Hollywood's recent union strikes, the Gaza conflict and the war in Ukraine were also heartily mentioned. The night ended on a bizarre and confusing note when, as is tradition, Al Pacino revealed the Best Picture winner without first listing the nominees.
Opening the envelope he muttered, “My eyes see 'Oppenheimer'?” The audience was momentarily confused as to whether the film had actually won.
On Monday, Pacino released a statement saying that the decision to keep the biggest announcement of the night brief by not naming the other nominated films was made by the show's producers.
But on a largely spontaneous night, Variety hailed Gosling's musical performance as a “maximalist, infectiously goofy solo”.
The crowd-pleasing karaoke moment, the film industry website said, was “the ideal way to channel the feel-good energy of the Oscars, where none of the sociability feels forced, as can often be the case.”
