Oscar Nominations Announced

[Sonic Youth]

It looks like America Ferrara is the outrage of the day, here and elsewhere, with people asking "How did she possibly get nominated??" It's no mystery to me. Barbie is a beloved film and Ferrara's character was the only one (along with the daughter) who beared any resemblance to an actual human being. And a relatable human being, at least to the targeted demographic. And, like the movie itself, she was very engaging. That doesn't mean she should be nominated, but there have been far more egregious performances than hers that have gotten nominated... starting with Jamie Lee Curtis last year, and she won! I'm more irked that my MVP in Barbie - Kate McKinnon, who may be one of the best comic performers of the past 10 years - didn't get 1/100th of the attention Ferrarra's received.

I've only seen five of the nominated movies and I already see several other things to be more outraged at. I have neither seen the Indiana Jones movie or heard the score, but there can be no doubt that there have been better original scores than the 22nd iteration of this franchise. I don't always mind legacy citations, but Williams has had enough of those already, and so has Dianne Warren who AFAIC despite a long and illustrious career has written only one good song in her life (Unbreak My Heart... and that one took some convincing). I'm not outraged that Pixar's worst film Elementals got nominated - that was to be expected - but the one great thing about the movie, its score, got snubbed.

More depressing for me are all of Oppenheimer's nominations (with the exception of 2 or 3) and the many inevitable wins. I missed the 2002 Oscar show out of principle. The thought of the wretched "A Beautiful Mind" winning was too depressing for me. (I went to the movies instead.) Oppenheimer's nowhere near THAT bad, but I'm not up to watching an Oscar broadcast - which is essentially three hours of clips - honor a movie which was also essentially three hours of clips. But the biggest disappointment for me is what's to come: I've accepted that Cillian Murphy (who absolutely deserved his nom) will be passed over in favor of Giamatti. But now that Downey, Jr. (who doesn't deserve it) has emerged as the frontrunner for his category, it must come as a relief to AMPAS that sending Murphy home empty-handed won't weigh on their consciences too heavily. As long as one Oppenheimer actor is awarded, they've fulfilled their duty, right?

[Sabin]

Okri wrote
C. Speaking of Brooks, that she was able to make it while her movie flamed out (no craft nominations at all) speaks to what... inertia? Broadway acclaim giving her enough?

Shout out to Mister Tee whose formula was actually more instructive than we thought. Tier 1 (coattail nominations for Best Picture contenders) brought in Emily Blunt, America Ferrera, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Danielle Brooks. After that, Tier 2: who is paired with a leading actor contender? Margot Robbie didn't make the cut but America Ferrera did. She has the top two Tiers going for her. We should've seen it coming. It may not be a great performance but she had the big speech and people like it. Beyond that, Annette Bening made it in (I guess SAG's Netflix love wasn't a mirage) and so did Jodie Foster. Barry Keoghan and Andrew Scott (sad) didn't so neither did Rosamund Pike or Claire Foy. There are plenty of previous nominees or winners to choose from like Cruz, Pike, and Moore but the slots were already full by that point.

Danielle Brooks is actually the biggest surprise to me. Her film did flame out but I guess it counts as Best Picture-contending considering its SAG nomination. And because she had Globe, SAG, and BAFTA nomination, she was a lock. I hedged and went with Cruz & Pike.

[danfrank]

Congratulations to Sterling K. Brown for breaking the seemingly impossible task of breaking through for a younger actor

Brown is 47, a few years older than Ryan Gosling.

[Big Magilla]

These nominations reflect old guard Academy membership likes over anything new and adventurous.

BAFTA's nominations were much more fun overall.

I, too, cringed at the nominations for Diane Warren and John Williams, but I also cringed at De Niro's nomination, and I still don't get America Ferrara.

Happy for Annette Bening whose nomination was very much in doubt as well those for Joie Foster, Colman Domingo, and Jeffrey Wright, none of which were certain either.

Congratulations to Sterling K. Brown for breaking the seemingly impossible task of breaking through for a younger actor this year.

Andrew Scott, Greta Lee, Paul Mescal, Charles Melton, Dominic Sessa, Claire Foy, and Rosamund Pike will surely have more chances at nominations in the future. Not so sure about Teo Yoo, Jacob Elordi, or the always underestimated Jamie Bell, but we can hope.

[Big Magilla]

This is the first time in years that both announcers properly pronounced names and titles. Also, the enthusiasm of both Quaid and Beetz was nice to see.

[Greg]

I actually think Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid did a pretty good job.

[mlrg]

More thoughts to come, but the level of applause for Diane Warren floored me. I'm petty enough wish-cast it as ironic, though

Absolutely. Same goes with John Williams and the Indiana Jones nomination. The branch just ticks the name off…

[Okri]

More thoughts to come, but the level of applause for Diane Warren floored me. I'm petty enough wish-cast it as ironic, though

More thoughts and shout outs

A. Sabin's early thoughts that Past Lives wouldn't get anything outside of picture/screenplay

B. Tee on Gerwig. AMPAS going for Triet as opposed to Payne is some succour. Also Tee for his supporting performer theory, which proved out for Ferrera. But didn't for Brooks.

C. Speaking of Brooks, that she was able to make it while her movie flamed out (no craft nominations at all) speaks to what... inertia? Broadway acclaim giving her enough?

D. No France in foreign. But watch Germany spreading its wings with the Japanese and UK entries.

E. Alphabetical order meant we heard "Oppenheimer Poor Things" 7 times.

F. Nothing for All of Us Strangers or Saltburn. I blame Fox Searchlight a little for the former. That said, I got to see it so yay me.

G. The strength of the biopic re Bening over Robbie/Lee and arguably was the wind beneath Domingo's wings.

H. Three films at 10+.

[Big Magilla]

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

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

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

Best Cinematography
“El Conde” – Edward Lachman
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Rodrigo Prieto
“Maestro” – Matthew Libatique
“Oppenheimer” – Hoyte van Hoytema
“Poor Things” – Robbie Ryan

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

Best Original Score
“American Fiction”
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”

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

Best Documentary Feature Film
“Bobi Wine: The People’s President”
“The Eternal Memory”
“Four Daughters”
“To Kill a Tiger”
“20 Days in Mariupol”

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

Best Costume Design
“Barbie” – Jacqueline Durran
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Jacqueline West
“Napoleon” – David Crossman, Janty Yates
“Oppenheimer” – Ellen Mirojnick
“Poor Things” – Holly Waddington

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Golda”
“Maestro”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”
“Society of the Snow”

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

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

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

Best Documentary Short Film
“The ABCs of Book Banning”
“The Barber of Little Rock”
“Island In Between”
“The Last Repair Shop”
“Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó”

Best Live Action Short Film
“The After”
“Invincible”
“Knight of Fortune”
“Red, White and Blue”
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”

Best Animated Short Film
“Letter to a Pig”
“Ninety-Five Senses”
“Our Uniform”
“Pachyderme”
“War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko”