2024 Oscars live blog: ‘Poor Things’ wins three times in close craft contests

The Oscars have arrived! The 96th Academy Awards honoring the best film achievements of 2023 were the culmination of an eventful year that brought a wide range of cinematic experiences, from the blockbuster “Barbenheimer” phenomenon to the chilling art house drama “The Zone of Interest.” So what did it all mean when the envelopes opened and the trophies were handed out on March 10? Scroll down for our live blog where I break down who won, who lost, who upset, and how it all fit into the story of this awards season.

Indeed, “Barbenheimer” defined the awards season just as much as it dominated the box office, accounting for a combined 21 Oscar nominations this year including Best Picture bids for both. But if “Barbie” won the box office battle between the two juggernauts with its almost $1.5 billion in global ticket sales, “Oppenheimer” has been the awards champion, sweeping best film honors from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs and Producers Guild Awards. Its ensemble cast was also honored by the SAG Awards and Christopher Nolan collected the top prize from the Directors Guild.

But not everything felt so cut-and-dried. The Best Actress race was up in the air after Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) won BAFTA but then Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) claimed the SAG Award. We also had our eyes on close races between “Poor Things” and “Barbie” for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design, plus “Oppenheimer” vs. “American Fiction” for Best Adapted Screenplay. Those are the kinds of tough contests that make or break a predictions score and separate the best from the rest. For up-to-the-minute analysis, follow along below starting at 7:00pm (times listed are Eastern).

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7:22pm — BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Da’Vine Joy Randolph wins for her performance as a grieving mother in “The Holdovers.” This was one of the foregone conclusions of the night. Though this was Randolph’s first Oscar nomination, she won dozens of awards along the way, including the Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award, SAG Award and BAFTA Award.

7:36pm — BEST ANIMATED SHORT: Dave Mullins and Brad Booker win their first Oscars for their animated short “War is Over.” This front-runner in this category was initially “Letter to a Pig,” but “War is Over” had a late surge towards the end of the season and took the lead. Still, this category was a close call.

7:39pm — BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: “The Boy and the Heron” wins this race for beloved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. This is his second Oscar following his win two decades ago for “Spirited Away.” This was a bit of an upset as the front-runner in our odds had been “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” but Globe and BAFTA wins for “Heron” indicated that this would be a close race. The Oscars have historically been unfriendly to animated sequels, with only “Toy Story 3” and “Toy Story 4” ever winning as follow-up films.

7:44pm — BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari win their first Oscars for “Anatomy of a Fall.” Triet is also nominated for directing the film. This ambiguous legal thriller showed the first signs of strength at the Golden Globes, where its screenplay beat “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” which are competing here as adapted scripts. “Anatomy” also won the BAFTA Award. It’s still surprising that France didn’t choose this film as their submission for Best International Feature. France’s choice, “The Taste of Things,” was snubbed.

7:51pm — BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Cord Jefferson wins his first Oscar for penning “American Fiction,” a satirical comedy about Black stereotypes in the publishing industry. The season started rough for the film, whose script was snubbed by the Golden Globes. But then “Fiction” won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Critics Choice Awards. It won again at the BAFTAs even though that was its only nomination at the BAFTAs. If this category seemed like a close call, that’s because it was up against Best Picture front-runner “Oppenheimer,” but “Oppenheimer,” perhaps surprisingly, consistently lost writing awards throughout the season.

8:05pm — BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston prevail for “Poor Things” in what looked like an incredibly close race against “Maestro.” “Poor Things” won this award at the BAFTAs, but “Maestro” prevailed at the Hollywood Make Up Artists and Hairstylists Guild Awards. “Maestro” had the showiest makeup, aging Bradley Cooper several decades, but “Poor Things” had more overall support from the academy with 11 nominations. This could also turn out to be the latest example of the Makeup and Hairstyling winner also taking an acting award (Emma Stone could take Best Actress).

8:06pm — BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Shona Heath, James Price and Zsuzsa Mihalek “Poor Things” also wins this close race, where it was up against Critics Choice winner “Barbie.” But “Poor Things” won at the Art Directors Guild and the BAFTAs, making it the front-runner in this race for creating the fantastical and outlandish worlds of the film.

8:11pm — BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Holly Waddington wins for “Poor Things,” yet another close contest against “Barbie.” Both films won separate categories at the Costume Designers Guild Awards, “Barbie” won at Critics Choice, and “Poor Things” won at the BAFTAs, but “Barbie” was actually slightly favored here. Its designer, Jaqueline Durran, has won twice at the Oscars in the past. Waddington is a first-time nominee and winner.