Canta’s Oscars Recap
The team of Godzilla Minus One accepting their award. Source: Rich Polk / Getty Images.
Opinion Piece
The build-up
Following the announcement of the nominations for the 96th Academy Awards, there was some controversy. Most notably, many felt that Greta Gerwig was snubbed for a Best Director nomination for Barbie. Regarding the same film, many felt that Margot Robbie was snubbed for a nomination in the Lead Actress category. It was noted that for Past Lives – an amazing film, by the way – Celine Song also did not receive a Best Director nomination. This was especially notable since both Barbie and Past Lives were nominated for Best Picture.
Oppenheimer didn’t bomb
To the shock of no one, Oppenheimer took home the most wins of the night. Accumulating seven Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.
These wins were epic for both Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., as they both won their first Oscars. Christopher Nolan won Best Director for the first time, following eight nominations in the category.
With Oppenheimer being one of the biggest films of 2023, it is no surprise that they dominated the Oscars, taking home some deserved wins.
Some notable wins
All though there was a bit of controversy around the nominations for the Barbie movie, the film took home one Oscar – Billie Eilish and Finneas took home an Oscar for Best Original Song with “What Was I Made For?”.
Another movie with multiple wins was Poor Things, receiving four Oscars. Emma Stone won Best Actress for her portrayal of Bella. The other wins were for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Production Design.
The Best Supporting Actress winner was Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who dominated the awards season. She has won nine supporting actress awards for her role in The Holdovers across nine different award shows.
A ‘controversial’ win
If you’re on a side of TikTok that discusses films like me, you may have seen the Marvel film bros up in arms about the Studio Ghibli film The Boy and The Heron winning Best Animated Feature over Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Many of the film bros, who have not seen The Boy and The Heron, have been making endless videos about this ‘snub’. But honestly, both films are amazing, and I’m sure this was a hard category to judge – but Studio Ghibli’s win was well-deserved.
Godzilla shoes worn by the Godzilla Minus One team. Source: Frederick J. Brown / Getty Images.
Most heartwarming wins of the night
After 70 years, Godzilla finally won an Oscar!
The team behind Godzilla Minus One, a monster movie taking place in post-war Japan, scored a well-deserved win for Best Visual Effects. It is extremely fitting that a Japanese movie won Godzilla an Oscar, as the monster was first created by Japanese producer Tomoyuki Tanaka.
This win was not only historic for it being Godzilla’s first, but also for Godzilla Minus One having the lowest budget out of the nominated films. They were able to pull off Oscar-winning special effects with a budget between $10 million and $15 million USD – a notably small budget for this type of film. For reference, the 2023 DCEU film The Flash had a $220 million USD budget, and the special effects in that movie looked like an early 2000s PlayStation game.
What I loved so much about this win is that you can tell how much the team loved the work they produced. The team carried around Godzilla figures throughout the whole night, even at the after party, and wore shoes that had Godzilla claws on the heel. It is extremely heartwarming when a team who put so much love into a film gets rewarded on such a large scale.
The Last Repair Shop won for Best Documentary Short Subject. The short focuses on Los Angeles, one of the few cities left in the USA to offer and fix musical instruments for its public-school students at no cost. The film profiles four repair shops which specialise in orchestra instruments, as well as the students whose lives are enriched by the repair shops’ work.
Not only is this a heartwarming documentary, but the directors Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers brought 12-year-old Porché Brinker along to the ceremony, and Brinker got to accept the Oscar onstage along with the directors.
The Last Repair Shop’s star and directors receiving their Oscars. Source: Rich Polk / Getty Images.
Here’s hoping that Porché got to keep the Oscar she’s holding.
The rest of the winners
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar won Best Live Action Short Film.
The Zone of Interest won Best International Feature Film and Best Sound.
20 Days in Mariupol won Best Documentary Feature.
Anatomy of a Fall won Best Original Screenplay.
American Fiction won Best Adapted Screenplay.
War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko won Best Animated Short Film.