Major streamers such as Apple and Netflix were nearly snubbed completely at the 96th Academy Awards this weekend. Despite a combined 32 nominations, Netflix was awarded a single Oscar statue while Apple walked away empty-handed. The night’s big winner was Oppenheimer from Universal.
Netflix’s winner was the ‘Best Live Action Short Film’ The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Directed by Wes Anderson, the short is an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s work. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, and Ben Kingsley. While Anderson was not in attendance, this was his first Oscar win.
Apple entered the night with 13 Oscar nominations, 10 of which were for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. The remaining three saw nominations for Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. Apple ultimately lost a number of categories including ‘Best Visual Effects,’ ‘Best Cinematography,’ ‘Best Director,’ as well as ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role.’ Lily Gladstone saw her first Oscar nomination this year though lost to Poor Things’ Emma Stone.
The Apple TV+ streaming service has seen groundbreaking success at the Academy Awards in the past, the company was shut out entirely this year. In 2022, it became the first streamer to win ‘Best Picture’ for CODA. In 2023, Apple amassed more Oscars thanks to the animated short The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
The night was ultimately dominated by Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Similar to Apple, the film was nominated for 13 awards. The film stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and Matt Damon. The film opened up with a ton of internet virality due to it sharing the spotlight with Gretta Gerwig’s Barbie last summer, creating the “Barbenheimer” meme.
The night saw lead actor and supporting actors Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. take home their first respective Oscar awards. Nolan himself also walked away with his very first Academy Award statue for ‘Best Director.’ The film also won for ‘Best Editing,’ ‘Best Cinematography,’ and ‘Best Original Score.’ At the end of the night, Oppenheimer was ultimately given the award for ‘Best Picture.’
As of now, Oppenheimer is available to watch on Prime Video in Canada.
