This year’s Oscars were great, except for the bits that were terrible. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, such dissonance is the norm; Hollywood’s annual self-congratulatory gala has never equaled the sum of its parts. Speeches are wonderful and terrible, presentations are inspired and insipid, jokes are cutting and groaning, songs are riotous and wretched. It all adds up less to a unified ceremony than a collection of impressionable moments.
And this year’s Oscars, the 96th in the Academy’s history, delivered plenty of those. John Mulaney turned the rudimentary presentation of Best Sound (featuring a surprise winner!) into a majestic detour about Field of Dreams. Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling reminded everyone what natural star power looks like. A powerful speech from 20 Days in Mariupol director Mstyslav Chernov (about the atrocities in Ukraine) brought the typically tittering crowd into reverent silence, only for it to later explode with euphoria following Gosling’s rendition of Barbie’s “I’m Just Ken.” John Cena got naked.
There were plenty of dead spots and patches of awkwardness to offset the triumph and delirium. Most of the speeches were the typically dull parade of thank-yous. Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy flailed. The well-intentioned presentation of the acting categories, featuring direct addresses to each nominee from a former winner, provided some nice moments (most notably Nicolas Cage fêting Paul Giamatti), but they also robbed viewers of the precious clips that are the perhaps Oscars’ most beloved tradition. There was that bizarre product placement with tequila. And the “In Memoriam” montage inexplicably showed the full stage (with needlessly twirling dancers), making the footage of the departed look as though you were squinting at pics on somebody else’s phone.
And then there was Jimmy Kimmel, who was, well, fine. He seemed genuinely happy to be there and was enthusiastic about movies, and he authored a nice early moment when he honored the IATSE members operating behind the scenes. He also offered the tired “Your movies are too long” critique, minimized the value of animation, and struggled to improvise. (His best bit came near the end, after a Donald Trump self-own allowed him to deliver the zinger, “Isn’t it past your jail time?”)
Kimmel’s overall unevenness was fitting for a show that was alternately dazzling and stultifying, but which was mostly a pretty good time. History will decide which of this year’s bits will be remembered—early returns suggest that Steven Spielberg’s sly participation in Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera’s banter will have a long half-life, as will the dog from Anatomy of a Fall—but for now, most of us can take modest satisfaction in an evening that was genial and amusing, and which happened to honor some pretty damn good movies.
About which, per tradition, let’s quickly run through the feature categories, in order of their presentation:
Best Supporting Actress
Predicted winner: Da’Vine Joy Randolph—The Holdovers (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: Danielle Brooks—The Color Purple
Actual winner: Da’Vine Joy Randolph—The Holdovers
Randolph and her exquisitely feathery dress started the night off with a bang, even if her praise of her publicist led to some awkward follow-ups later in the night.
Best Animated Feature
Predicted winner: The Boy and the Heron (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Actual winner: The Boy and the Heron
Take that, oddsmakers! Sure, I was pulling for Spider-Verse here, but correctly calling a tight race is weirdly gratifying.
Best Original Screenplay
Predicted winner: Anatomy of a Fall—Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: Past Lives—Celine Song
Actual winner: Anatomy of a Fall—Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
It’s always funny when terrific writers struggle to compose (or perhaps deliver) a cogent acceptance speech. Also, Past Lives was shut out on the evening; on the one hand, that stinks because it’s awesome; on the other hand, I’m fine keeping this brittle masterpiece to myself.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Predicted winner: American Fiction—Cord Jefferson (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: Oppenheimer—Christopher Nolan
Actual winner: American Fiction—Cord Jefferson
Hey look, a good speech! I didn’t love Jefferson’s satire in American Fiction, but his plea here for studios to finance more mid-budget movies—“Instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies”—was both sincere and pointed.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Predicted winner: Poor Things (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: Poor Things
Actual winner: Poor Things
That’s “Academy Award winner Poor Things” to you. (In fact, Yorgos Lanthimos’ marvel racked up four trophies on the night, second-most of any contender.)
Best Production Design
Predicted winner: Poor Things—Shona Heath, James Price (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: Barbie—Sarah Greenwood
Actual winner: Poor Things—Shona Heath, James Price
My heart will always lie with Sarah Greenwood, but I can’t begrudge Poor Things scooping up a second consecutive trophy.
Best Costume Design
Predicted winner: Poor Things—Holly Waddington (confidence: 2/5)
Preferred winner: Poor Things—Holly Waddington
Actual winner: Poor Things—Holly Waddington
This was most memorable for Cena’s nude presentation, which was a delightful reminder of what an agile comedian he’s become. Always, yay Poor Things!
Best International Feature
Predicted winner: The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom) (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)
Actual winner: The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)
Jarring tonal shift here, as the loopy presentation from Dwayne Johnson and Bad Bunny was followed by Jonathan Glazer’s piercing speech, which… well, I’ll let the internet sort it out. He certainly had something to say, though.
(This was followed by Blunt and Gosling’s hysterical back-and-forth regarding #Barbenheimer, which led into a thoughtful tribute to the stunt community—an homage that’s only sure to amplify the outcry for the Academy to just create a damn “Best Stunts” category already.)
Best Supporting Actor
Predicted winner: Robert Downey Jr.—Oppenheimer (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: Ryan Gosling—Barbie
Actual winner: Robert Downey Jr.—Oppenheimer
Downey Jr. gave a lovely speech, which will inevitably be overshadowed by Messi clapping.
Best Visual Effects
Predicted winner: Godzilla Minus One (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: The Creator
Actual winner: Godzilla Minus One
Neato! I personally leaned toward The Creator in this category, but Godzilla Minus One is a far superior movie overall, so I’m happy for it. (Also happy to see Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito together again.)
Best Film Editing
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer—Jennifer Lame (confidence: 4/5)
Preferred winner: Oppenheimer—Jennifer Lame
Actual winner: Oppenheimer—Jennifer Lame
No surprise here. Kudos to Lame, both for her excellent work on Oppenheimer and her beautiful green dress.
Best Documentary Feature
Predicted winner: 20 Days in Mariupol (confidence: 3/5)
Actual winner: 20 Days in Mariupol
Again, strong stuff here from Chernov. Not sure what it says about Hollywood that both of the provocative speeches on the night came from Europeans. Not sure I want to know.
Best Cinematography
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer—Hoyte van Hoytema (confidence: 3/5)
Preferred winner: Poor Things—Robbie Ryan
Actual winner: Oppenheimer—Hoyte van Hoytema
Hoyte says, shoot your movies on film!
Best Sound
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer (confidence: 3/5)
Preferred winner: The Zone of Interest
Actual winner: The Zone of Interest
As the critic Guy Lodge pointed out, this was the evening’s apex. First, Mulaney brought the energy in the room way up with his rambling about Field of Dreams, a digression that was somehow ludicrous, kinetic, and hilarious all at once. Then, whoa, The Zone of Interest won for Best Sound! This was easily the biggest surprise of the night, and a well-deserved one at that. (Speaking of surprises, I went 18-for-20 with my predictions, a reasonably strong showing that couldn’t quite go the distance.)
And then, “I’m Just Ken” happened. Boisterous songs will always have the advantage over tearful ballads in the context of a live Oscars, but this was still something special. Ryan Gosling is an American hero.
Best Original Score
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer—Ludwig Göransson (confidence: 4/5)
Preferred winner: Oppenheimer—Ludwig Göransson
Actual winner: Oppenheimer—Ludwig Göransson
It’s always nice when those three lines all line up.
Best Original Song
Predicted winner: “What Was I Made For?”—Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (from Barbie) (confidence: 4/5)
Preferred winner: “I’m Just Ken”—Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (from Barbie)
Actual winner: “What Was I Made For?”—Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (from Barbie)
Look, I like “What Was I Made For?” fine and I think Billie Eilish is quite talented, but giving this award to a song from Barbie that wasn’t “I’m Just Ken”—and less than 10 minutes after the raucous standing ovation it inspired—was quite absurd.
Best Actor
Predicted winner: Cillian Murphy—Oppenheimer (confidence: 3/5)
Preferred winner: Paul Giamatti—The Holdovers
Actual winner: Cillian Murphy—Oppenheimer
Moving right along.
Best Director
Predicted winner: Christopher Nolan—Oppenheimer (confidence: 5/5)
Preferred winner: Yorgos Lanthimos—Poor Things
Actual winner: Christopher Nolan—Oppenheimer
Starting to think this Chris Nolan fella might have a future in this business. (And him receiving the award from Steven Spielberg—my two favorite living filmmakers sharing the stage—that was something.)
Best Actress
Predicted winner: Lily Gladstone—Killers of the Flower Moon (confidence: 1/5)
Preferred winner: Emma Stone—Poor Things
Actual winner: Emma Stone—Poor Things
Oh my. This decision, in which the Academy honored prior winner Stone over first-time nominee Gladstone (the first indigenous nominee in the category’s history), certainly riled up some partisans on social media. Again, history will judge how it’s perceived. For my part, all I can say is that I think Gladstone is terrific in Killers of the Flower Moon, and I think Stone is even better in Poor Things. Stone is still very young, and she plainly has an illustrious career ahead of her, but I’m not sure she’ll ever give a better performance, or appear in a better movie. She earned this. (But if you think Gladstone deserved it instead, that’s fine! The fact that the Oscars naturally pit actors against one another kinda sucks!)
Best Picture
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer (confidence: 4/5)
Preferred winner: Oppenheimer (but really Poor Things)
Actual winner: Oppenheimer
No real suspense here, despite the best efforts of a doddering Al Pacino. For all of the criticism that the Academy endures—much of which is well-founded—Oppenheimer is a great movie and a worthy Best Picture winner. Now Nolan needs to make that Tenet sequel.
Till next year!
Jeremy Beck is the editor-in-chief of MovieManifesto. He watches more movies and television than he probably should.