Boston Movie News nailed its Oscar predictions, with 20 out of 23 winners, as ‘Oppenheimer’ dominated the 96th Academy Awards.
The “Oppenheimer” cast and producers Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, and Christopher Nolan accepted the Oscar for Best Picture during the live ABC telecast of the 96th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on March 10.

The 96th Academy Awards aired Sunday night, and there were three films to win multiple awards and only two jabs at the recent Boston-shot superhero flop “Madame Web.” The atomic bomb drama “Oppenheimer” took home seven Oscars, and we were spot on in our prediction for its haul.  Yorgos Lanthimos’s bizarro Barbie flick “Poor Things” nabbed four, and the holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest” left the Dolby Theatre with two. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” the box office juggernaut of 2023, only earned a single statuette for Best Original Song. But Ryan Gosling brought down the house with a rousing performance of “I’m Just Ken,” and yes, it was “Kenough.” 

Scituate natives Ben LeClair, producer of “American Ficiton,” and Leslie LeClair arrive on the Oscars red carpet. (Nick Agro/A.M.P.A.S.)
Cord Jefferson poses backstage with the Oscar® for Adapted Screenplay during the live ABC telecast of the 96th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Filename 96_PR_0029.jpg Credit/Provider Michael Baker / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright
“American Fiction” writer-director Cord Jefferson poses backstage with the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay. (Michael Baker/A.M.P.A.S.)

Locally, Scituate scores as Cord Jefferson, the creative force behind “American Fiction,” clinched the Best Adapted Screenplay award. The movie was filmed mostly around Sand Hills Beach and Boston. “Frontline,” the PBS investigative series based at GBH in Boston, in partnership with The Associated Press, won Best Documentary for “20 Days in Mariupol.”  And in the biggest lock of the night, Da’Vine Joy Randolph completed her awards-season sweep, hoisting the Best Supporting Actress trophy for the Massachusetts-made dramedy, “The Holdovers.”

Boston Movie News flexed its predictive prowess, hitting the mark on 20 out of 23 winners. A minor hiccup in Visual Effects (kudos to “Godzilla Minus One”), Sound (applause for “The Zone of Interest”), and Makeup and Hairstyling (hat tip to “Poor Things”) didn’t dampen our spirits. We had predicted those winners to be “Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Maestro,” respectively. The biggest surprise of the night was Emma Stone’s (“Poor Things”) upset win over Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) in the Best Actress category, but we knew she had the golden touch all along. 

Acting winners Robert Downey, Jr., Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Emma Stone, and Cillian Murphy pose backstage. (Michael Baker/A.M.P.A.S.)

Here is the full list of Oscar 2024 winners: 

  • Best picture: “Oppenheimer”
  • Best director: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
  • Best actress: Emma Stone, “Poor Things.”
  • Best actor: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
  • Best supporting actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
  • Best supporting actor: Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
  • Best original screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall”
  • Best adapted screenplay: Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction”
  • Best animated feature: “The Boy and the Heron”
  • Best animated short: “War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John Lennon and Yoko Ono”
  • Best international feature: “The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom)
  • Best documentary feature: “20 Days in Mariupol”
  • Best documentary short: “The Last Repair Shop”
  • Best live action short: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”
  • Best score: Ludwig Göransson, “Oppenheimer” 
  • Best original song: Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”
  • Best sound: Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn, “The Zone of Interest”
  • Best production design: James Price, Shona Heath and Zsuzsa Mihalek, “Poor Things”
  • Best cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, “Oppenheimer”
  • Best makeup and hairstyling: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston, “Poor Things”
  • Best costume design: Holly Waddington, “Poor Things”
  • Best editing: Jennifer Lame, “Oppenheimer”
  • Best visual effects: Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima, “Godzilla Minus One”