THE 96th ACADEMY AWARDS – THE NOMINATIONS

And here are the nominees!

Best Picture

“American Fiction”
“Anatomy of a Fall”
“Barbie”
“The Holdovers”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Maestro”
“Oppenheimer”
“Past Lives”
“Poor Things”
“The Zone of Interest”

Best Director

Justine Triet (“Anatomy of a Fall”)
Martin Scorsese (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)
Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”)
Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”)
Jonathan Glazer (“The Zone of Interest”)

Best Actress

Annette Bening (“Nyad”)
Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)
Sandra Huller (“Anatomy of a Fall”)
Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”)
Emma Stone (“Poor Things”)

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”)
Colman Domingo(“Rustin”)
Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”)
Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”)
Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”)

Best Supporting Actor

Sterling K. Brown (“American Fiction”)
Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)
Robert Downey Jr (“Oppenheimer”)
Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”)
Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”)

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”)
Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”)
America Ferrera (“Barbie”)
Jodie Foster (“Nyad”)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”)

Best International Feature Film

“Io Capitano” (Italy)
“Perfect Days” (Japan)
“Society of the Snow” (Spain)
“The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany)
“The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom)

Best Cinematography

Edward Lachman (“El Conde”)
Rodrigo Prieto (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)
Matthew Libatique (“Maestro”)
Hoyte Van Hotema (“Oppenheimer”)
Robbie Ryan (“Poor Things”)

Best Original Screenplay

Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (“Anatomy of a Fall”)
David Hemingson (“The Holdovers”)
Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer (“Maestro”)
Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik (“May December”)
Celine Song (“Past Lives”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Cord Jefferson (“American Fiction”)
Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach (“Barbie”)
Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”)
Tony McNamara (“Poor Things”)
Jonathan Glazer (“The Zone of Interest”)

Best Original Score

Laura Karpman (“American Fiction”)
John Williams (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”)
Robbie Robertson (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)
Ludwig Goransson (“Oppenheimer”)
Jerskin Fendrix (“Poor Things”)

Best Original Song

“The Fire Inside” (Flamin’ Hot)
“I’m Just Ken” (Barbie)
“It Never Went Away” (American Symphony)
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for the People)” (Killers of the Flower Moon)
“What Was I Made For?” (Barbie)

Best Animated Feature

“The Boy and the Heron”
“Elemental”
“Nimona”
“Robot Dreams”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

Best Animated Short Film

“Letter to a Pig”
“Ninety-Five Senses”
“Our Uniform”
“Pachyderme”
“War is Over! Isnpired by the Music of John & Yoko”

Best Live Action Short Film

“The After”
“Invincible”
“Knight of Fortune”
“Red, White and Blue”
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”

Best Visual Effects

“The Creator”
“Godzilla Minus One”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
“Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning”
“Napoleon”

Best Editing

“Anatomy of a Fall”
“The Holdovers”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”

Best Production Design

“Barbie”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Napoleon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Golda”
“Maestro”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”
“Society of the Snow”

Best Costume Design

“Barbie”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Napoleon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”

Best Sound

“The Creator”
“Maestro”
“Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One”
“Oppenheimer”
“The Zone of Interest”

Best Documentary Short

“The ABCs of Book Banning”
“The Barber of Little Rock”
“Island in Between”
“The Last Repair Shop”
“Nai Nai & Wai Po”

Best Documentary Feature Film

“Bobi Wine: The People’s President”
“The Eternal Memory”
“Four Daughters”
“To Kill a Tiger”
“20 Days in Marriupol”

Where do we even begin with these nominations? It came as no surprise that Oppenheimer led the pack with 13 nominations including all the major categories with Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr), Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Christopher Nolan). It’s currently the favorite to win Best Picture, and I would be very surprised if Nolan doesn’t win Best Director for what many call his masterpiece film and a filmmaker that is long overdue for recognition by the Academy. The Best Picture race also contains three films directed by women with Barbie, Anatomy of a Fall, and Past Lives nominated.

The biggest shock of the morning is that Greta Gerwig was not nominated for Best Director nor was Margot Robbie nominated for Best Actress. Her co-stars Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera were nominated in the supporting categories for Barbie. Gerwig directed the biggest film of the year that was also one of the most creative and empowering, so it’s a bit of a sting that the Academy dismissed her for it. She did receive a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, while Robbie was nominated as one of the film’s producers.

Other actors who missed nominations this morning are Aujanue Ellis-Taylor, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Charles Melton, Barry Keoghan, Andrew Scott, and Greta Lee. All of Us Strangers, Saltburn, Origin, and The Iron Claw were shut out completely. So many terrific performances and films that may not have gotten the attention that some other bigger films received. This happens every year, and I’m still angry about Till’s lack of nominations last year.

Bradley Cooper received three nominations for producing, writing, and starring in Maestro although he missed Best Director. Emma Stone received two nominations for producing and starring in Poor Things. The Academy went in hard for movies like Poor Things and The Zone of Interest with Emma Stone’s film receiving 11 nominations across major categories like Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), and Adapted Screenplay. Martin Scorsese picked up his tenth nomination as Best Director for Killers of the Flower Moon, which received ten nomination including Best Actress (Lily Gladstone), and Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro).

Last, but not least, I am pleasantly surprised and happy to see nominations for Annette Bening and Jodie Foster for their film Nyad. It seems like it’s been a little under the radar, but they work so well together. It’s one of Bening’s best performances to date and is a very different type of role for Foster.

Who will win? Watch The Oscars when they air on ABC Sunday, March 10. Jimmy Kimmel returns as host!