Last night’s Oscar’s 2024 Awards ceremony was both a mixture of heartwarming performances and chaotic comedy. Host Jimmy Kimmel made some bold jokes, Ryan Gosling reprised his role as Ken and John Cena flexed his muscles nude on stage. Here’s a roundup of the top prize winners and performance bits of the night.
Big Five Oscar’s 2024 Winners
The Oscar Award’s “Big Five” awards include trophies for best actress, actor, film, screenplay and best director.
Unsurprisingly, Christopher Nolan‘s war biopic Oppenheimer dominated the stage, taking home seven wins out of its thirteen nominations. Nolan won for best director, Cillian Murphy won for best actor for his lead role and the film itself won best picture. Robert Downey Jr. also took home a notable award for best supporting actor.
Emma Stone was awarded best actress for her role in Poor Things, beating her fierce competitor Lily Gladstone, nominated for her astounding performance in Killers of the Flower Moon. As the first U.S. Indigenous woman to be nominated for an Oscar, we couldn’t help but feel a bit snubbed for her loss. Many viewers also agreed. In fact, though Killers of the Flower Moon received ten nominations, it took home none!
Best original screenplay was handed to Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for their murder-thriller Anatomy of a Fall, which received four other nominations as well.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Hit or Miss (Mostly Missed) Jokes
Host Jimmy Kimmel did not hold back on his jokes, so much so that many viewers were annoyed with them. Oscar hosts are notorious for taking jabs at the nominees as lighthearted fun, but fans were not happy when Kimmel complained about the running time of Killers of the Flower Moon.
Some suspect Downey Jr. and Stone were also irritated with Kimmel’s jokes, some of which seemed more personal than others. Fans echoed a similar annoyance, advocating for a new Oscar host.
Naked John Cena
The face of American pro wrestling and occasional actor John Cena provided some saving grace to Kimmel’s awkward opening monologue jokes. Cena appeared on stage seemingly naked with just an envelope covering part of his body. He went on to present the award for best costume design and paid homage to the infamous streaker at the 1974 Oscar Awards ceremony.
“Costumes… they’re so important,” Cena ironically joked.
Backstage photos revealed Cena wasn’t fully nude and had garment coverings, but nonetheless his appearance will definitely go down in the books!
“I’m Just Ken” Wears Pink on Wednesdays and Sundays
“On Wednesdays we wear pink” is perhaps one of the most iconic pop culture quotes in history. Ryan Gosling added on to the Mean Girls line by sporting an all-pink performance of his song “I’m Just Ken” on Sunday. His performance was not only a tribute to Barbie, but to America’s Hollywood sweetheart, Marilyn Monroe.
Gosling’s choreography also reflected Monroe’s classic dance number in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Both Gosling and Monroe rocked monochrome pink outfits with back-up dancers in black suits, with Gosling’s performance adding modern twists such as electric guitar solos and cowboys.
In classic Twitter fashion, fans fawned over Gosling’s greatness as well as endearing footage of Killers of the Flower Moon director Martin Scorsese reacting to the performance.
Messi the dog… or Cillian Murphy?
Anatomy of a Fall‘s dog actor Messi, who played a pup named Snoop, had his own seat at the Oscar’s 2024. He sported a bowtie and boy did he look cute! Many fans are demanding he win an Oscar for his performance in the film, and I think we agree.
Some Twitter users even joked about the similar striking blue eyes between Messi and Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy. Whose the real best actor of the night?
Osage Nation’s Profound Rhythm and Cultural Homage
Last but not least, we’re ending our highlights with the poignant live performance of the Osage Nation’s Killers of the Flower Moon song Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People). With sonorous beating drums and sun-lit lighting, the Osage performers captivated the stage and earned a standing ovation.
Gladstone appeared to be on the brink of tears at the end, with Twitter users posting similar emotional reactions.
That’s a wrap for our main Oscar highlights, but we’d like to shoutout our queen Da’Vine Joy Randolph for winning best supporting actress and Cord Jefferson for his best adapted screenplay win for American Fiction.
Randolph was awarded for her outstanding performance in The Holdovers and has been taking home awards left and right this season. She looked absolutely stunning during her emotional speech, leaving co-star Paul Giamatti in happy tears.
We couldn’t help but cheer our girl on at home either!
Want to see our top picks for best Oscar’s 2024 red carpet looks? Read here to see the rockstars of the Oscars’ Under the Sea theme.
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