The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, took place on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Each movie presented earned great numbers at the box office and stirred up competition at the Oscars. Each category had many well-known actors and actresses, some of whom included Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Robert Downey, Jr., and Emily Blunt.

Actor In A Leading Role:

Irish born actor, Cillian Murphy, won the award for Actor In A Leading Role for his role in the hit movie Oppenheimer. The movie was released on July 21, 2023 and received a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score and made nearly one billion US dollars. Oppenheimer told the true story of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project during the early years of World War II. Cillian Murphy’s performance, according to Ben Kinglsey, a British actor who has won various including an Academy Award and 2 Golden Globe for his role in the movie Gandhi, was “masterful” and had “layers of humanity whilst his character created something inhumane.”

Actor In A Supporting Role:

Robert Downey Jr, famously known for his character Iron Man in the Marvel franchise, was awarded the Academy Award for his role as Lewis Strauss in the movie Oppenheimer. Lewis Strauss was a businessman who later became a government official who constantly had disagreements with J. Robert Oppenheimer, which eventually led to the downfall of Oppenheimer’s reputation. This role also granted Robert Downey Jr his first Oscar. Although being nominated in early years for his role in the Iron Man movies, he finally received his first academy award in the category Actor In A Supporting Role.

Actress In A Leading Role:

Emma Stone received an Oscar for her role in the Sci-Fi/Comedy movie, Poor Things. Released on December 8th, 2023, although being fairly new before the award show, had already received a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score and made $108 million US dollars at the box office. This win did draw some attention to the people nominated for this category as many people were hoping that Lily Gladstone’s role in Killers of the Flower Moon would receive the academy award making her the first indigenous woman to win an Oscar. Although Lily Gladstone’s role was the popular choice, Emma Stone shouldn’t be forgotten. This is Stone’s second win for Best Actress. Her first win was for her role as Mia in the hit blockbuster La La Land and seven years later she won her second award for her role in Poor Things. 

Actress In A Supporting Role:

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, most commonly known for her part in the 2022 movie, The Lost City starring alongside Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock, received the award of Actress In A Supporting Role for her role as Mary Lamb in the 2023 Comedy/Drama movie, The Holdovers. This picture is about an instructor at a New England school who stays behind over Christmas Break to watch over children with nowhere to go. But, as the story continues, he forms a bond with the school’s troublemaker played by Dominic Sessa and the head cook played by none other than Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Her role as Mary Lamb granted Randolph her first Academy Award of her career as best supporting actress.

Animated Feature Film:

The Japanese film titled The Boy and the Heron directed by Hayao Miyazaki won the award for Animated Feature Film. The movie follows the story of a young boy named Mahito who is having a difficult time trying to relocate following the death of his mother. He later encounters a heron that tells him that his mother is alive and instructs him to go search for her in another world. The movie earned $167.9 million US dollars globally and has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%.

Original Song:

Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas won the award for their song which premiered in the well-known movie Barbie, titled What Was I Made For? The song was performed live at the Oscars and also granted the brother and sister duo their first Oscar. What Was I Made For? has won multiple awards such as a Golden Globe, two Grammy’s and a Satellite award and, now, one Academy Award. 

Cinematography:

Hoyte van Hoytema’s work for the film Oppenheimer allowed him to win his first Academy Award. Hoytema has worked on many different films, some of which include Dunkirk and Interstellar, but his work on the set of Oppenheimer was like no other. Hoytema used different camera strategies to capture the emotions and facial expressions of each character and emphasized the role color plays within a film. Hoyte van Hoytema recalls in an interview, “Oppenheimer’s point of view is our color material, Strauss’ point of view is our black and white material,” demonstrating how different characters were demonstrated through the presence of color. He also used anamorphic lenses to shoot the film which accents human emotion by allowing for the camera to be closer to the actor and remain in focus throughout the whole recording.

Directing + Best Picture: 

Christopher Nolan’s directing for the award winning film Oppenheimer allowed him to celebrate his first Academy Award for both directing and best picture. The movie had a surprising short filming time of 57 days after the predicted amount of time a movie so complex would take to film was 85 days. Cillian Murphy, award winning actor who won best actor for his role in Oppenheimer described Nolan’s directing by saying, “you know you’re with one of the great directors of all time,” then later adds, “He’s had a profound impact on my life, creatively and professionally.” Throughout the award show, the film Oppenheimer won a total of seven Oscars in various categories and granted many cast members their first Oscar.

A Notable Performance:Ryan Gosling’s performance of his song I’m Just Ken, was one of the most memorable performances of the award show. His performance had many audience members dancing to the famed song and brought lively “Kenergy” to the crowd. His onstage performance had four other “Ken’s” alongside him such as Simu Lee, known for his role in the 2021 Marvel movie Shang-Chi, and Kinglsey Ben-Adir, who recently played Bob Marley in the 2024 film One Love. Slash, the guitarist from the famed band Guns N’ Roses, played the electric guitar for the classic guitar riff in I’m Just Ken. During this, Ryan Gosling jumped off stage and handed the mic to different people in the audience so they could sing along. Some of the people who received the mic were his co-stars Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, and Emma Stone as well as Greta Gerwig, the director of the Barbie movie.