Oscar Nominations 2024 Announced: ‘Oppenheimer’ Leads With 13 Noms, ‘Barbie’ Shut Out Of Director and Actress, and More Surprises
The Academy announced today the nominations for the 2024 Oscars, and if it ever seemed like a boring race, they’ve just spiced things up in several categories. Check out the list below.
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
In terms of anticipated nominations, this was pretty much it. There were some dark horses like The Color Purple that could have gotten in, but this one was pretty clear — as is the future winner…
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer
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)
Here comes the first surprise of the day, as most were expecting Greta Gerwig to be on this list. Justine Triet landed the surprise nom, and honestly, it could have gone either way. I’m a huge fan of Barbie, but this was a competitive field, and Scorsese, Nolan, Lanthimos, and Glazer were getting in no matter what, I think. (Maybe Lanthimos was the fourth or fifth pick there, but I thought he had a decent chance.) Once again…
Predicted winner: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Best Lead Actor
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Another big source of traffic today was the lack of a nomination for Leo DiCaprio here, but honestly, it seemed like a hard sell. DiCaprio was not at his best in Flower Moon, even if he was still great in it. I do think that there was an overall sentiment that he was miscast in it and that he should have played the cop like he was always supposed to. The pivot to the Indigenous POV was miscalculated, as it still focused on DiCaprio’s character over Lily Gladstone’s, and the Academy saw through that. This one, I’m not giving it to Oppenheimer, as I think someone else has had a lot more momentum for a while…
Predicted winner: Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Best Lead Actress
Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Another big surprise today was the lack of Margot Robbie in this category. Honestly? I was thinking back on July 20 right after seeing the movie that Robbie would not get nominated for this, but America Ferrera would. 2/2 there (should have written about it rather than leave it between my friend and me.) Robbie was great, but the Academy already overlooked her stunning performance in last year’s Babylon, so at least they are consistently not nominating her this year. Babylon was by far her best work. Her time will come, though.
The winner is a little harder to predict here, and I see this as a two-horse race between Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone. If I had to pick today, I’m giving the edge to Gladstone, even if I don’t think it deserves a “lead” actress award.
Predicted winner: Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
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)
This one was a pretty standard list, even if I was slightly surprised to see Robert De Niro in it. Sterling K. Brown had been rising through the ranks for a couple weeks, and Mark Ruffalo delivered the best performance in Poor Things, so I’m happy to see him here (there was a chance, given SAG’s nominations, that Willem Dafoe could have taken his spot). As much as I wish Ryan Gosling would win for Barbie…
Predicted winner: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
America Ferrera (Barbie)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Honestly, this was the list for Best Supporting Actress. Maybe there was some odd chance that Penélope Cruz could get in, or maybe even Julianne Moore for May December (Saltburn has lost a ton of steam, Rosamund Pike was a pipe dream). But America Ferrera had the scene in Barbie, the speech everyone was talking about and one of the most playable FYC clips of the season. Margot Robbie was synonymous with the movie, but Ferrera had a really good chance to take a supporting performance nom. I know everyone will disagree though. But none of that matters, because there is only one name that can be called in this category.
Predicted winner: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
Barbie (Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach)
Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
Poor Things (Tony McNamara)
The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
I’m pretty surprised to see The Zone of Interest here instead of Killers of the Flower Moon, but not upset about it by any means. Flower Moon‘s biggest weakness was the script and how it sidelined the Indigenous characters for as long as it did, and they were punished for it. The Zone of Interest is an interesting alt choice, especially given its lack of dialogue, but there’s a lot more to a script than that, obviously. As much as I’d love to see Barbie take this (I haven’t seen American Fiction yet)…
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
Best Original Screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet & Arthur Harari)
The Holdovers (David Hemingson)
Maestro (Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer)
May December (Samy Burch)
Past Lives (Celine Song)
With Barbie out of this category after the Academy’s ruling, it’s going to be an interesting two-horse race between Anatomy of a Fall and The Holdovers. But one of those movies is built entirely around a very solid screenplay and its ups and downs. Unfortunately, it won’t be Celine Song’s year…
Predicted winner: Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet & Arthur Harari)
Best Animated Feature
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
I would absolutely love to see The Boy and the Heron take this one, but it’s hard to deny the momentum behind Across the Spider-Verse. Against my will…
Predicted winner: 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 International Feature Film
Io Capitano (Italy)
Perfect Days (Japan)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany)
The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)
It’s hard to argue against the only film that was nominated for Best Picture too. Also, I’m surprised France’s The Taste of Things didn’t get in, but I guess it wasn’t for everyone. It could have been a real race had they actually chosen Anatomy of a Fall though.
Predicted winner: The Zone of Interest
Best Animated Short Film
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired 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 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 Cinematography
El Conde (Edward Lachman)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Rodrigo Prieto)
Maestro (Matthew Libatique)
Oppenheimer (Hoyte van Hoytema)
Poor Things (Robbie Ryan)
The best cinematography of the year, Linus Sandgren’s work on Saltburn, was completely shut out of this category. I would have also chosen Rodrigo Prieto’s work on Barbie over Killers of the Flower Moon, though had both been nominated I would have been pretty happy too. That being said…
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer (Hoyte van Hoytema)
Best Costume Design
Barbie (Jacqueline Durran)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Jacqueline West)
Napoleon (Janty Yates and Dave Crossman)
Oppenheimer (Ellen Mirojnick)
Poor Things (Holly Waddington)
This is a very interesting category, and I could see Poor Things and Barbie taking it. I’ll give the edge to the movie centered around a character constantly changing clothes…
Predicted winner: Barbie (Jacqueline Durran)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow
Not much to comment here, the winner seems rather clear.
Predicted winner: Maestro
Best Original Song
“The Fire Inside” (Flamin’ Hot)
“I’m Just Ken” (Barbie)
“It Never Went Away” (American Symphony)
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” (Killers of the Flower Moon)
“What Was I Made For?” (Barbie)
This is a doozy one. For starters, I’m rather disappointed Flora and Son‘s “High Life” didn’t get in. It’s obviously going to be a two-way race between both Barbie songs, and given Ryan Gosling’s recent social media memes (which are a factor to take into account with the new, younger Academy), I kinda think he could take this…
Predicted winner: “I’m Just Ken” (Barbie)
Best Original Score
American Fiction (Laura Karpman)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (John Williams)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Robbie Robertson)
Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson)
Poor Things (Jerskin Fendrix)
Somehow, voters remembered that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny came out last year. The two best scores of the year, Past Lives and The Boy and the Heron didn’t get in, so honestly, I don’t care at all. But it’s hard to argue with another Oppenheimer win here…
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson)
Best Production Design
Barbie (production design: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer)
Killers of the Flower Moon (production design: Jack Fisk; set decoration: Adam Willis)
Napoleon (production design: Arthur Max; set decoration: Elli Griff)
Oppenheimer (production design: Ruth De Jong; set decoration: Claire Kaufman)
Poor Things (production design: James Price and Shona Heath; set decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek)
I might be completely off here, but I found the production design of Poor Things completely captivating and just different from anything else in the marketplace. I’m giving it the edge for that.
Predicted winner: Poor Things
Best Film Editing
Anatomy of a Fall (Laurent Sénéchal)
The Holdovers (Kevin Tent)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Thelma Schoonmaker)
Oppenheimer (Jennifer Lame)
Poor Things (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
Oppenheimer may have been way longer than it had any right being, but the only reason why that last hour works at all is the editing. No question in my mind.
Predicted winner: Oppenheimer
Best Sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest
Also, a very clear winner here. The only movie that tells its own story through sound.
Predicted winner: 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
Any film here is competing against The Creator, so let’s just call it and go home.
Predicted winner: The Creator
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
