LOS ANGELES — “Oppenheimer,” a solemn three-hour biopic that turned an unlikely billion-dollar box-office sensation, was topped finest image at a 96th Academy Awards that doubled as a coronation for Christopher Nolan.
After passing over arguably Hollywood’s foremost big-screen auteur for years, the Oscars made up for misplaced time by heaping seven awards on Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, together with finest actor for Cillian Murphy, finest supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. and finest director for Nolan.
In anointing “Oppenheimer,” the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences did one thing it hasn’t achieved for greater than a decade: hand its prime prize to a extensively seen, big-budget studio movie.
“For better or worse, we’re all living in Robert Oppenheimer’s world,” mentioned Murphy in his acceptance speech. “I’d like to dedicate this to the peacemakers.”
As a movie heavy with unease for human capability for mass destruction, “Oppenheimer” additionally emerged – even over its companion in cultural phenomenon, “Barbie” – as a fittingly foreboding movie for occasions rife with cataclysm, man-made or not. Sunday’s Oscars on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles unfolded towards the backdrop of wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and with a doubtlessly momentous U.S. election on the horizon.
The most intently watched contest of the Academy Awards went to Emma Stone, who received finest finest actress for her efficiency as Bella Baxter in “Poor Things.” In what was seen because the evening’s most nail-biting class, Stone received over Lily Gladstone of “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Gladstone would have turn out to be the primary Native American to win an Academy Award.
Instead, Oscar voters couldn’t resist the full-bodied extremes of Stone’s “Poor Things” efficiency. The win for Stone, her second finest actress Oscar following her 2017 win for “La La Land,” confirmed the 35-year-old as arguably the preeminent big-screen actress of her era. The record of girls to win finest actress two or extra occasions is illustrious, together with Katharine Hepburn, Frances McDormand, Ingrid Bergman and Bette Davis.
“Oh, boy, this is really overwhelming,” mentioned Stone, who fought again tears and a damaged costume throughout her speech.
Sunday’s broadcast had razzle dazzle, together with a sprawling song-and-dance rendition of the “Barbie” hit “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling, with an help on guitar by Slash and a sea of Kens who swarmed the stage.
But protest and politics intruded on an election-year Academy Awards, the place demonstrations for Gaza raged exterior the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Late in the course of the present, host Jimmy Kimmel learn a important social media submit from former president Donald Trump.
“Thank you for watching,” mentioned Kimmel. “Isn’t it past your jail time?”
Nolan has had many films within the Oscar combine earlier than, together with “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “The Dark Knight.” But his win Sunday for course is the primary Academy Award for the 53-year-old filmmaker. Addressing the gang, Nolan famous cinema is simply over 100 years outdated.
“We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here,” mentioned Nolan. “But to think that I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”
Downey, nominated twice earlier than (for “Chaplin” and “Tropic Thunder”), additionally notched his first Oscar, crowning the illustrious second act of his up-and-down profession.
“I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the academy, in that order,” mentioned Downey, the son of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr.
“Barbie,” final 12 months’s greatest box-office hit with greater than $1.4 billion in ticket gross sales, in the end received only one award: finest track (sorry, Ken) for Billie Eilish and Finneas’ “What Was I Made For?” It’s their second Oscar, two years after successful for his or her James Bond theme, “No Time to Die.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”