EDITOR'S NOTE: Multimedia journalist Rae Williams spoke with Critics Choice Award nominees Celine Song ("Past Lives" writer), Danielle Brooks ("The Color Purple"), D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai ("Reservation Dogs") and Sheryl Lee Ralph ("Abbott Elementary") about Sunday's ceremony. Click the arrow above to watch the video.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — "Oppenheimer" built more awards season momentum Sunday evening, leading the field at the 29th annual Critics Choice Awards with eight awards, including best picture, while "Barbie" was second with six.
"The Bear" and "Beef" led the television winners at the ceremony at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica with four each, with "The Bear" winning for best comedy and "Beef" for best limited series. "Succession" won three awards, including best drama series.
"Oppenheimer" also won for best director (Christopher Nolan), best supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.), best acting ensemble, best cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), best editing (Jennifer Lame), best visual effects and best score (Ludwig Goransson).
The victories for the story of atomic bomb mastermind Robert J. Oppenheimer came one week after it won five Golden Globe Awards, including best motion picture, best director in a motion picture, best supporting actor in a motion picture and best original score.
"Oppenheimer" star Cillian Murphy, who won for best actor in a motion picture drama at the Golden Globe Awards, lost for best actor at Critics Choice Awards to Paul Giamatti, who won for best actor in a motion picture musical or comedy at the Golden Globe Awards for his portrayal of a prep school teacher in "The Holdovers."
"Barbie" led the field with 18 nominations and won for best comedy, best original screenplay (Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach), best song ("I'm Just Ken"), best costume design (Jacqueline Durran), best production design (Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer), and best hair and makeup.
"Oppenheimer" won for best picture in a field that also consisted of "Barbie," "Poor Things," "American Fiction," "The Color Purple," "The Holdovers," "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Maestro," "Past Lives" and "Saltburn."
Emma Stone won for best actress for her portrayal of a woman brought back to life by a scientist (Willem Dafoe) in "Poor Things." Stone won for best actress in a musical or comedy at the Golden Globes.
Stone's victory was the only one for "Poor Things," which had 13 nominations, matching "Oppenheimer" for second. For the Critics Choice Awards, Stone won over a field that also consisted of Lily Gladstone, the Golden Globes winner for best actress in a drama film, "Barbie" star Margot Robbie, Sandra Huller ("Anatomy of a Fall"), Greta Lee ("Past Lives) and Carey Mulligan ("Maestro").
Giamatti won over a field that also included Murphy, Bradley Cooper ("Maestro"), Leonardo DiCaprio ("Killers of the Flower Moon"), Colman Domingo ("Rustin"); and Jeffrey Wright for ("American Fiction").
Downey won for best supporting actor over Ryan Gosling "Barbie"), Sterling K. Brown ("American Fiction"), Robert De Niro ("Killers of the Flower Moon") Charles Melton ("May December") and Mark Ruffalo ("Poor Things").
Da'Vine Joy Randolph repeated her Golden Globes win for best supporting actress for her portrayal of cafeteria administrator Mary Lamb in "The Holdovers." The other nominees were Emily Blunt ("Oppenheimer"), Danielle Brooks ("The Color Purple"), America Ferrera ("Barbie"), Jodie Foster ("Nyad"), and Julianne Moore ("May December").
The other nominees for best acting ensemble in a film were "Barbie," "Air," "The Color Purple," "The Holdovers" and "Killers of the Flower Moon."
Gerwig was also nominated for best director, along with Bradley Cooper ("Maestro"), Yorgos Lanthimos ("Poor Things"), Alexander Payne ("The Holdovers") and Martin Scorsese ("Killers of the Flower Moon").
"Succession," Max's tale of a family's internal battles to succeed an aging media mogul, repeated its victory at the Golden Globe Awards, winning over a field that also consisted of Apple TV+'s "The Morning Show," Netflix's "The Crown" and "The Diplomat"; Max's "The Last of Us" and "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty"; Disney+'s "Loki"; and Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Kieran Culkin and "Succession" castmate Sarah Snook repeated their Golden Globe Awards victories for best drama series actor and actress.
Culkin won over castmate Jeremy Strong, Tom Hiddleston ("Loki"), Timothy Olyphant ("Justified: City Primeval"), Pedro Pascal ("The Last of Us") and Ramón Rodríguez ("Will Trent").
"The Morning Show" stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon were among the other best drama series actress nominees, along with Aunjanue Ellis ("Justified: City Primeval"), Bella Ramsey ("The Last of Us") and Keri Russell ("The Diplomat").
FX's "The Bear" — the story of a high-end chef who returns to his native Chicago to run the family sandwich shop — won for best comedy series over ABC's "Abbott Elementary; HBO's "Barry"; FX's "Reservation Dogs" and "What We Do in the Shadows"; Prime Video's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"; Peacock's "Poker Face" and Apple TV+'s "Shrinking."
"The Bear" also won in the category at the Golden Globe Awards. Its stars Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri repeated their Golden Globe Awards victories best actor and best actress in a comedy series awards at the Critics Choice Awards.
The other Critics Choice Awards nominees for best actor in a comedy series were Bill Hader ("Barry"), Steve Martin ("Only Murders in the Building"), Kayvan Novak ("What We Do in the Shadows"), Drew Tarver (for "The Other Two") and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai ("Reservation Dogs").
Edebiri won for best actress in a comedy series over Rachel Brosnahan ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"), Quinta Brunson ("Abbott Elementary"), Bridge Everett ("Somebody Somewhere"), Devery Jacobs ("Reservation Dogs") and Natasha Lyonne for "Poker Face."
During the ceremony, Ferrera was presented with the eighth annual SeeHer Award, which honors a woman "who advocates for gender equality, portrays characters with authenticity, defies stereotypes and pushes boundaries."
The award is presented by the Critics Choice Association in conjunction with the SeeHer movement for accurate portrayals of women and girls in media.
Robbie presented the award to Ferrera.
Harrison Ford received a Career Achievement Award for a career best known for his work in the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" franchises. He receive the award from James Mangold, who directed Jones in last year's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."
The Critics Choice Awards ceremony was hosted by Chelsea Handler.
The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 600 media critics and entertainment journalists.