye-opening (and worthwhile) call for other types of stories to be told, particularly low-budget independent features, and not just big-budget spectacles. (No offense, Christopher Nolan.)
I was disappointed that Lily Gladstone didn't win Best Actress for her captivating, empathetic, and layered performance in Martin Scorsese's historical western-drama Killers of the Flower Moon. That honor went to Emma Stone, for her leading performance in Yorgos Lanthimos's dark fantasy Poor Things (which picked up additional trophies for its makeup, production design, and costumes). In fact, had Gladstone won, Scorcese's three-and-a-half-hour epic saga wouldn't have gone home empty-handed--a feat it now shares with the director's previous flick, The Irishman (also pushing the same runtime). And with last night's runtime. (Well, almost.) But all disappointment aside, Scorsese remains one of our master filmmakers and dedicated advocates for cinema.
Getting back to the ceremony, Christopher Nolan's three-hour biopic Oppenheimer took home seven of its eleven nominations, including acting wins for Marvel vet Robert Downey Jr.'s supporting turn and DC vet Cillian Murphy's leading role (marking them the second and third people to win acting trophies for a Nolan feature, since Heath Ledger's posthumous win in 2009), Hoyte Van Hoytema's cinematography, Jennifer Lame's film editing, Ludwig Goransson's original score, Nolan's direction, and Best Picture.
Billie Eilish (one of the best dressed that evening, along with Randolph, Ariana Grande, and Jon Batiste) and Finneas O'Connell gave a beautiful rendition of their Barbie ballad "What Was I Made For?" (which won Best Original Song, and was backed by an incredible orchestra). But it was Ryan Gosling who stole the show with his hilarious and well-choreographed performance of "I'm Just Ken". (It was extra fun watching him share the mic with co-stars Margot Robbie and America Ferrera, and director Greta Gerwig.)
There were also some terrific reunions amongst presenters and/or nominees throughout the evening, including Twins and former Batman villains Arnold Schwarzenegger & Danny DeVito (one of the biggest laughs of the night), Beetlejuice alums Michael Keaton & Catherine O'Hara (who will be reprising their respective roles later this year), WWE pros John Cena (who had, perhaps, the most awkward moment of the night) and Dwayne Johnson backstage, and Best Picture presenter Al Pacino with Nolan and co-producer Emma Thomas (for the first time since the 2002 psychological thriller Insomnia). Pacino, however, seemed to rush opening the envelope without acknowledging the other nominees (although, I have seen this twice before, when Tom Hanks presented the award to The Hurt Locker in 2010, or when the late, great British actor Sir Laurence Olivier presented the statue to Amadeus in 1985).
But more importantly, "Barbenheimer" reps Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling were just two of the many presenters and/or winners (along with host Jimmy Kimmel) to salute the unsung heroes who make movies happen, from stunt performers to crew members and orchestra players. The same goes for real-life heroes, including teachers and educators (i.e., Billie Eilish's win, Best Documentary Short winner The Last Repair Shop), and those fighting and advocating for various causes around the world. Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov (Best Documentary Feature winner for the harrowing 20 Days in Mariupol), perhaps, said it best: "Cinema forms memories, and memories form history." Cillian Murphy also dedicated his Oscar "to the peacemakers everywhere" around the world.
Amidst all the praise, glamour, and recognition, we should do the same.
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