Oscar Fans Have All The Al Pacino Jokes After His Bizarre Best Picture Announcement

The 96th Academy Awards were last night, and the show featured plenty of memorable moments worth talking about. Ryan Gosling’s giggle-worthy performance of “I’m Just Ken” brought the house down, and Da’Vine Joy Randoph’s Best Supporting Actress speech made many (including Paul Giamatti) shed a tear. Oppenheimer was the big winner among the 2024 Oscar nominees, taking home 7 awards, including Best Picture. Al Pacino was there to hand out that massive honor, and the way the acting legend announced the biggest prize of the night certainly had fans talking on social media. 

Al Pacino is one of the best actors to win Best Actor and has been nominated several times throughout his prolific acting career. Also, Pacino has improved not-so-great movies. So the movie star seemed like a natural fit to hand out Best Picture. However, the reveal didn’t go as smoothly as it normally does. The Godfather icon was seemingly surprised to be there and ultimately revealed the winner very casually. Oppenheimer was so quickly named as the winner, that many were confused, and there was a bit of hesitation from the film's team to stand up and accept the Oscar. However bizarre, it was admittedly hilarious, and fans loved the disjointed approach. One fan on X posted the video of the moment and expressed how much they loved the chaos:

The way he revealed the winner was hilarious and almost as if Oppenheimer being the Best Picture honoree was a matter of opinion instead of fact. Thankfully, his eyes did not deceive him. Check out this next response:

The touch of confusion in his voice was notable, and that seems to have become something of a pattern for that particular prize. After the Best Picture mistake with Moonlight and La La Land in 2017, one would think that maybe some adjustments should be made to who announces these awards. With that, one fan asked the following question:

Many people seemingly couldn’t get over how casual the moment was, despite it being the biggest award of the night. The actor has been attending these ceremonies for years, and one would've thought he'd announce it differently. Still, we have to remember that although Al Pacino just recently became a father again, the Heat actor is 83 years old. So it's understandable that a little clunkiness would be present. Nevertheless, a lot of people seemed to love the moment, with one fan saying the following:

Some joked that they believed this is how all the awards should be presented and that this kind of delivery was fitting for the moment. I can't deny that the situation was very funny and one of those bizarre Oscars moments viewers tune in for. As for why this was a "peak performance," one person said:

I also love how odd this all was. There's such an age diversity when it comes to the Oscar attendees, and Al Pacino’s personality represents a time capsule in many ways. The way he almost narrates the process of announcing the winner of Best Picture is hilarious and definitely adds some levity to the moment. There’s such a grandness around Best Picture, that for it to be announced in such an uncertain way is very disorienting to watch. The stiffness and pageantry around the Oscars can’t be ignored, and for Pacino to be kind of “over it” without being arrogant is admittedly refreshing. 

The strangeness of the Best Picture announcement was an outlier in an otherwise seamless night. All the awards (thankfully) went to the correct winners and it was an extremely fun show. There were hilarious presenter bits, great musical performances, and Jimmy Kimmel was a great host to tie it all together. There were a lot of new faces in the audience, but Al Pacino represented the old guard while also keeping a fun energy. Even if it was unintentional, I think many who were watching the Oscars live loved a touch of humor to conclude Hollywood’s biggest night.