Although this edition did not feature major surprises, the great winners of the night were rightfully awarded. Among them, two films stood out that caused a stir upon their release: Oppenheimer and Poor Things. That’s why MFC brings you a few reasons to watch them in case you haven’t already.

What is the plot of Oppenheimer?

Oppenheimer takes place during World War II and tells the story of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film depicts his time in university and his creation of a research group with the aim of developing the first atomic bomb. 

Oppenheimer has a 3 hours runtime, which is why, if you haven’t seen it in the movies, we recommend watching it in the comfort of your home.

What is the plot of Poor Things?

Poor Things tells the story of Bella Baxter, a woman who was resurrected by a somewhat mad scientist who used the mind of a child to replace hers. In her adventure to discover the world, she flees with a lawyer to travel the globe.

Poor Things has a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes. We recommend watching it without minors as it contains many explicit scenes.

Oppenheimer and Poor Things: every award they won

Oppenheimer had 13 nominations and won 7 of them: 

-Best Picture

-Best Director (Christopher Nolan)

-Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.)

-Best Actor (Cillian Murphy)

-Best Film Editing (Jennifer Lame)

-Best Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema)

-Best Original Soundtrack (Ludwig Göransson)

On the other hand, Poor Things received 11 nominations and won 4 of them:

-Best Actress (Emma Stone)

-Best Costume Design (Holly Waddington)

-Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston)

-Best Production Design (James Price, Shona Heath and Zsuzsa Mihalek)

Where to watch Oppenheimer and Poor Things

Both movies are now streaming on the platform you all know!

All the 2024 Oscar winners here!

Brief comment about Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan is a well-known director. He’s known for making films that aren’t fully understood the first time around. This is because his projects often delve into themes of fantasy or science fiction, as seen in Inception, Tenet, and Interstellar. Oppenheimer follows suit, despite being based on real events, it’s a film that requires multiple viewings to fully grasp its meaning.

There are two main reasons: The first one is the extensive use of scientific language, often delivered rapidly, which can be challenging to follow. The second one is the multitude of characters introduced throughout the film, each with an important role in the story, which can overwhelm the viewer.

Due to these reasons, viewers may find it difficult to fully appreciate the wonderful performance of Cillian Murphy or Nolan’s incredible direction, for example. That’s why when both won the Oscar, I couldn’t quite determine if I agreed or not. Nonetheless, it’s a compelling reason to revisit this amazing story.

Brief comment about Poor Things

Bella Baxter’s story was inspired by the famous novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, but instead of a man, it is a woman who is resurrected. From the viewpoint of the protagonist, we see how she (re)discovers the world. Yorgos Lanthimos is a director who knows how to handle these types of absurd and bizarre stories (watch The Lobster for instance), as well as having the actors deliver a special type of performance characteristic of his films. 

Emma Stone knew how to adapt to Lanthimos’s peculiar ways and achieved one of her best performances yet. Her second Oscar was well-deserved to say the least!

Another star that is featured on this award-winning masterpiece is Mark Ruffalo, who did an amazing and outstanding job. The energy he brings to the film is of such magnitude that many of his scenes leave viewers thinking about them even after a while (such as the dance scene) and make him stand out from the rest. It is a pity that he did not win the statuette for Best Supporting Actor, as he was undoubtedly the most remarkable supporting actor out of all the nominees. 

Nonetheless, the film is not perfect, as I believe that Lanthimos got a bit carried away in the scenes in which Bella discovers her sexuality and shows a series of about 10 minutes of sexual scenes that could have been summarized in 2 minutes. 

Now it’s your turn, MyFamilier, let us know in the comments if you’ve seen any of these movies and what were your thoughts on them.