OPPENHEIMER Dominates Critics Choice Awards While Paul Giamatti and Emma Stone Pull Upsets at the Ceremony

Oppenheimer Takes Critics Choice Top Honors

Oppenheimer predictably won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor at the Critics Choice ceremony tonight but, surprisingly, Paul Giamatti took Best Actor and Emma Stone won Best Actress.

Oppenheimer took home the Critics Choice Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan) and Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.) but, surprisingly, the film’s star, Cillian Murphy, lost Best Actor to Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) lost Best Actress to Emma Stone (Poor Things).

The biggest upset at tonight’s Critics Choice ceremony was when Lily Gladstone lost to Emma Stone but when considering Stone’s nude scenes in her movie and the fact that Stone had more screen time than Gladstone, perhaps it was in the cards that Stone would win right from the start. It’s just that Gladstone made such a lasting impact with her dramatic performance that makes it such an upset. Stone was nothing less than deserving, however, and her film was ultimately the better picture overall.

Cillian Murphy was always in a fight with Paul Giamatti and Bradley Cooper (Maestro) for the Best Actor honor at the Critics Choice Awards. Giamatti emerged victorious in an honor which was also pretty unexpected given the caliber of Murphy’s work in the much loved Oppenheimer. Giamatti’s was simply the more pleasant of the three Best Actor contenders and, to share the wealth, perhaps, CCA members wanted to reward a performance that was simply the most fun to watch. Viewers could tell Giamatti had a great time bringing his character to life in The Holdovers and audiences simply loved the picture. The movie has become a true critical favorite as well.

Christopher Nolan was always pegged to take home Best Director honors for his work on the tremendous achievement which was Oppenheimer. Nolan’s gem also managed to bring home the top prize of the night for Best Picture.

Oppenheimer won Best Original Score and a few other honors tonight as well. It was not much of a surprise that Robert Downey Jr. won for Best Supporting Actor for his excellent performance in Nolan’s film. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie took home Best Comedy in a predictable series of events.

How does this shape the Oscar race? Well, it looks like Oppenheimer has no chance of losing Best Picture and Best Director unless something major happens between now and the Academy Awards ceremony. Of course, the Oscar nominations have to come out before it can be predicted who will ultimately win. At the same time, Cillian Murphy and Paul Giamatti look likely to duke it out for Best Actor and Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone will probably be doing the same to win that coveted Oscar come Academy Awards time.

Leave your thoughts on Oppenheimer‘s Critics Choice victory and the acting win surprises below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more movie news can visit our Movie News Page, our Movie News Twitter Page, and our Movie News Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, and Flipboard. This news was brought to our attention by Variety.