LOS ANGELES — In a final culmination of last July's explosive Barbenheimer weekend, the 96th Academy Awards ceremony took place on Sunday (March 10) with both films scoring a combined 21 Oscar nominations alongside other major players such as dark comedy Poor Things and western true crime thriller Killers of the Flower Moon.

In between Oppenheimer's predictable award sweep and actor Ryan Gosling's campy performance of Best Original Song nominee I'm Just Ken, attendees were treated to heartwarming cameos from Messi the dog, a nearly naked John Cena and Al Pacino's anti-climactic Best Picture announcement.

Here are some trending highlights from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 2024 Awards.

MESSI THE DOG GOES FROM BLACKLIST TO A-LIST

Online users were in an uproar last Friday after reports stated that Messi — the breakout border collie star from Best Picture nominee Anatomy of a Fall — was unlikely to attend the Oscars ceremony due to its presence allegedly skewing the award show results.

Multiple clips of Gosling and singer Billie Eilish fawning over the dog at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon last month made it clear that the canine had stolen the hearts of both fellow actors and fans.

The New York Times' awards season columnist Kyle Buchanan wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "The Anatomy of a Fall dog is this year's Tom Cruise.

"Everybody at the nominees luncheon wants to meet him. He just shared a moment with Ryan Gosling."

However, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Messi's appearance prompted complaints to the academy from several companies with nominated films, saying that allowing the dog to attend the luncheon gave its film an unfair advantage during the voting window.

With Messi all but banned from attending the Oscars show, fans — especially Gosling — were delighted to see that the doggie made it there after all.

Decked out in a black bowtie, the furry star was spotted clapping for actor Robert Downey Jr after his win for Best Supporting Actor in Oppenheimer.

Messi the dog also got a shoutout from host Jimmy Kimmel in his opening monologue, who remarked: "I haven't seen a French actor eat vomit like that since Gerard Depardieu."

In a video posted on Kimmel's Instagram account on Sunday, the comedian can be seen using Messi as a sounding board for his jokes before the show.

AL PACINO DROPS NOMINEES 

Stepping up to the stage to present the night's main award for Best Picture, The Godfather star Pacino apparently made the executive decision to "wrap it up five minutes early", as one X user put it, by skipping past all 10 nominees to announce the winner.

In a video of the announcement, Pacino tells the audience: "Only one will take the award for Best Picture. And, uh, I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will. Here it comes.

"And my eyes see Oppenheimer?"

The 84-year-old actor continues to read off the names of the producers, apparently not realising he has already named the winner. As the stage music and lights come on, he looks up, asking: "What happened?"

The Oscars customarily has at least a little build-up to award presentations, with presenters reading out the names of each nominee while a montage of clips or title graphics is played.

Pacino's "chaotic" announcement spawned tons of meme posts on X, where amused social media users joked about the Oscars producers panicking backstage and the Oppenheimer cast members themselves being confused by the random name drop.

Other viewers were disappointed by the "underwhelming reveal", writing: "It was awful that all 10 nominated films weren't honoured one more time just for being nominated."

EMMA STONE MAKING NEW REACTION CLIPS

Pacino was not the only one struggling on Sunday.

Actress Emma Stone, who accepted her second career Oscar for Poor Things, was clearly not having the best night wardrobe-wise.

In a viral video clip on X, she can be seen chatting with people in the hall of the Dolby Theatre, where the ceremony was held. Turning to a screen that was live-streaming the show, she realises that her Poor Things makeup artist Nadia Stacey is on stage for Best Makeup and Hair Styling, and quickly excuses herself.

"Oh my god, it's Nadia and I'm not out there!" is all the frazzled actress says before running awkwardly through the crowd in her full-length dress as she repeatedly exclaims, "oh my god".

Before they worked on Poor Things, Stone and Stacey had been on the same films together, including Cruella and The Favorite.

Later in the night, as Stone stepped up to receive her Best Actress Award, she turned to present her back to the audience.

"Oh, boy. Um, my dress is broken," she announced. "I think it happened during I'm Just Ken. I'm pretty sure."

After a tearful speech that included a heartwarming Taylor Swift lyric tribute to her three-year-old daughter, Stone reminded the audience: "Don't look at the back of my dress. Thank you."

JOHN CENA UNDRESSED FOR BEST DRESSED

Still, averting their eyes from Stone's wardrobe malfunction did not prevent attendees from witnessing wrestling star Cena in all his — mostly — naked glory.

Presenting the award for Best Costume Design, Cena was apparently persuaded by Kimmel to recreate a moment from the 46th Academy Awards in 1974 when a streaker ran across the stage.

In a video clip of Kimmel introducing the incident, he asks: "Can you imagine if a nude man ran across the stage today?"

Laughter and cheers erupt across the audience as a topless Cena can be seen peeking out from behind the stage set.

Following a minor tiff between the two in which Cena declares "the male body is not a joke", he gingerly steps out to the microphone, holding the winner envelope over his crotch.

"Costumes..." he said with a sigh, to the audience's amusement. "They are so important. Maybe the most important thing there is."

Cena then calls on Kimmel to assist him in presenting the award nominees to avoid moving the envelope from its precarious position.

CILLIAN MURPHY GETS HIS FLOWERS

Cillian Murphy earned his first nomination and Academy Award for his leading role in Oppenheimer, a reveal that sparked much celebration online as fans praised the low-profile Irish actor for his "richly deserved" first Oscar and "historical" acceptance speech.

Paying tribute to peacemakers, Murphy said in his speech: "We made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb. For better or worse, we're all living in Robert Oppenheimer's world.

"So I’d like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere."

Murphy's name is now trending on X with 283,000 posts as of Monday afternoon, with many fans of his British period crime drama Peaky Blinders cheering his win.

One X user said: "Cillian Murphy finally getting the recognition he deserves after years of being snubbed is the best thing to happen this awards season."

The actor's long list of work in films over the decades included roles in The Dark Knight trilogy where he played Scarecrow (enemy to Christine Bale's Batman), the Wes Craven-directed thriller Red Eye, and the Christopher Nolan-directed Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Making history as the first Irish-born person to win the Best Actor award, Murphy also made his fellow countrymen proud by calling himself a "very proud Irish man" and thanking the audience in Irish.

KEN NO LONGER NUMBER TWO

Despite the many goings-on, the night's main highlight was undoubtedly Gosling and his troupe of Kens.

The broadcast video of the performance begins with dim pink lighting and a melodic piano introduction as the camera focuses on Gosling, seated behind co-star Margot Robbie in the audience.

Dressed in a sparkly pink suit and matching gloves, the Barbie star launches into a dramatic rendition of the plaintive musical number as Robbie tries to calm herself and stop laughing.

The performance featured not only other Kens from the film — including Simu Liu (Rival Ken), Scott Evans (Ken), Ncuti Gawa (Artist Ken) and Kingsley Ben-Adir (Basketball Ken) — but also producer Mark Ronson, famous Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash and Mammoth WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen.

Variety magazine's co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh wrote on X: "Ryan Gosling fully belting out I'm Just Ken is the one of the most incredible Oscar musical performances I've ever seen. 

"People were screaming, cheering and gasping inside the Dolby."

Viewers called it "iconic" and "the best produced show in years", remarking that the performance itself deserved an Oscar and asking if Gosling could perform for the Super Bowl half-time show next year.

One top post read: "I hope the Kenergy never leaves Ryan Gosling."