The results are in, so let’s give ’em a look. Mostly pretty predictable, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of predictability every once in a while.
In numbers, for the major feature films: Oppenheimer: 7 (Surprise…), Poor Things: 4, The Zone of Interest: 2, Barbie: 1 (Gasp :o), The Holdovers: 1, American Fiction: 1, Anatomy of a Fall: 1, The Boy and the Heron: 1, Godzilla Minus One: 1 (I guess that makes it Godzilla Zero, no?). Also, some mini thoughts on each winner below.
Best Picture – Oppenheimer
Yep, expected but deserved. Definitely Nolan’s most Oscar-y film so far, but nonetheless very much deserved. And pretty amazing that this is Nolan’s first win.
Best Actor – Cillian Murphy
Also great to see Nolan’s right-hand guy get the win too. And again, it’s kind of shocking that Murphy is the first Irish-born actor to receive the award.
Best Supporting Actor – RDJ
Once more, it’s funny to think that RDJ is getting his first gong after he’s been in the industry for so long. But yeah, well deserved.
Best Actress – Emma Stone
A deserved win here too. Definitely Stone’s finest role to date.
Best Supporting Actress – Da ‘Vine Joy Randolph
Great to see Randolph picking up this one, and her multiple wins across the awards circuit are a refreshing change from the usual trend of younger actresses hogging this particular category.
Best Original Screenplay – Anatomy of a Fall
I feel like Past Lives and The Holdovers were much more deserving of the award here, but…yeah. Each to their own, I guess.
Best Adapted Screenplay – American Fiction
I’d almost be tempted to give this one to Oppenheimer having read the adapted material. There were some pretty impressive cutting skills going on there. But yeah, I’ll take this.
Best International Feature Film – The Zone of Interest
I wasn’t even aware that an English film was allowed to get into this category? I guess it’s international, so any film could get it? More fool me. ‘Tis a great film, I can’t deny that.
Best Film Editing – Oppenheimer
There were certainly some great editing skills on display here, so this is deserving. Nice.
Best Cinematography – Oppenheimer
There was some crazy powerful imagery going on too, so yeah deserved. Woooop.
Best Sound – The Zone of Interest
Super happy to see ZoI bag this one, the use of both sound and silence was masterful – and suitably terrifying – throughout the whole running time.
Best Original Score – Oppenheimer
Yep, some great tunes on display from Nolan’s latest musical maverick (sorry Hans Zimmer, you’ve been pushed to the sidelines for Nolan’s last two works). Deserved.
Best Song – ‘What Was I Made For?’
It would’ve been nice to see ‘I’ve Just Ken’ get this one for the memes, but there were plenty of those in Gosling’s live performance of the song, so that’s all good.
Best Documentary Feature – 20 Days in Mariupol
My viewing of pretty much every work in this category is very limited, so I’ll have to give this one a skip.
Best Animated Short – War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko
Uh…see above.
Best Animated Feature Film – The Boy and the Heron
I was really gunning for Across the Universe to get this one, but I’ll allow it.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling – Poor Things
Yep, fully deserving of this gong. Everyone looks suitably fancy and eccentric, so, yeah. Wonderful.
Best Production Design – Poor Things
The sets were absolutely astounding, creating a kind of steampunk aesthetic from another world entirely. Mesmerising.
Best Costume Design – Poor Things
Yeah, Poor Things deserved all these awards on the visual side of things. Truly original designs in a truly original narrative. Wow.
Best Visual Effects – Godzilla Minus One
Arrgghhh, I wish I’d caught this at the cinema when it was released, but I missed it. The whole film sounded great. But I haven’t watched it yet, so I’ll reserve judgement.
Documentary Short Film – The Last Repair Shop
Yep, haven’t seen too many of these guys. Soz.
Best Live Action Short Film – The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Well, I’ve seen this, and it was alright. Apparently Jarvis Cocker made a guest appearance on here, which I missed. The more you know.
There you go. That’s my Oscars 2024 review summed up in mini soundbites (wordbites? Prosebites? I’m not sure). You’re welcome.