In the past year leading up to the ceremony, cinema has released some interesting and captivating movies. These range from different categories, and feature incredible feats of perseverance, dedication, and passion displayed in the final products. 2023 is no exception when it comes to fantastic box office successes, and the 2024 Oscars presented acknowledgments of cinema and everyone from every role; actors, directors, screenwriters, animators, costume/makeup designers, and special effects crew.
The ceremony itself is more fulfilling compared to the previous years, but with debate aside, here are some of this year’s highlights.
Studio Ghibli’s Triumphant Return
In the animation category, 2023 has given us some incredible films with compelling animation to complement the story such as Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse (Sony Animation), Nimona (Netflix), Elemental (Pixar), Robot Dreams (Wild Bunch), and The Boy and the Heron (Studio Ghibli). Having watched a few of them, these are incredible pieces of work, but in the end, Studio Ghibli takes the cake for Best Animated Feature, with deep storytelling while sticking to the traditional 2D animation that they are known for, much like their last winning feature, Spirited Away (2002). Despite some disappointments from those who preferred the Spider-Man movie, I believe Studio Ghibli deserved this win.
Emma Stone Takes Best Leading Actress Award
There was high anticipation on who would take this award as there were many great performances. Ultimately, Emma Stone dominated the title from her spectacular performance in the dark comedy feature Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures). Stone portrays a woman, Bella Baxter, who has been brought back to life by a maniac scientist, but has the mind of a child and must grow and find her purpose. The movie presents unique cinematography, along with winning the best wardrobe in a feature, and Emma Stone and her co-stars placed their efforts to bring out this story.
Billie Eilish Wins Best Song
From the Barbie (Universal) album, Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?’ takes the award as a heartfelt song portrayed in a film where we question our roles as women who go through many different experiences and have different goals in life. It’s a bit of a shame that the Barbie movie was not nominated in several categories, despite the love and passion put in. The silver lining through these losses is that we can appreciate this work of art with tears in our eyes.
Ryan Gosling slays the show
Aside from Billie Eilish’s hit song, another heavily popular song from Barbie is ‘I’m Just Ken,’ and Ryan Gosling’s brilliant performance makes the headlines. Inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s pink dress in her performance of ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,’ Gosling dazzled everyone and even had a momentary reunion with La La Land co-star Emma Stone. The choreography from the movie stays true to the whimsical scene, and among the performers, we get a shocking appearance of guitarist Slash and his awesome guitar solo. If there’s a halftime show ranking for the Oscars, I’d definitely put this performance on my top favorites.
Overall, this year’s Oscars have not been that problematic in comparison to the last few years, with a few exceptions being Jimmy Kimmel’s “joke” about Robert Downy Jr.’s past criminal offenses or John Cena’s arrival on stage. Despite all of it, there were some good moments that made this year’s ceremony quite memorable to me.