Before we get to my report card and assessment of the Oscars predictions I committed to back on Jan. 28, let’s take a quick look at the 96th Academy Awards and how it was such a sweet night for Oppenheimer. The epic biopic may have lost in the race for box office revenues to Barbie when the two opened on the same day last year. Still, with Barbie only picking up one award last night (Best Original Song), it’s Oppenheimer, with its seven awards, having the last metaphorical ‘laugh.’

Oppenheimer is the highest-grossing Best Picture winner since Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2004, one of the rare occasions when the Best Picture was also popular with the public, before picking up the Award. With its Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), and Best Actor (Cillian Murphy) sweep, it’s the first time this has been accomplished since Ben-Hur in 1960. It’s the first ever nomination for Murphy, Nolan was previously nominated for Dunkirk, and for Best Actor in a Supporting Role winner Robert Downey, Jr., it’s his first Oscar win after having been previously nominated for Chaplin and Tropic Thunder.

Poor Things, with four Awards, including Best Actress for Emma Stone, was the next big winner of the evening. The British production Zone of Interest picked up two awards. Japan had a good night, with The Boy and the Heron taking home Best Animated Feature, while Godzilla Minus One, a relatively small indie Japanese production, took the Best Visual Effects statuette over big-budget Hollywood films.

We all loved Cord Jefferson getting an Oscar on his first try via the Best Adapted Screenplay for American Fiction, which he also directed. And the same goes for Justine Triet, who co-wrote with Arthur Harari the screenplay of Anatomy of a Fall, which she directed. Triet and Harari won Best Original Screenplay.

Wes Anderson won his first Oscar for The Wonderful World of Harry Sugar, awarded Best Live Action Short Film. It's nice to see him finally getting one.

Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue referred to the Greta Gerwig snub, and he interacted with Messi, the dog from Anatomy of a Fall, in a short clip, testing out some jokes with the canine star. The revived practice of having previous winners onstage presenting saw the likes of Lupita Nyong’o, Sam Rockwell, Ben Kingsley, and Jennifer Lawrence - all bringing back good Oscar memories.

As for my scoresheet for this year’s predictions, I got 12 of 21 categories predicted. If you include my Should Win (I do a Will Win, Should Win prediction format), I raise the bar to 15 of 21. It was not a very good year for me then, but not the worst.

In the main categories, I did get Oppenheimer for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, but thought Giamatti would win over Murphy. I got Emma Stone and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Picked The Boy and the Heron for Best Animated Feature, Zone of Interest as Best International Feature Film, 20 Days in Mariupol for Best Documentary Feature Film, and Harry Sugar.

The Memoriam segment at this year’s Oscars included Matthew Perry, Glenda Jackson, Tina Turner, and Tom Wilkinson. When the segment showed Alexei Navalny, the poignant clip had him saying, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.’

Thank you to the Oscars for an entertaining Monday Manila morning!