The 96th Academy Awards was incredibly interesting in its nominations as well as its wins. Oppenheimer swept the floor with a total of seven wins, including Best Director and Best Picture. Poor Things came in at a close second with four wins and The Zone of Interest was the only other film to score multiple Oscars.
Despite being the highest grossing film of 2023, Barbie only won a single award, for best original song. Barbie was actually nominated twice for this category, but Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell’s “What Was I Made For” took the award. “I’m Just Ken” was the other nominee, which Ryan Gosling performed spectacularly alongside Slash at the show. It is ironic how the Oscars used Barbie in order to promote the evening, yet only gave few nominations and one win to the film. Greta Gerwig wasn’t even nominated for Best Director which I believe was a huge snub. It was Christopher Nolan who won in this category for Oppenheimer, which was well deserved, but I would’ve liked to have seen some recognition for Gerwig.
Greta Gerwig wasn’t even nominated for Best Director which I believe was a huge snub.
Poor Things won the award for best costume design, a solid win in my opinion as the costumes were incredibly intricate throughout. The costumes in the film where what kept me engaged throughout and so Holly Waddington deserved the recognition. Poor Things’ lead Emma Stone also won one of the biggest awards of the night for Best Actress in a leading role, another award that was truly deserved. Stone took on a challenging role that ranged from the comedic to the disturbing, demonstrating her range of talent.
The award for Best Actor in a leading role went to Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer, who again deserved the win as he portrayed a huge role in such an important true story. However, Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey JR. won for Best Actor in a supporting role. Now, many people may disagree with me, but I do believe Ryan Gosling was snubbed for this award for his role of Ken in Barbie. Gosling made a remarkable impression with his role and I believe he was more memorable overall than Robert Downey JR was. Da’vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Holdovers, beating the likes of America Ferrera (Barbie) and Danielle Brooks (The Colour Purple).
Now, many people may disagree with me, but I do believe Ryan Gosling was snubbed for this award for his role of Ken in Barbie.
The Zone of Interest won for Best International Feature Film, as well as best sound. I haven’t seen the film yet, but the fact that it was one of three films to win multiple awards makes me eager to see if I agree with the decisions.
Overall, it was a huge success for Oppenheimer and Poor Things in their raking in of wins. However, there is definitely disappointment over the lack of recognition for Barbie and how incredible the film was, perhaps showing once more the pretentious stance of the Academy.
