The 96th Academy Awards is now in the history books. The ceremony began an hour earlier than usual but still ran three and a half hours. The ratings for the Oscars were up as 19.5 million viewers watched. Last year’s highest-grossing film, “Barbie,” took home only one Oscar. It was for Best Original Song for ‘What Was I Made For?’ by Billie Eilish. However, “Barbie” was mentioned numerous times, and several stars from the film attended the ceremony.
Many felt the other nominated original song, “I’m Just Ken,” performed by Barbie actor Ryan Gosling, was the razzle-dazzle hit of the ceremony. There were a few other good moments and some others that were not so good. Meanwhile, Oscar winner Al Pacino refuses to take the blame for the awkwardness surrounding the best picture presentation. Pacino did not list the best picture nominees but only read the name of the winner.
In a statement, the nine-time Oscar nominee said: “I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony.”
Overall, the 2024 Oscars telecast was lackluster (except for host Jimmy Kimmel’s Trump tweet joke) and way too long. However, that will not stop me and millions of others from tuning in next year for the 97th Academy Awards.