Oscars 2024: Ryan Gosling, nudity, and the dog who stole the show

This year's Oscars brought more than three hours of magic, tears, and full-frontal nudity. Here are some of the best moments from Hollywood's biggest night.

We all knew it was coming, but Ryan Gosling's soulful rendition of the Barbie movie song “I'm Just Kin” was better than we could have hoped for.

He began the Oscar-nominated original song while sitting behind Barbie's co-star Margot Robbie, who apparently couldn't control her laughter as Gosling hummed in her ear.

Dressed in his all-pink tuxedo, Gosling made his way to the stage where he danced a choreographed routine with dozens of cowboy-hat-wearing sidekicks, turning the sometimes stifling evening into a rousing concert. And if that wasn't enough, Slash also appeared to lend his talents to guitar solos.

There were also suggestions that the choreography was a tribute to Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend.

Kennergy's vibe was infectious — with Gosling requesting soulful sing-alongs from a star-studded front row, including Best Actress winner Emma Stone and Barbie director, Greta Gerwig.

Stone even suffered a wardrobe malfunction due to all the excitement, as as she took to the stage to get her Best Actress nomination, she was struggling with the back of her dress.

While appearing backstage, she said: “They put me back in my place! I honestly think I made it when I was just Kane. I was so amazed by Ryan and that number blew my mind. I was going for it and things happened.” !

Jimmy Kimmel returns to the Dolby Theater for his fourth turn as host of the Academy Awards.

He's had some practice and it showed. Kimmel nodded to the months-long strikes that led to Hollywood (almost) halting his tone-setting monologue, celebrating the actors and writers who pushed for a deal.

“As a result, actors no longer need to worry about being replaced by artificial intelligence,” he said. “Thanks to this landmark agreement, actors are now able to go back to worrying about being replaced by younger, more attractive people.”

Fallon also got into a feud with Donald Trump that went viral. In response to the former US president's post on Truth Social: “Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel?”, the comedian returned to the stage and said: “Isn't your jail time over yet?”

But not all of his jokes were successful. Criticisms of Robert Downey Jr. and his history of drug use drew some blank stares from the audience, and “I'm done with it” from Downey Jr. himself.

Downey Jr. was the only winner who did not come to the winners' room to speak to the press later. Although he skipped it at the Baftas too. Maybe he's too cool for school.

The streets of Hollywood were filled with demonstrators protesting the Israeli war in Gaza, snarling traffic and slowing the arrival of many stars.

Protesters chanted “ceasefire now” marched down Sunset Boulevard to the sounds of car horns, while Los Angeles Police stood by in riot gear.

There were reminders of the conflict inside the ceremony as well, as several superstars, including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef, wore red pins in support of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The war was observed from the Oscars stage itself, where British director Jonathan Glazer accepted the award for Best International Film for his film The Zone of Interest, which follows the home life of a Nazi officer and his family.

Glazer, who is Jewish, said he rejects “the hijacking of his Judaism and the Holocaust by an occupation that has led to conflict for many innocent people.”

“Whether it is the victims of October 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

The Oscars pleased a lot of fans this year by returning to the old show format, with past winners announcing nominees in the four acting categories. The personal tributes gave us some sweet moments of real emotion from the stars.

This was especially true for Da'Vine Joy Randolph who was moved to tears by Lupita Nyong'o's heartfelt introduction.

Randolph had us in tears moments later when she accepted the award for Best Supporting Actress, her first win after her first nomination.

“I didn't think I was meant to do this as a career,” she said in her speech. “For a long time, I've always wanted to be different, and now I realize I just need to be myself. And I thank you. Thank you for seeing me.”

Backstage, she spoke about encouraging creatives from underrepresented backgrounds to keep going: “The beautiful thing that explodes is your imagination and your creativity because you don't have a lot… I think the thing we're good at as black people is, 'We make a lot out of very little.' “It is our greatest power.”

The Costume Design Award won't be easily forgotten this year, thanks to the presentation by John Cena.

At Kimmel's request, Cena – a wrestler and actor – appeared on stage completely naked, except for a pair of Birkenstocks and a strategically placed envelope bearing the winner's name.

Cena took the stage to the sound of raucous laughter, before having a quick exchange with Kimmel, one of the best moments of the evening.

“A man's body is not supposed to be funny,” Cena said.

“I'm him,” Kimmel replied.

This wasn't the only moment of the night when people sat back in their chairs. Al Pacino almost gave us a panic attack at the end of the concert.

We still haven't recovered from the Moonlight/La La Land mash-up in 2017. So when Pacino hesitated before announcing Oppenheimer's win for Best Picture — and then casually made his announcement — there was a sharp gasp in the audience. Lecture hall. Fortunately, no one rushed to the theater to correct him. Oof.

The Best Picture-nominated Anatomy of a Fall boasted a four-legged star: Missy, the black-and-white border collie who plays Snoop the dog in the French courtroom drama.

After days of speculation about whether he would attend, Mays appeared at the ceremony, sitting on a plush red chair with a black tie around his neck.

Messi even got some screen time later in the evening. The camera turned to him to show his paws applauding Robert Downey Jr.'s win for Best Supporting Actor.

Gosling also seemed happy to see Macy again, having previously recognized him at the Oscars last month.