This yr, the mission of the Academy Awards was, greater than something, to keep away from disaster. Essentially the most-discussed ceremonies within the final decade have been marked by jaw-dropping viral moments—none of which had a lot to do with the flicks supposedly being celebrated. The fallacious Greatest Image was introduced. Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, then gave a rambling acceptance speech for the Greatest Actor award. The primary Oscars after the beginning of COVID-19 gambled on ending with one Greatest Actor win and ended up with one other—somebody who was at residence, and already in mattress. Tonight, with a number of large field workplace successes like Oppenheimer and Barbie up for a slew of awards, the Academy for Movement Image Arts and Sciences had a chief alternative to stage an incredible ceremony—and this time, mainly nothing went fallacious.
In fact, that implies that most of the winners had been unsurprising—a symptom of an extended and ever-growing awards season that anoints favorites months prematurely, and is especially inclined to a juggernaut like Oppenheimer. And the night time’s one huge shock was just a little awkward, with Emma Stone accumulating her second Greatest Actress trophy for Poor Issues, spoiling the possibility of a groundbreaking victory for the Native American actress Lily Gladstone in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. However by and enormous, the oldsters on the Academy will probably be cheering an evening that moved at an honest clip, ended at an inexpensive hour, and featured loads of recognizable winners whereas managing to highlight a number of the most beloved losers.
As an illustration, Ryan Gosling’s efficiency of Barbie’s “I’m Simply Ken” might need been the spotlight of the night from a manufacturing standpoint, overflowing with visible humor and constructed across the actor’s good peacocking talents. However then it didn’t even win—Greatest Music went to the opposite, slower Barbie quantity, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell’s “What Was I Made For?” That was Barbie’s solely trophy of the night time, a tune voters clearly determined was severe sufficient to be worthy of an Oscar. That’s typically the way it goes on the Academy Awards, with the massive drama often triumphing over the enjoyable comedy, however this yr’s voters had the benefit of having the ability to help a really good “severe” movie in Oppenheimer for Greatest Image.
Christopher Nolan’s wartime biopic ended up with seven Oscars, together with Greatest Image, Director, Actor, and Supporting Actor—a strong take, although not the large haul some anticipated. Lots of the technical classes ended up going to Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Issues, an epic comedy a few Frankenstein girl (Emma Stone) occurring a journey of sexual self-discovery and studying some Marxist concept on the way in which. Poor Issues is the type of gonzo work that previous Oscar voters might need dismissed as too excessive, however the Academy’s main drive to diversify membership over the previous few years has internationalized the voting physique and given it a barely younger edge. Lanthimos additionally well gave his film a contented ending, sending audiences out of the theater with a bounce of their step.
I don’t know the way else to elucidate Stone’s victory. Her efficiency is a formidable comedian feat, particularly from a bodily perspective, however she received the class for 2016’s La La Land, and Oscar voters are often shy about giving actors two wins at a younger age. Stone’s competitors included the veteran Annette Bening (now a five-time loser) for Nyad, and the dazzling Sandra Hüller, who gave glorious performances in two Greatest Image nominees (Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Curiosity, profitable her nomination for the previous). Nevertheless it was Gladstone who was seen as the favourite for her gorgeous work in Killers of the Flower Moon—and whose loss felt most conspicuous. Stone appeared genuinely flabbergasted as she took the stage (partly as a result of her gown was malfunctioning), however the win seemed to be warmly acquired within the room—no profound weirdness abounded.
Aside from that, the night time largely bounced between trophies for Oppenheimer and Poor Issues. For Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. sounded probably the most triumphant be aware of his decades-long comeback when he received Greatest Supporting Actor; Cillian Murphy was his common understated self after taking Greatest Actor over a crowded subject. Down the poll, voters typically leaned in the direction of the artier selection, giving Greatest Animated Movie to Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron over Spider-Man: Throughout the Spider-Verse, and Greatest Visible Results to the Japanese movie Godzilla Minus One over 4 Hollywood blockbusters. The Zone of Curiosity obtained deserved consideration for its sound, alongside an anticipated Worldwide Movie award. Wes Anderson, an eight-time nominee and titan of the cinematic type, quietly received his first Oscar for the brief movie The Fantastic Story of Henry Sugar, although he wasn’t there to simply accept it.
Oppenheimer’s success was measured sufficient that different well-liked movies obtained to slide in for a win or two, with The Holdovers taking Greatest Supporting Actress, Anatomy of a Fall grabbing Unique Screenplay, and American Fiction scoring Tailored Screenplay. However two of the most important Greatest Image nominees had been mainly ignored: Killers of the Flower Moon scored 10 nominations and nil wins (the identical goose egg that befell Scorsese’s final movie, The Irishman), and Barbie received just for tune (after host Jimmy Kimmel poked enjoyable at its nomination snubs for Greatest Director and Greatest Actress earlier). The Academy by no means solely succeeds at spreading the wealth round, however given that there have been apparent locations for Flower Moon and Barbie to get extra recognition (Actress and Tailored Screenplay, respectively), the misses will probably be better-remembered than some.
In his fourth go-round as host, Kimmel was his dependable self, protecting the trains on time and sticking to a punchy monologue that was gentle on huge laughs however largely skilled. (The current crash-and-burn work of Jo Koy on the Golden Globes served as a reminder of simply how badly this gig can go). I’m vastly in favor of a seasoned hand comparable to Kimmel over a number of the horrible internet hosting experiments the Oscars have tried these days, together with having no host in any respect, having three hosts, and letting Seth MacFarlane sing a tune about boobs. With the ceremony feeling on steadier floor (and scores more likely to rise), it’s most likely time to strive somebody new within the position subsequent yr. The comic John Mulaney, who had enjoyable presenting the award for Greatest Sound tonight, appears the obvious selection. However there’ll at all times be the worry that the Academy will damage a superb factor by attempting to repeat it, and pressure Gosling again onstage in a rhinestone jacket to kick off subsequent yr’s present—or worse, a nude John Cena.
