Preview:
- The 2024 Oscars represented a return to form.
- A naked John Cena surprised audiences.
- Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” performance was a highlight.
After some rougher Oscar nights (slaps, snubs and that brave but ultimately disappointing low key pandemic version), 2024 very much represented a return to form for Hollywood’s Most Glittering Night™.
True, it got off to a controversial (and late) start when protestors advocating for a cease fire between Israel and Gaza disrupted attendees’ access to the Kodak Theater, but once the show was actually underway, it became something that most attendees and viewers recognized as a classic Academy Awards, for good and ill.
Related Article: ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Poor Things’ Are Big Oscar Winners In Trouble-Free Show
There were your typical annoyances –– many below-the-line craftspeople being played off far too soon by an orchestra who looked for all the world like they were in some sort of science fiction vessel. Some of the comedy banter fell flat. Not everything worked.
But for all the issues, there was an awful lot to like about the show, so we’ve rounded up some memorable moments…
Ryan Gosling and the Kens
In the sort of performance that would bring a smile to musical number specialist Busby Berkeley’s face, Ryan Gosling’s much-mooted performance of “I’m Just Ken” from ‘Barbie’ proved to be just as much of a showstopper as we’d all hoped it would be.
Kicking off in the audience as Gosling rose to start singing, he passed a charmed and giggling Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie –– who got in on singing along –– while amusing the likes of Emily Blunt and then the whole audience as he reached the stage and started a big production number of the song, complete with cutout cardboard Barbie heads and some of the movie’s other Kens (Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir among them), Guns N’ Roses’ Slash on guitar, plus a plethora of dancers joining him on stage for a memorable and hilarious highlight.
“I’m Just Ken” might not have won its Oscar (‘Barbie’s “What Was I Made For?” took the movie’s only award in that same category), but it won the night.
4OzXLSHaYzgwPmGZqkJNI5Cena Causes a Scene
Presenting Best Costume Design, John Cena proved he’s easily among the most charismatic wrestlers-turned-actors out there, and even more adaptable than Dwayne Johnson. With Jimmy Kimmel cueing up talking of a streaker (one of the most infamous moments of Oscars past), there was a moment where it appeared Cena was having second thoughts about the comedy bit they’d come up with for him to present naked.
But nope, he arrived on stage in the buff (though reportedly with a modesty sling to hide things that can’t be shown on TV outside of HBO etc.), covering himself with the sealed Oscar envelope for the category. All in all, a moment of naked hilarity.
Emma Stone’s Surprise Win
All right, so Emma Stone’s Best Actress triumph for her role in ‘Poor Things’ wasn’t a complete surprise; after all, she’d scooped other trophies. But following ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’s Lily Gladstone scoring the Screen Actors Guild award, the tide had turned in the native’s favor.
Still, it was Stone going on stage, seemingly shocked (did she have Gladstone on her Oscar ballot like many others?), making a heartfelt speech in which she praised her fellow nominees, thanked ‘Poor Things’ director Yorgos Lanthimos and even joked that her dressed, which had broken, had been ripped by her laughing at Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” performance.
Pacino Gets Right To It
Jimmy Kimmel must have been sweating when Al Pacino, tasked with announcing the Best Picture category, abruptly skipped right past the traditional stage of listing the nominees and went straight to opening the envelope, like a child who can’t wait to tear into their Christmas present. “Here it comes… and my eyes see ‘Oppenheimer‘”.
Unlike “Moonlight-gate”, where Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly announced ‘La La Land’ as Best Picture over actual victor ‘Moonlight’ in 2017 (Kimmel’s first hosting gig), Pacino had it right, Christopher Nolan’s movie capping a successful night where it picked up seven gongs. But in skipping over the nominees, Pacino certainly didn’t make for a highlight.
Batman’s Nemeses Look to Settle a Score
Old friends (and ‘Twins’ co-stars) Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito reunited for the second time this year (after their State Farm Super Bowl commercial) for a funny bit where they talked about playing Batman villains.
The highlight, DeVito pointed out Michael Keaton, the most famous of the movie Batman actors, who gamely played along, putting up his dukes as DeVito promised to start a fight after the Governor’s Ball. The only way it could have gone better is if George Clooney had shown up, since he was Schwarzenegger’s Bat-opponent.
Godzilla Stomps to His First Win
Cue the classic, bombastic theme tune! ‘Godzilla: Minus One’, whose producers originally didn’t intend to submit for the Oscars as they didn’t think the film stood a chance of winning, actually went home with Best Visual effects.
The team showed up wearing custom Godzilla shoes and carrying adorable gold statuettes shaped like the classic character. Could the giant lizard himself have shown up to collect? We doubt the Kodak Theater could have accommodated him, sadly.
Cage Goes Eye-to-Eye with Giamatti
This year’s show brought back a segment that had been tried a few years ago where former winners paid tribute to current nominees. Nicolas Cage (who won in 1995 for ‘Leaving Las Vegas’) was enthusiastic in his praise for ‘The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti, impressed with his dedication to wearing a false eye for his role as grouchy teacher Paul Hunham. “Would I have done that? Hell yes!” Cage said, going on to call Giamatti “brilliant”. The actor didn’t end up winning the trophy (‘Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy took Best Actor) but he must have felt like a winner in that moment.
Movies Nominated for Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards:
- ‘American Fiction’
- ‘Anatomy of a Fall’
- ‘Barbie’
- ‘The Holdovers’
- ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
- ‘Maestro’
- ‘Oppenheimer’ – WINNER
- ‘Past Lives’
- ‘Poor Things’
- ‘The Zone of Interest’
