Oscars 2024: Best and worst moments

It was an explosive night for “Oppenheimer.” 

The 2024 Oscars were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on Sunday, March 10, airing on ABC (in the new earlier time slot of 7 p.m.). 

The Christopher Nolan flick starring Cillian Murphy was this year’s frontrunner, with a staggering 13 nominations — including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., respectively.

The Best Actor race was a battle between Murphy, Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”) and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”).

Murphy took home the expected win, and Nolan and Downey Jr. also won big for “Oppenheimer” while the movie took home the Best Picture prize.

Meanwhile, Cooper remained a big Oscars loser, failing to take home a trophy for a 12th time, this year for “Maestro.”

The Best Actress race (which snubbed “Barbie” star Margot Robbie from the category) was a face-off between Annette Bening (“Nyad”), Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”). 

Here are the best and worst moments from the 2024 Oscars. 

Best – Kimmel’s opening monologue

Kimmel, 56, is a seasoned showbiz pro. So, while he might have been the boring “safe” choice for a host, he kicked off with an entertaining opening monologue. He had a serious moment when he paused for a round of applause for the working-class people of Hollywood — the teamsters, crew members — who didn’t cross the picket lines during this year’s historic actors strike. He joked to Ryan Gosling, “You’re so hot, let’s go camping together and not tell our wives,” and he poked fun at Downey Jr.’s notorious drug-filled past with a jab about the “highest point” in the actor’s career. They weren’t hysterical jokes, but they were amusing.

He had some clunkers, too, like a tired joke about the pronunciation of Murphy’s name (“It’s pronounced ‘Kill-ian’ when he does drama. When he does comedy it’s ‘Silly- anne’”). Really? Yawn. But overall, Kimmel kept it moving, kept it relevant and nailed a solid mix of humor and sincerity.

Worst – Guillermo’s bit

Comedian Guillermo Rodriguez, who often goes by his first name only, frequently appears on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” He came out for a bit at the Oscars to pass out drinks in the audience, as he mispronounced John Krasinski’s and Colman Domingo’s names. This was a pointless and tedious moment that needlessly prolonged an already long ceremony. Kimmel can save his unfunny bits with his sidekick for his own show. Don’t subject the rest of the world to them.

Best – Cord Jefferson wins

Jefferson, 40, was a well-deserved first-time winner — for his first movie, to boot. He took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for “American Fiction,” and used his speech to entreat Hollywood to change. “There are so many people out there who want the opportunity that I was given,” he said. He went on to say that he understands that Hollywood is a “risk-averse” industry.

“But a 200 million-dollar movie is also a risk,” he said, seemingly referring to superhero movies and big budget sequels and prequels like “Wonka.” 

“The next Martin Scorsese is out there, I promise you. They just want a shot,” he said, before finishing with, “Thank you for trusting a 40-year-old black guy who has never directed anything before!” 

Best – John Cena’s naked bit

Oscar bits are hit or miss. Often, they’re unfunny (such as the Guillermo skit) and tiresome. But John Cena’s naked joke was a hit. Kimmel reflected on how a streaker ran across the stage at the 46th Oscars in 1974, and said, “Can you imagine if a nude man ran across the stage today? Wouldn’t that be crazy?”

Cena then walked out, apparently nude but hiding his bottom half behind a curtain. “I changed my mind, I don’t want to do the streaker bit anymore,” he told Kimmel. “I don’t feel right about it. It’s an elegant event! You should feel shame right now for suggesting such a tasteless idea!”

The former wrestler then walked out onstage seemingly fully nude (with a piece of paper obscuring his privates). He segued into presenting the Best Costumes award, because, as he pointed out, “Costumes are important!”

Best – “Barbenheimer” roasting

“Barbie” star Ryan Gosling and “Oppenheimer” star Emily Blunt came out together to present a tribute to stunts. In the introduction, they roasted each other about the rivalry between their two movies, which premiered on the same day in July, creating a phenomenon dubbed “Barbenheimer.”

Gosling said he thinks he figured out why the summer movie phenomenon was called “Barbenheimer” and not “Oppen-barbie,” because, “You guys were riding ‘Barbie’s’ coattails all summer,” he said, pointing to a laughing Margot Robbie in the crowd. 

“Thanks for Ken-splaining that to me,” Blunt fired back. “Mr. ‘I need to paint my abs on to get nominated!’” 

Worst – too many songs

Gosling’s performance of his “Barbie” ballad “I’m Just Ken” was a showstopping event. Gosling clearly had a blast, belting out the song wearing a pink bedazzled suit and sunglasses and dancing onstage, where he was joined by Slash and the other Kens from “Barbie,” such as Scott Evans and Simu Liu. It ended with fireworks. The whole thing was over the top, but fun. It was an earned “totally showbiz” moment. 

But aside from that, there were four more songs — and while they were all good, like Becky G’s rousing performance of “The Fire Inside,” and Billie Eilish’s soulful performance of “What Was I Made For?,” the Oscars are not the Grammys. Maybe the Oscars were afraid it would look like favoritism if “I’m Just Ken” was the only musical performance. But, it should have been.

Worst – Lily Gladstone upset loss

Gladstone, 37, was expected to make history as the first Native American actress to win Best Actress, for “Killers of the Flower Moon.” She also won the SAG and the Golden Globe for the role, so it seemed like she had it in the bag. And she’s had fiery speeches this award season. But in an upset, Emma Stone won instead, for her starring role in “Poor Things.” Stone was good in that film, but it wasn’t a history-making win, the way Gladstone would have been. Stone was clearly surprised, too, getting flustered onstage and telling the crowd, “I don’t even know what I’m saying!”