Oscar 2024: Ryan Gosling, nudity and a dog that stole the show

This year’s Oscars brought more than three hours of glamour, tears and frontal nudity. Here are some of the best moments from Hollywood’s biggest night.

We all knew it was coming, but Ryan Gosling’s rendition of the Barbie movie hit I’m Just Ken was even better than we could have hoped for.

He began the Oscar-nominated original song sitting right behind Barbie’s co-star Margot Robbie, who couldn’t seem to control her laughter as Gosling sang in her ear.

Continuing to wear his all-pink tuxedo, Gosling headed to the stage where he danced a choreographed routine with a dozen cowboy-hat-wearing Kens accompanying him, transforming the sometimes sweltering evening into an enthralling concert. And, if that weren’t enough, Slash showed up to lend his talents for a guitar solo.

There were even suggestions that the choreography was an homage to Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.

The Kenergy was infectious: Gosling solicited energetic sing-alongs from the star-studded front row, including best actress winner Emma Stone and Barbie director Greta Gerwig.

Stone even had a wardrobe malfunction due to all the excitement: As she walked on stage to collect her best actress nomination, she struggled with the back of her dress.

Appearing backstage, she said: “They stitched me back up! I really think I tore it during I’m Just Ken. I was so amazed by Ryan and that number blew me away. I was trying to do it and things just happen.” !”

Jimmy Kimmel returned to the Dolby Theater for his fourth turn as Oscar host.

He’s had some practice and it showed. Kimmel nodded to the months-long strikes that (almost) paralyzed Hollywood in his monologue to set the tone, celebrating the actors and writers who had pushed for a deal.

“As a result, actors no longer have to worry about being replaced by AI,” he said. “Thanks to this historic agreement, actors can now once again worry about being replaced by younger, more attractive people.”

Fallon also had a feud with Donald Trump that went viral. In response to the former US president’s post on Truth Social: “Has there ever been a WORSE PRESENTER than Jimmy Kimmel?”, the comedian joked again on stage: “Hasn’t your time already been in jail?” ?”

But not all of his jokes worked. A jab at Robert Downey Jr and his history of substance abuse prompted some eye rolls from the crowd, and a “recap” from Downey Jr himself.

Downey Jr was the only winner who did not come to the winners’ room to speak to the press later. Although he also skipped it at the Baftas. He might be too cool for school.

The streets of Hollywood were flooded with demonstrators protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, snarling traffic and delaying the arrival of several stars.

Protesters chanting “cease fire now” walked down Sunset Boulevard to the sound of horns, while Los Angeles police stood by in riot gear.

There were also reminders of the conflict within the ceremony, with several big-name stars, including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef, wearing red badges in support of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

And the war was noted from the Oscar stage itself, when British director Jonathan Glazer accepted the statuette for best international film for his film The Zone of Interest, which follows the domestic life of a Nazi officer and his family.

Glazer, who is Jewish, said he rejected “Judaism and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation that has driven so many innocent people into conflict.”

“Whether it’s the victims of October 7 in Israel or the current attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

The Oscars made many fans happy this year by returning to an old presentation format, with previous winners announcing the nominees for the four acting categories. The personal tributes gave us beautiful moments of true emotion from the stars.

This was especially true for Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who was moved to tears by a heartfelt performance by Lupita Nyong’o.

Randolph made us cry moments later when she accepted the trophy for best supporting actress, her first win after her first nomination.

“I didn’t think I was supposed to do this as a career,” he said in his speech. “For a long time, I always wanted to be different, and now I realize that I just need to be myself. And I thank you. I thank you for watching me.”

Backstage, she talked about encouraging creatives from underrepresented backgrounds to keep going: “The beautiful thing that comes out is your imagination and creativity because you don’t have much… Something that I think, as black people, we’re very good at, is making “A lot with very little. It’s our superpower.”

The costume design award won’t be easy to forget this year, thanks to John Cena’s presentation.

Prompted by Kimmel, Cena, a wrestler and actor, appeared on stage completely naked, save for a pair of Birkenstocks and a strategically placed envelope bearing the winner’s name.

Cena shuffled onto the stage to the sound of laughter, before a quick exchange with Kimmel, one of the best sketches of the night.

“The male body is not supposed to be fun,” Cena said.

“Mine is,” Kimmel responded.

It wasn’t the only time of the night when people sat in their chairs. Al Pacino almost gave us a panic attack right at the end of the ceremony.

We still haven’t recovered from the confusion between Moonlight and La La Land in 2017. So when Pacino hesitated before announcing Oppenheimer as the best picture winner, and then delivered his announcement so casually, there was a deep intake of breath in the room. . Fortunately, no one came on stage to correct him. Phew.

Anatomy of a Fall, nominated for best picture, featured a four-legged breakout star: Messi, the black and white border collie who plays the dog Snoop in the French courtroom drama.

After days of speculation about whether he would appear, Mess appeared at the ceremony, sitting in a plush red seat with a black bow tie around his neck.

Messi even got some screen time later that night. The camera zoomed in on him to show his paws raised in applause for Robert Downey Jr’s win for best supporting actor.

Gosling also seemed delighted to see Messi again, having previously met him at the Oscars luncheon last month.