The Academy Awards, or the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. These awards recognise excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy’s voting membership.
It is the oldest of the four major annual American awards – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music.
The 96th Academy Awards ceremony took place on 10 March 2024 in Los Angeles.
It’s been a hot minute since anything interesting has happened at the Oscars, such as Will Smith slapping Chris Rock two years ago, and it seems John Cena took it upon himself to spice things up this year.
John Cena Was Naked On Stage
John Cena appeared on stage during the Oscars to present the award for best costume design.
To fully drive home the point of how important costumes are, the wrestler-actor was almost entirely naked.
“Costumes, they are so important. Maybe the most important thing there is,” he said while using an oversized winner’s envelope to cover his groin area.
This gag was a reference to when a nude man ran across the stage while David Niven was introducing Elizabeth Taylor at the 46th Academy Awards, 50 years ago.
“I can’t open the envelope,” Cena says before the show’s host, Jimmy Kimmel, assists him in putting on what looks like a curtain.
What a way to make a point.
Cena then announced the winner was Poor Things.
Oppenheimer Dominated the Academy Awards
Last year was an exciting year for film, with “Barbenheimer” being spotlighted.
“Barbenheimer” refers to the films Barbie and Oppenheimer, which were both released on the same day (21 July 2023).
Barbie follows Barbie and Ken on a journey of self-discovery through both Barbieland and the real world following an existential crisis. This commentary regarding patriarchy and the effects of feminism stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Oppenheimer is about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who famously led the Manhatten Project. It tells the story of the scientist, played by Cillian Murphy, who created the first ever atomic bomb during WWII.
Given that the two films have such contrasting themes and colour schemes, many were “taking sides” and taking guesses on which film would perform better.
Looking at the Box Office, Barbie has grossed nearly S$2 billion worldwide as of 11 March 2024. Oppenheimer, on the other hand, has grossed close to S$1.3 billion.
Don’t let these numbers fool you, however, as Oppenheimer actually received better reviews.
Barbie has a 6.9 rating from IMDb and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Oppenheimer boasts an 8.4 rating from IMDb and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Barbie‘s contrasting performance in the Box Office and it’s lower-than-expected rating can be attributed to the fact that many people watched it simply to criticise it, with many leaving one-star reviews.
In this year’s Academy Awards, Oppenheimer shocked everyone by clinching seven out of 24 awards while Barbie received only one.
The Academy Awards has 24 categories such as Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Each category has five nominees, one of which will win the Oscar.
Best Picture is an exception with 10 nominees.
This year, Oppenheimer won seven Oscars in the following categories:
- Best Picture;
- Best Actor in a Leading Role (Cillian Murphy);
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Downey Jr.);
- Best Director (Christopher Nolan);
- Best Cinematography;
- Best Original Score; and
- Best Editing.
Barbie won only one award.
The Oscar for Best Original Song was given to “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie.
The ten nominees for Best Picture are as follows:
- American Fiction;
- Anatomy of a Fall;
- Barbie;
- The Holdovers;
- Killers of the Flower Moon;
- Maestro;
- Oppenheimer;
- Past Lives;
- Poor Things; and
- The Zone of Interest.
You might want to give these ten films a watch, if you haven’t already.
The Boy and the Heron
The Boy and the Heron, a Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.
Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, manga artist, and director of Studio Ghibli.
Fan-favourites such as Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo were all produced by Studio Ghibli.
The Boy and the Heron is described as a “big fantastical film” that takes place during the Pacific War. A boy, who moves to the countryside after his mother’s death, discovers an abandoned tower near his home, and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron.
Poor Things took home four Oscars this year
Emma Stone, who starred in Poor Things, won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Poor Things also won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design.
The film tells the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe).
With a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this film is definitely worth a watch.
Ryan Gosling’s Performance of “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie was nominated for Best Original Song this year.
Although it lost its Oscar to “What Was I Made For?”, also a Barbie original song, the performance by Gosling really engaged audience members and enticed many of them to stand up and sing along with him.
Gosling was dressed in hot pink from head to toe – what else would you wear when performing such an upbeat song from Barbie?
He performed the song alongside 65 other “Kens”, including Simu Liu.
Their “kenergy” was through the roof.
