There weren’t many nail-biters at the 2024 Oscars, which were presented on Sunday (March 10) at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Everybody knew Oppenheimer would dominate, which it did, winning seven awards on the night.
There was a moderate upset in the lead actress category when Emma Stone won best actress for Poor Things over Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon. Gladstone was aiming to make history by becoming the first Native American to win in that category (just as Michelle Yeoh last year became the first Asian American to win in that category for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once).
Cillian Murphy’s win as lead actor in Oppenheimer was expected, though Paul Giamatti was a strong challenger in The Holdovers.
The awards for best supporting actor and actress, on the other hand, were virtual locks. Robert Downey Jr. was seen as a cinch to win best supporting actor for Oppenheimer. And Da’Vine Joy Randolph had won so many precursor awards for her moving performing in The Holdovers that she may have to move to a bigger place just to house all her trophies.
And while a few “I’m Just Ken” fans may have held on to a slim hope that that comic delight from Barbie would win best original song, even they probably knew deep-down that Billie Eilish and Finneas’ lovely “What Was I Made For?” from the same film would take the prize, which it did.
That doesn’t mean there were no snubs and surprises at the 2024 Oscars. Take a look.
Killers of the Flower Moon was shut out, despite 10 nominations. OK, that happens at awards shows. But this was director Martin Scorsese’s third film to go 0-10 on Oscar night, following Gangs of New York (2002) and The Irishman (2019). Scorsese is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest directors of our time. For it to happen three times to the same director – a legend, no less – is hard to explain.
Maestro, Bradley Cooper’s second film as a director, went 0-7 for the night. A Star Is Born, Cooper’s first film as a director, also had a disappointing night at the Oscars. It went 1-8, winning only for best original song. In terms of personal nominations, Cooper has gone 0-12 at the Oscars over the years. (Here’s hoping he soon ends that curious losing streak – which could be rooted in jealousy that he’s handsome and rich and famous.)
This Japanese film won best animated feature film, in what was seen as a close contest with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The Boy and the Heron also won at the BAFTAs, so its win here wasn’t a shocker, but most pundits gave Spider-Verse a slight edge. Hayao Miyazaki, who won for The Boy and the Heron, won in the same category 21 years ago for Spirited Away. The Japanese-bornMiyazaki is the first person who was born outside the U.S. to win twice in this category.
Barbie won just one award from its eight nominations – a somewhat disappointing showing for the year’s top box-office hit. But box-office success and Oscar glory don’t always go hand-in-hand. This is the fifth year in a row that the year’s top box-office hit won just one or even no Oscars. The last the time the year’s box-office champ won more than one Oscar was in 2019, when Black Panther won three Oscars. And just by receiving eight nods, Barbie had the most nominations for the year’s top box-office hit since Avatar pulled in nine nods in 2010. Oscar voters may think these juggernauts already got their reward at the box-office.
The Zone of Interest won the award for sound in a close contest with Oppenheimer, one of the few close calls that Oppy lost. The sounds of evil at the Auschwitz concentration camp next door to a tidy home was unforgettable to anyone who saw The Zone of Interest. That loss kept Oppenheimer from becoming the first film to win eight Oscars since Slumdog Millionaire.