March 10, 2023. The fourth time’s the charm or so the ABC Network studio brass seem to think so, as late-night television personality Jimmy Kimmel returned to host the 96th Academy Awards Ceremony broadcast live from the Dolby® Theater on the ABC Network. The winners in all 23 film categories are listed below:
Best Picture
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Emma Stone: Poor Things
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Cillian Murphy: Oppenheimer
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: The Holdovers
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Downey, Jr.: Oppenheimer
Best Director
Christopher Nolan: Oppenheimer
Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anatomy of a Fall: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
*Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
American Fiction: Cord Jefferson
Best International Feature Film
The Zone of Interest: United Kingdom
Animated Feature Film
The Boy and the Heron: Haya Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
Best Documentary (Feature)
20 Days in Mariupol: Mystyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner,David Oppenheim
Best Film Editing
Oppenheimer: Jennifer Lame
Best Cinematography
Oppenheimer: Hoyte van Hoytema
Best Music (Original Score)
Oppenheimer: Ludwig Goransson
Best Original Song
“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie: Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
Best Sound
The Zone of Interest: Tam Willers and Johnnie Burn
Best Visual Effects
Godzilla Minus One: Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masai Takahashi, Tatsuji Nojima
Best Production Design
Poor Things: James Price and Shona Heath
Best Costume Design
Poor Things: Holly Waddington
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Poor Things: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
Best Short Film (Animated)
War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko: Dave Mullins and Brad Booker
Best Short Film (Live Action)
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: Wes Anderson and Steven Rales
Best Documentary (Short Subject)
The Last Repair Shop: Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
Host Kimmel did warn viewers at the beginning that the show would start an hour earlier to avoid running over time—it did last for nearly three and half hours to accommodate live performances of all the nominated songs, a film tribute to the dangers faced by Hollywood stuntmen, and having five previous award winners in the categories of Best Actors and Actresses in Leading and Supporting Roles pay dues to the five nominees in each of these categories. Of course, Kimmel could not resist tossing barbs at some of the nominees and you could almost sense some of the groans amidst the laughs emanating from this audience of film elites.
There were few surprises as the two most-nominated films, Oppenheimer and Poor Things took home 7 and 4 golden statuettes respectively. The wildly popular Barbie received 8 nominations and was saved from being shut out as Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell received the best song award.. In an attempt to recognize the 50th anniversary of the “Oscar’s Streaker,” Kimmel did coax a naked (and very buff) John Cena onto the stage with an Oscar winner’s envelope covering his privates as he was to announce the award for—you guessed it—best costume design. As the clock kept running, I was relieved to hear the generally brief acceptance speeches. Of those speeches, the most touching were rendered by 20 Days in Mariupol’s Ukranian director Mystyslav Chernov who lamented the fact that such a film needed to be shot and by screenwriter Cord Jefferson who made a plea to the film community to give other young writers a chance.
Winners of the most emotion-packed acceptances had to be Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Emma Stone. It was a long night for Martin Scorsese and company as his lengthy account of murder in the 1920s Oklahoma Native American community, Killers of the Flower Moon, went home empty-handed. Well, there’s always next year and I can only hope that ABC will give someone else a chance at the emcee’s microphone.