On the night of March 10, the 96th Academy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles, Cal. where the best films, actors, directors and crewmembers were awarded the famous Oscars. This is perhaps the most prestigious award in the cinematic universe, which recognizes contributions and achievements in the field of cinema.
This year’s awards ceremony was a bit of a chaotic mix as too much happened in three hours. For instance, John Cena came on stage naked and the only thing covering him was an envelope with the nomination for Best Costume Design. This whole performance was held in honor of the anniversary of the famous Oscar incident in 1974, when a naked man ran on stage during an actor’s speech. It was one of those things that really amused the audience and made this year’s nomination even better than the previous ones. “It was the best Oscars that [has] happened in years,” freshman Annaliese Goolsby commented.
Perhaps the most legendary event of the evening was Ryan Gosling’s performance of the song “I’m Just Ken” from the movie “Barbie.” Thousands of people were deeply moved by the performance, and everyone is now actively discussing what a talented singer Ryan Gosling is. For a freshman Cory Hawes-Pendelton, it was his favorite part of the entire Oscars. “It was the most iconic thing,” he said.
This year, Cillian Murphy won the Best Actor award for the movie “Oppenheimer.” The award for Best Actress went to Emma Stone for “Poor Things.” The Best Director award went to Christopher Nolan for his movie “Oppenheimer.” The best picture also went to “Oppenheimer.” The award for Best Original Screenplay was given to “Anatomy of a Fall.” There were 23 categories in total, but these are just the most popular five.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that the star of the night was “Oppenheimer,” which was nominated in 13 categories and took home some major awards. Senior Andrew Hominick said that he expected “Oppenheimer” to win and was particularly impressed by Cillian Murphy’s speech when he received the award for Best Actor. “I loved his speech and his dedication to filmmakers,” Hominick said.
The new movie “Poor Things” also received a lot of awards and attention, even though it was released quite recently. This movie had 11 nominations and won four Oscars. Perhaps the most important award for the movie was the award for Best Actress, which Emma Stone won. One of the most amusing events was her dress reportedly ripping. She said, “My dress is broken. I think it happened during ‘I’m Just Ken,'” referring to Ryan Gosling’s performance of the “Barbie” song.
While some say that “Poor Things” finally got the recognition it deserved, others feel that it was overemphasized and that some films were forgotten. Freshman Virginia Brodsky agrees with that and said, “I think they gave Poor Things a little too many Oscars, and it’s a good movie, but c’mon, Oscars after Oscars. Give ‘Barbie’ something.”
Although the movie “Barbie” became one of the most iconic films of 2023, it won only one Oscar, for Best Song. Many believe that this is unfair and that the movie was robbed. Another noteworthy person is “Barbie’s” director, Greta Gerwig, who, according to most, did not receive the attention she deserved. Goolsby believes the same and commented, “Greta Grewing produced one of the best movies in years, but she was robbed.”
It is worth noting that at this year’s ceremony the actors gave very beautiful and thoughtful speeches that struck a chord with the audience, as very often the speeches of some actors are just about their “self-love” and how they achieved everything on their own, which people have heard millions of times before. “All of the speeches that were given after awards were thoughtful and not just some trash” Goolsby noted.
