Biggest Winners & Moments From The 2024 Oscars!

You know how it is when you go into a movie that you already know the ending to, and so you just sit back and watch how it all plays out to its inevitable conclusion? That’s pretty much how it felt watching the Oscars last night. There were few surprises (with one BIG exception, but we’ll get to that in a sec), so it was just a matter of seeing the story unfold. What would the nominees be wearing? What would the winners say in their acceptance speeches? How many jokes will host Jimmy Kimmel make about Matt Damon? Let the show commentary commence!

- First things first, let’s address the big elephant in the room. Historically, the Best Actress category has been the frequent go-to when it comes to jaw-dropping surprises come Oscar Sunday, and this year was another one of those moments. While nearly all of the major categories played out just as we had expected, no one, including the winner herself, was expecting Emma Stone to take home her second Oscar for Best Actress. Now, most of us can agree that it was certainly merited, but it felt like a real glaring missed opportunity not to give it to the frontrunner, Lily Gladstone. This one, along with Killers of the Flower Moon being shut out completely, will be the subject of controversy for years to come...

- Now, with that out of the way… Emma Stone was certainly far from the only triumph for Poor Things last night. Notably, the film swept the design categories, winning Best Hair & Makeup, Best Costumes, and Best Production Design, bringing its total for the night to 4.

- The biggest winner of the evening, though, was expectedly Oppenheimer, nabbing 7 Oscars total, including Best Picture. Christopher Nolan finally nabbed his first Best Director win, and he shared Best Picture accolades with his wife Emma Thomas, who co-produced the film, making them the first husband-and-wife producing team to win Best Picture in 34 years!

Cillian Murphy officially became KILLIN’ IT Murphy when he completed his Awards Season sweep with a Best Actor win. Remarkably, he is the first Irish-born actor to win in this category.

Now, last year’s Oscars has a big comeback theme, with actors like Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan winning after significant career droughts. But honestly the biggest comeback story belongs to Robert Downey Jr., who won his first Oscar in 3 nominations last night. Those who might not have been around 20 years ago probably don’t realize just how rock-bottom RDJ was for a good hot second there. His well-documented substance abuse and mental health issues looked like they were really gonna get the best of him once and for all. And yet, he managed to drag himself from the proverbial gutter, re-jumpstart his career in a huge way, and get that Oscar that had been eluding him for so long (his first nomination was way back in 1992). Truly a comeback king!

Rounding out Oppenheimer’s big night was wins for Best Cinematography (Hoyte Van Hoytema), Best Editing (Jennifer Lame), and Original Score (Ludwig Göransson, his 2nd win).

- Oppenheimer’s summer blockbuster partner Barbie didn’t go away empty-handed – in that it won [checks notes] one award. That was, as expected, for Best Original Song to Billie Eilish and Finneas’s “What Was I Made For”, making the sibling pair the youngest ever 2-time Oscar winners. And one award or not, Barbie arguably had the best moment of the entire night thanks to Ryan Gosling’s show-stopping live performance of the now-iconic “I’m Just Ken”, featuring a Marilyn Monroe-inspired aesthetic and even Slash on guitar! Ryan also had a memorable moment earlier than the evening with his #Barbenheimer banter with Emily Blunt during a tribute to stunt performers. (Side Note: a tribute is nice but, like, what about an actual OSCAR for stunt performers??)

Other notable highlights include:

- Paul Giamatti escorting his The Holdovers co-star Da’Vine Joy Randolph to the stage to accept her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

- Porché Brinker, the 12-year-old subject of the Best Documentary Short “The Last Repair Shop”, having her Oscar Princess Moment™ striding down the aisle to accompany filmmakers Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers.

- Cult hit Godzilla Minus One winning Best Visual Effects, and the entire team carrying little model Godzillas with them to the stage.

- Director of Best Documentary Feature 20 Days in Mariupol, Mstyslav Chernov, giving perhaps the most poignant acceptance speech of the night, while also reminding viewers that this is the first Ukrainian Oscar ever.

- Studio Ghibli beating out perennial winners Disney-Pixar in the Best Animated Feature category with The Boy and The Heron, making it only the second Oscar in the legendary studio’s history (after 2003’s Spirited Away).

- John Cena coming out on stage wearing nothing but a winner's envelope and a smile to present (naturally) Best Costume. Pics from backstage reveal that he was wearing a flesh-toned stick-on loincloth. Must have been chilly!

- The utter goofballery of former Batman villains Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito taunting former Batman himself Michael Keaton in the audience, who looked perfectly ready to throw-down with his old nemeses!

Full list of winners here. Congrats to everyone! Until next year!