Yahoo Movies The Oscars resurrected an old tradition for better and for worse
The tradition of five past winners had some notable highs and lows
The Oscars brought back a time honoured tradition by having five past winners presenting for the acting categories at the 2024 edition of the ceremony.
It's been 15 years since the last time the Academy Awards had previous winners returning to introduce the current nominees. The moment sees previous winners of the respective categories honour the work of the actors that have come after them, sharing why their performances led to their nominations.
🍿 Oscars 2024 recap
While it was moving to have the tradition return, it certainly felt like it had been almost two decades since it took place because there were times it worked and others where it didn't. Let's take a look back at the key moments from the awards ceremony, both the good and the bad.
Rita Moreno's touching tribute to America Ferrera
The first acting nomination to be announced was the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, which went to Da'vine Joy Randolph for her performance in The Holdovers. Before her historic win was announced, though, viewers were treated to Rita Moreno, Regina King, Jamie Lee Curtis, Mary Steenburgen, and Lupita Nyong'o talking about the nominees.
They spoke fondly about Randolph, Jodie Foster, Danielle Brookes, Emily Blunt, and America Ferrera. It was Moreno who gave the most memorable speech though, as she spoke of Ferrera's performance and her monologue about the hardships that women face on a daily basis in Barbie.
Moreno, who made a fun reference to her West Side Story past when she sang 'America' to the actor, also said: "Your words and the passion with which you delivered about the most impossible standards females must live up not only galvanised women but everyone with a pulse".
She added that the actor was a "tour de force", and it was clear the recognition meant a lot to Ferrera who could be seen looking emotionally at her counterpart on stage. It was a moment that would move viewers as much as it moved her, as was shown on social media.
Tim Robbins almost does a La La Land
One awkward moment during the awards ceremony was when Tim Robbins helped to talk about Robert De Niro during the introduction to the Best Supporting Actor category and said it was an "Oscar-winning" performance, before they'd even opened the card.
The Shawshank Redemption star managed to recover from the moment by saying it "should be winning", not that De Niro seemed to agree. The award's actual winner Robert Downey Jr wasn't one to let it go when he accepted his award as he joked that they "only flubbed one line".
While Robbins made a mistake, Christoph Waltz's tribute to Ryan Gosling was one filled with humour as the actor rightly deserved for his now iconic performance as Ken in Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie. He joked that it isn't "new that certain male behaviour looks like the inferiority complex of a plastic doll", saying that Gosling's performance helps audiences to "connect" thanks to it being "hugely entertaining".
Jessica Lange almost has Carey Mulligan in tears
The Best Actress Oscars race was led by Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone throughout awards season, and while Stone won for her performance as Bella Baxter in Poor Things the five past winners speaking to the nominees did include a touching moment for Carey Mulligan, who was nominated for Maestro.
Jessica Lange paid tribute to the actor with a moving speech about how her "level of excellence is the norm" for Mulligan, saying that without her performance the movie would not be what it was. Mulligan was clearly very moved by Lange's tribute as she could be seen holding back tears and thanking Lange.
Nicholas Cage jokes around with Paul Giamatti
The Best Actor award was presented by Brendan Fraser, Ben Kingsley, Forest Whittaker, Matthew McConaughey, and Nicholas Cage. The latter spoke about Paul Giamatti for his performance in The Holdovers, and while others waxed lyrical about the nominees acting talent Cage took the opportunity to joke around with Giamatti.
Cage reflected on how the actor went full method with his performance, joking that Giamatti "wore a soft lens throughout the entire shoot which made him blind in that eye" and said "would I do it? Yes, but the point is you did it Paul", and the actor was clearly delighted by Cage's tribute as he thanked him profusely.
While Giamatti was also a frontrunner for the award, it was Cillian Murphy who won the award for Best Actor for Oppenheimer.
The Oscars is available to stream now on ITVX.
