Oscars 2024 Rundown
This year Script Magazine virtually attended the Oscars on March 10th and was privy to what Oscar winners had to say in the press room fresh after their wins.
This year Script Magazine virtually attended the Oscars on March 10th and was privy to what Oscar winners had to say in the press room fresh after their wins. For some, it was their first win. For others, another cherry on top of an already Oscar-awarded career. A common thread amongst all was a love of their craft and respect for their peers.
Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 96th annual Academy Awards and it went down as smoothly as a neat scotch on ice. Most of his jokes were tasteful and stuck the landing. This was his third time hosting so he's no novice. He doesn't have the cinephile flair of someone like Billy Crystal, but his jokes were inoffensive and sharp. The star-studded event honoring Hollywood's best of the best started an hour earlier than usual and seemed to fly by. There was no filler, so the often bloated program was super lean and ended by 7:30 Pacific Time.
Let's begin with the surprise wins. Lily Gladstone was the sure shot to win Best Actress for her soulful performance in Killers of the Flower Moon. Much to everyone's surprise, even hers, Emma Stone won for her jarring portrayal of Frenkensteinesque Bella Baxter in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things. After she worked through being tongue-tied, she noted that the award wasn't just about her, "It's about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts." She had to gather her dress because watching Ryan Gosling's performance of "Just Ken" "broke her dress.
In the highly competitive adapted screenplay category, freshman feature director won for his razor-sharp satire American Fiction, beating out Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Barbie, and The Zone of Interest. He acknowledged that Hollywood is a risk-averse business but suggested that taking chances is worth it. "$200 million movies are also a risk, you know. And it doesn't always work out, but you take the risk anyway. Instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies or 50 -- right? -- 50 $4 million movies."
Godzilla Minus One certainly illustrated that you don't have to spend $100 million dollars to have a stunning film. The film is rumored to have cost $10 to $15 million to make and has grossed $85.8 million worldwide. The film starring the world's baddest kaiju nabbed the award for Best Visual Effects. Backstage, writer/director Takashi Yamazaki and his team said when they designed the monster, “in order to get the essence of Godzilla, they examined all of the Godzilla's over the years.” Stating that its origins paint it as “a symbol of terror and war and nuclear power.” He wanted to make sure that “when audiences saw Godzilla that fear would be instilled upon them." And they succeeded because that is one fearsome looking Godzilla!
Oppenheimer won seven of its thirteen nominations, including Robert Downey Jr. for Best Supporting Actor, Christopher Nolan for Best Director and Cillian Murphy for Best Actor. Robert Downey Jr. survived his bad boy days, with the help of his wife, and has had an illustrious career comprised of a variety of roles that show his range. The same can be said for Cillian Murphy, the first Irishman to win Best Actor. From 28 Days Later to Oppenheimer, Murphy has submerged himself in roles. He is the role and it is him. It is a full circle moment for him to win this award with long-time collaborator Christopher Nolan, “I did a screen test for him when I was a kid and I thought that would be it. And it would be just enough to be in a room with Chris for a couple of hours and here we are.”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who started off her career as a singer, took home the gold for the grief-stricken Mary in the holiday care package of a film The Holdovers. She mentioned in an interview prior to the awards that she wanted to have a “career" if she received an Oscar and not be fighting for “scraps” as a Black actress. One can only hope Hollywood utilizes this brimming-with-talent actress.
The In Memoriam was powerful, led by Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo singing the wistful "Time to Say Good-Bye (Con Te Partirò)." However, there were a few notable icons missing from the tribute - Lance Reddick, Suzanne Somers, and Norman Lear are just a few luminaries who weren’t acknowledged. One wonders how just big names could have been forgotten from this tribute. This is something all awards shows need to work on because they all seem to forget people every year.
The showstopper for the night was Ryan Gosling belting out “I’m Just Ken,” with some of the Kens from the movie and special guitar shredding appearance by Slash. The wardrobe and some of the dance moves were a wonderful homage to Marilyn Monroe singing "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
This was probably the best format the Oscars has had in a long time. Instead of showing clips of the actors in their nominated roles, each was celebrated and highlighted by a previous Oscar winner. It seems like Hollywood has bounced back from the pandemic and the strikes. Last year offered a slew of diverse films, from blockbusters to foreign gems, and celebrated them with appropriate honor and excitement at last night’s Oscars.
Oscar Winners List
● Best Picture: Oppenheimer
● Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
● Best Actress: Emma Stone, Poor Things
● Best Actor: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
● Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
● Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
● Best Original Screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
● Best Adapted Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
● Best Animated Feature: The Boy and the Heron
● Best Animated Short: War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
● Best International Feature: The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)
● Best Documentary Feature: 20 Days in Mariupol
● Best Documentary Short: The Last Repair Shop
● Best Live Action Short: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
● Best Score: Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer
● Best Original Song: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, "What Was I Made For?" from Barbie
● Best Sound: Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn, The Zone of Interest
● Best Production Design: James Price, Shona Heath and Zsuzsa Mihalek, Poor Things
● Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
● Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston, Poor Things
● Best Costume Design: Holly Waddington, Poor Things
● Best Editing: Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer
● Best Visual Effects: Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima, Godzilla Minus One
Sonya Alexander started off her career training to be a talent agent. She eventually realized she was meant to be on the creative end and has been writing ever since. As a freelance writer she’s written screenplays, covered film, television, music and video games and done academic writing. She’s also been a script reader for over twenty years. She's a member of the African American Film Critics Association and currently resides in Los Angeles.
