Entertainment

While lots of folks tune into Oscar night to see who wins, there are also plenty of people who only watch for the fashion, and there certainly were some fashionable ladies, and men, on the red carpet Sunday night.

Among the best dressed actresses were America Ferrera, who sparkled in a form fitting pink dress by Atelier Versace that was appropriate for a Barbie star; Zendaya, in an off-the-shoulder pink and black dress from Armani Privé;  Lupita Nyong’o in a light blue Armani Privé gown, with crystal and feather details; and Anya Taylor-Joy in a silver bedazzled gown by Dior, with petals on the skirt. 

There was also a lot of classic black on the red carpet, with Carey Mulligan wearing a Balenciaga Couture strapless black gown with a white bottom, and Margot Robbie in a black strapless sequined gown by Versace.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo channeled their upcoming movie Wicked for their looks, with Ari in a pink Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown to represent her character Glinda and Cynthia in a green leather gown by Louis Vuitton, representing her character Elphaba.

And it wasn’t just the ladies who made a statement on the red carpet. Ryan Gosling looked effortlessly cool in a black tux by Gucci, with his shirt opened to show off his chest, while Colman Domingo continued to impress with his black Louis Vuitton tux, which he wore with steel-toe cowboy boots and a brooch bow tie.

Plus, many who attended made more than just a fashion statement with their accessories, with stars, including Billie Eilish and Mark Ruffalo, donning a pin in support of a Israel-Hamas cease-fire.

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The 96th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, aired live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 10. Oppenheimer was the big winner, taking home seven awards, including Best Picture. Best Actor and Supporting honors went to Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., respectively, for their roles in the film. Christopher Nolan also won for Best Director.

Emma Stone walked off with Best Actress honors for her role in Poor Things, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her role in The Holdovers.

Here are the winners from Sunday night’s broadcast:

Best Picture
Oppenheimer

Actor in a Leading Role
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Actress in a Leading Role
Emma Stone, Poor Things

Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Actress in a Supporting Role
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Directing
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
American Fiction

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anatomy of a Fall

Animated Feature Film
The Boy and the Heron

Best Anmated Short
THE WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

Short Film (Live Action)
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Documentary (Feature)
20 Days in Mariupol

Documentary (Short Subject)
The Last Repair Shop

International Feature Film
The Zone of Interest, UK

Film Editing
Oppenheimer

Cinematography
Oppenheimer

Sound
The Zone of Interest

Music (Original Score)
Oppenheimer

Music (Original Song)
“What Was I Made For?,” Barbie

Costume Design
Poor Things

Makeup and Hairstyling
Poor Things

Production Design
Poor Things

Visual Effects
Godzilla Minus One

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Oppenheimer won Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic was the big winner of the night. The film picked up seven of the 13 awards it was nominated for. Along with Best Picture, it also took home Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Film Editing and Original Score.

Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer’s Best Picture win in a way that only he could, seemingly forgoing the teleprompter altogether.

“Only one will take the award for Best Picture. And, uh, I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see … Oppenheimer? Yes, yes,” Pacino said, as the crowd stood on their feet in a standing ovation.

Producer Emma Thomas took to the microphone to give the first acceptance speech, where she thanked her husband, director and co-producer, Nolan.

“The reason this movie was the movie that it was, was Chris Nolan,” Thomas said. “He is singular, he is brilliant and I’m so grateful to you.”

Producer Charles Roven also had time to give an acceptance speech.

“I’ve had this amazing 20+ year experience with Chris and Emma. Five movies over 20 years. And it’s been one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had. They’re a fantastic team, and just to be part of making movies with them has been completely thrilling,” Roven said.

The other films nominated for Best Picture were American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest.

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Emma Stone picked up her second Oscar for Best Actress Sunday night for her role as Bella Baxter in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ film Poor Things.

Her speech got off to a funny start, with Emma acknowledging her broken dress, noting she thought it happened during “I’m Just Ken,” the show-stopping number by her La La Land co-star Ryan Gosling.

She then acknowledged the five Best Actress winners who announced the nominees, last year’s winner Michelle Yeoh, Sally Field, Charlize Theron, Jessica Lange and Jennifer Lawrence.  She then turned to her fellow nominees, Annette Bening, Sandra Hüller, Carey Mulligan and Lily Gladstone.

“I share this with you. I am in awe of you and it has been such an honor to do all of this together,” Stone said through tears. “I hope we get to keep doing more together.” 

She then recalled some advice she got from her director ahead of the show.

“The other night I was panicking … that maybe something like this could happen and Yorgos said to me, ‘Please take yourself out of it,’” she said. “And he was right because it’s not about me, it’s about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts and that is the best part about making movies.” 

The Best Actress category was considered one of the few tight races of the evening as many experts suggested it could go to either Stone or Gladstone, who already won the Golden Globe, BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild awards for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Emma previously won Best Actress for 2016’s La La Land and was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Birdman and The Favourite. She was also nominated this year for producing Poor Things.

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Christopher Nolan won Best Director at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday night, for helming the blockbuster biopic, Oppenheimer.

This was his first-ever Oscar win after eight nominations. He was previously nominated in the Best Director category in 2018 for directing Dunkirk.

Nolan made sure to thank his wife, Emma Thomas, who has produced every single one of his films. “Producer of all our films, and all our children. I love you,” Nolan said while accepting his award.

The director also reflected on being a part of the 100-year history of cinema.

“Movies are just a little bit over 100 years old,” Nolan said. “Imagine just being there 100 years into painting or theatre. We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here but to know that you think I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me, thank you.”

Also nominated in the category were Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall, Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon, Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things and Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest.

Oppenheimer was the most-nominated film of the night, picking up 13 nods in all.

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Cillian Murphy continued his winning ways Sunday night, picking up the Oscar for Best Actor for playing Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, in Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer. 

“I’m a little overwhelmed,” Murphy started his speech before thanking Nolan and Nolan’s wife, Oppenheimer producer Emma Thomas.

“It’s been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey you’ve taken me on over the last 20 years, I owe you more than I can say,” he said. 

He also acknowledged his fellow nominees, which included Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Cooper and Jeffrey Wright, sharing, “I remain in awe of you guys, truly.”

“You know we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb, and for better or worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world,” he concluded his speech. “So I’d really like to dedicate this to the peace makers everywhere.”

Murphy came into Sunday’s Oscars as the frontrunner to win Best Actor. He previously picked up Best Actor wins at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and BAFTA Awards.

Five previous Best Actor Oscar winners were on hand to announce the nominees for the category, Nicolas Cage, Matthew McConaughey, Brendan Fraser, Ben Kingsley and Forest Whitaker, with Fraser announcing Murphy’s name.

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Billie Eilish and FINNEAS made Oscar history on March 10, when they became the only two people ever to win two Oscars before the age of 30.

As expected, the two took home their second Best Original Song Oscar for “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie.  The award was presented to them by singer/actresses Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the stars of the upcoming movie musical Wicked.

The siblings previously won in 2022 for their James Bond theme “No Time to Die.”

“I had a nightmare about this last night,” Billie said when she and FINNEAS got to the podium, before collapsing in fits of giggles.  She then continued. “Thank you so much to the academy. I didn’t think this would happen. I was not expecting this. This is so incredible.”

Billie also told Barbie director Greta Gerwig, “I love you. Thank you for this. I’m grateful for this song and this movie and the way it made me feel.”

FINNEAS thanked his and Billie’s parents “forever and ever and ever,” and Billie thanked her best friend Zoe “for playing Barbies with me growing up and being by my side forever,” as well as her dance and choir teachers, including one who “didn’t like me” but was “good at her job.”

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The Oscars saved the best for last when it came to performances of the Best Original Song nominees.

Best Supporting Actor nominee Ryan Gosling, wearing a pink sparkly suit, took the stage to perform a show-stopping rendition of the show-stopping number from Barbie, “I’m Just Ken.”  Joining him onstage were some of the other Kens from the film, including Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir, plus dozens of other male dancers, all wearing suits and black cowboy hats.

At one point, Gosling was lifted onto the shoulders of the dancers and the camera shot him from above, stretched out and surrounded by giant cut-out faces of a ’50s-era Barbie doll.  Then, the guitarists who performed on the recorded version of the song — Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen — appeared onstage to shred along with the song’s co-writer, Mark Ronson.

While all this was going on, the song’s lyrics flashed on giant screens in the theater, and Gosling went down to the front row to allow Barbie director Greta Gerwig and co-stars America Ferrera and Margot Robbie to sing along with the tune.

The overwhelming ‘Kenergy’ earned a standing ovation from the crowd.

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Why was John Cena naked at the Oscars?

In a bit alongside Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel, Cena was called to run across the stage naked, like the 1974 Oscars streaker.

Cena joked that he didn’t actually want to do such a thing, so he proceeded to walk delicately across the stage holding the card with the names of Oscar nominees.

This showcased the importance of costumes: Cena presented the award for Best Costume Design to Poor Things designer Holly Waddington. Kimmel helped Cena by dressing him quickly in a makeshift robe, but his naked moment quickly went viral.

Other nominees in the costume category included Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Napoleon and Oppenheimer.

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Grammy and Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste performed his Best Original Song nominee “It Never Went Away” at the Academy Awards on March 10.

The song is from the documentary American Symphony, which documents a year in Batiste’s life, during which he received 11 Grammy nominations, but also saw his wife struggle with leukemia.

As Batiste sang the ballad seated at the piano, clips from famous movie love scenes were projected on a circular screen above him.

In 2020, Batiste won the Best Original Score Oscar for co-composing the score for the animated film Soul.  He co-wrote “It Never Went Away” with Grammy winner Dan Wilson, best known as a member of the band Semisonic.

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