The cast of ‘Oppenheimer’.Photo:Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Oppenheimeris this year’s Best Picture winner!
“I think any of us who make movies know that you kind of dream of this moment. You know you do, right? I could deny it, but I have been dreaming about this moment for so long, but it seemed so unlikely that it would ever actually happen, and now I am standing here and everything has kind of gone out of my head,” producerEmma Thomassaid on stage after the win.
Continuing her speech, Thomas credited her husband and directorChristopher Nolan. “The reason this movie was the movie it was was because of Chris Nolan,” she said. “He’s singular, he’s brilliant and I am so grateful for you.”
Thomas also gave a shoutout to the cast and crew of the film, saying, “The thing that is fantastic about our jobs is that it’s about collaboration, it’s about teamwork and our team was just incredible in this movie, so thank you to all of them, both cast and crew.”
Concluding her speech, Thomas thanked Universal, IMAX and the theaters before calling out her children, Flora, Rory, Oliver and Magnus, and her late mother.
“It’s U.K. Mother’s Day so I am thinking of my mom who is no longer with us today,” she said. “And my mother-in-law, Christina, who is here with my dad, so thank you. Oh! And thank you to the Academy! I’m so honored to be here!”
With the win,Oppenheimercompletes an impressive awards season sweep, including several wins on Sunday in theBest Actorcategory forCillian Murphy,Best Directorfor Nolan and Best Supporting Actor forRobert Downey Jr.
Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’.PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy
PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy
Oppenheimerbecame one of last year’s biggest box-office hits and the highest-grossing biopic of all time. The film tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who invented the nuclear bomb used in World War II. It also touches on his political activities after the war and alleged ties to the Communist Party at the height of the Cold War.
The critically acclaimed film’s large ensemble cast includes Murphy,Emily Blunt, Downey Jr.,Matt DamonandFlorence Pugh, among others.
Oppenheimerled with the most nominations of any film this year.
Nolan recently told theAssociated Pressof the response to the film, “We were really interested and excited, in particular, to see young people responding to a piece of history.”
“I keep coming back to the unique nature of the story. I think it is one of the great American stories,” theDark Knightdirector added. “It encompasses so much that’s important and dramatic about our history. That gives audiences a lot to hang to, when you get a great group of actors and incredible cast like we have, you can make this feel real and emotionally accessible.”
The Best Picture category was filled with many other impressive films this year.
Claire Folger
‘Anatomy of a Fall’.Madman Films
Madman Films
Director Justine Triet’sAnatomy of a Fallrolled into this year’s Oscars with a total of five nominations. The courtroom drama — which won the Palme d’Or at the 2023Cannes Film Festival— depicts Sandra Hüller as a woman who is charged with her husband’s death. The film follows the subsequent trial and unpacks the widow’s turbulent relationship with her spouse.
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Greta Gerwig’sBarbieentered Sunday’s Oscars ceremony with eight nominations. The box-office hit features a star-studded cast consisting ofMargot Robbie,Ryan Gosling,America Ferrera,Will Ferrell,Kate McKinnonand more.
Bringing the iconic Mattel doll and her all-pink world to life, the film explores themes of girlhood, existentialism, feminism and toxic masculinity.
In astatement after his Best Supporting Actor nomination, Gosling acknowledged Robbie and Gerwig on making the film such a success.
“There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is noBarbiemovie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film,” he said. “No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius.”
Seacia Pavao/ FOCUS FEATURES
The Holdovershad five nominations going into Sunday’s ceremony, including recognition for starsPaul GiamattiandDa’Vine Joy Randolph.
The film follows a teen named Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) at a boarding school in New England in 1970 who is left to spend the holiday season at the school with unpopular teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) and the school’s cook, Mary (Randolph), who is grieving her son’s death in the Vietnam War.
Martin Scorsese’sKillers of the Flower Moondepicts the real-life events of the Osage murders during the early 20th century. At that time, Native American people living on Oklahoma’s Osage Reservation financially prospered from the oil found on their land — until White residents orchestrated a series of killings targeting the Osage people.
The historical drama starsLeonardo DiCaprio,Robert De Niro,Brendan Fraserand breakout actress Lily Gladstone.
Jason McDonald/Netflix
Maestroreceived seven nominations at this year’s Oscars. Among them, writer-actor-directorBradley Cooperearned one for his performance asLeonard Bernstein, the late American composer and conductor.Carey Mulligan, who plays Bernstein’s wife Felicia Montealegre, also received a nomination for her performance.
Though Bernstein held a prolific career in music,Maestrolargely focuses on the evolution of his complicated relationship with Montealegre over decades. The Netflix movie makes for Cooper’s second effort as a director, after his acclaimed 2018 filmA Star Is Born.
A24
Celine Song’sPast LivesfeaturesGreta Leeas Nora, a woman who reconnects with her childhood friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) decades after she and her family left South Korea.
The A24 movie earned one of the award season’s early major prizes when itwon best feature filmatthe 33rd annual Gotham Awardsin November. It later won best feature at the39th Independent Spirit Awards. At the Academy Awards, the movie received one other nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Atsushi Nishijima/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Poor ThingsreunitedEmma Stone, 35, with director Yorgos Lanthimos, whom she previously worked on 2018’sThe Favourite.
It’s the second-most nominated film of the year, with 11 nods.
Courtesy of A24
The Zone of Interestfollows the daily lives of Rudolf Höss, the military officer in charge of Auschwitz, and his family at their home just outside the concentration camp during the Holocaust.
Director Jonathan Glazer, known for movies like 2004’sBirthand 2013’sUnder the Skin,toldThe Guardianthe “reason I made this film is to try to restate our close proximity to this terrible event that we think of as in the past.”
“For me,” he continued, “it is not ever in the past, and right now, I think something in me is aware — and fearful — that these things are on the rise again with the growth of rightwing populism everywhere. The road that so many people took is a few steps away. It is always just a few steps away.”
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source: people.com
