Typically, the presenter for Best Picture briefly lists the nominees in the category before announcing the winner. Pacino, however, did not, instead telling the audience, “Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for Best Picture—and I have to go to the envelope for that.” He then announced the winner, saying, “My eyes see Oppenheimer.”
And fans were very much divided on the Academy’s choice to go that route.
“Most anti-climatic Best Picture announcement ever,” one Oscar watcher wrote on X. “I wanted to see all of the nominees.” Another joked Pacino’s presentation style was an “Oscar worthy performance in its own right.”