Oppenheimer Wins Best Film at Oscars 2024 Despite Al Pacino’s Mistake | Entertainment & Arts News

March 11, 2024 TruthUSA

Oppenheimer has swept this year’s Oscars, winning seven gongs, including best actor, best director, and best picture.

The top prize of the night was presented by The Godfather star Al Pacino – who seemed to jump the gun by announcing the winner before listing the nominees.

The movie had been widely expected to rule the night, and didn’t disappoint, possibly leading the 83-year-old actor to speed up the whole announcement process, peeping into the envelope and declaring “I see Oppenheimer”.

While not in the league of the great La La Land / Moonlight mix up of 2017 (when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced that La La Land had taken best picture when in fact it was Moonlight), it certainly added a final frisson to the evening, even allowing it to wrap a few minutes early, rather than running late which is somewhat of an Academy Award tradition.

Director Christopher Nolan – one of Britain’s most commercially successful filmmakers – won his first Oscar for his three-hour epic about J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.

He thanked his wife and producer of the film, Emma Thomas, along with its lead actor Cillian Murphy, adding, “Thank you for those who have been there for me and believed in me my whole career.”

All four of the acting prizes were presented in a new way – by five former winners of each prize.

Best actor, which was presented by stars including Matthew McConaughey, Nicolas Cage and Brendan Fraser, was won by Oppenheimer star Murphy, who called himself “a very proud Irishman” and dedicated his prize “to the peacemakers everywhere”.

The 47-year-old star kissed his wife before heading to the stage, where Murphy told producers Nolan and Emma Thomas that making the film had “been the wildest, most creatively satisfying journey”.

He ended his speech by speaking in Irish, saying “Go Raibh Maith Agat” which means thank you.

Best actress – presented by performers including Charlize Theron, Sally Field, Jessica Lange and Jennifer Lawrence – went to Emma Stone for her performance as Bella Baxter in Poor Things.

‘I love you bigger than the whole sky’

Announcing breathlessly as she entered the stage, “My dress is broken… I think it happened during I’m Just Ken!” Stone said the win felt “overwhelming”.

She said she had been previously “panicking” about “something like this happening,” but was advised by the film’s director Yorgos Lanthimos to “take herself out of it”.

She also paid tribute to her daughter Louise Jean, who she said would be three years old in a few days, saying she loved her “bigger than the whole sky”.

The first prize of the night went to Da’vine Joy Randolph, who won best supporting actress – a win that had been widely considered to be locked in thanks to Randolph’s earlier wins across the awards season.

It was presented by actresses including Jamie Lee Curtis, Lupita Nyong’o, Rita Monero and Regina King.

‘I just needed to be myself’

Nyong’o was tasked with summing up Randolph’s performance in The Holdovers, revealing that she wore her grandmother’s glasses in the film and saying: “What an honour to see the world through your eyes and hers,” which drew a tear from the actress in the audience.

Accepting her prize, Randolph said: “God is so good. I didn’t think I was supposed to do this as a career.”

She went on: “For so long I thought I needed to be different, and I’ve realised I just needed to be myself.”

She also talked about “being the only black girl in the class,” and being forced to forge her own path, before giving a shout out to her publicist as one in a million – but forgetting to mention their name.

The best supporting actor prize was given out by actors including Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, and Mahershala Ali.

Marking the first prize of the night for Oppenheimer, the gong went to Robert Downey Jr who joked: “I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order.”

‘I was snarling… Now I’m here’

He went on to pay tribute to his wife, Susan Downey, saying: “I’d like to thank my veterinarian, I mean my wife, she found me a snarling rescue [pet and] you loved me back to life. That is why I’m here.” He also gave a shout out to his lawyer and stylist too.

On a more serious note, the first time Oscar-winner said: “What we do is meaningful, and the stuff we decide to make is important”.

It’s been quite the year for the 58-year-old star, who’s had a clean sweep of wins this awards season, having previously won at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and Critics’ Choice awards.

Achievement in cinematography, which was presented by singer and actress Zendaya, also went to Oppenheimer.

A bit of nudity to enliven the night

Poor Things took four prizes in total, as well as best actress for Stone, it took three on the trot earlier in the night – best production design, best make-up and hairstyling and best costume design.

In a night with plenty of comedy moments, the costume prize was announced with a skit referencing the 1974 Oscars which infamously saw a naked streaker run across the stage.