It's that time again! The ten Best Picture nominees this year are an eclectic bunch that includes "Barbie," "Oppenheimer," "The Holdovers," "The Zone of Interest," and "Past Lives." At the time of writing, I haven't seen as many of the nominees as I would like, but I've been following the race all season, and I've seen enough of the contenders to have some opinions. For the most part, none of the films on the list are surprises. "The Zone of Interest" doing so well while "May December" and "The Color Purple" only got one nomination apiece is unexpected, but there's nothing totally out of the blue like there's been in some years past.
Best Director is a different story. Greta Gerwig and Alexander Payne were widely expected to be in the running instead of Justine Triet and Jonathan Glazer. You can definitely see the effect of the more international voting body, putting their weight behind "Anatomy of a Fall" and "Zone of Interest." Meanwhile, "Barbie" is missing in several key categories including Cinematography and Editing, so I don't see it having much of a shot at trophies on Oscar night. Perhaps the biggest snub of the year is Margot Robbie not being nominated for Best Actress for "Barbie." However, America Ferrera did make it into Best Supporting Actress, which is nice to see.
Looking at the acting categories, I happy to say there are no major issues with representation this year, thanks to "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Rustin," and "American Fiction." There would probably be more acting nominees of color if "The Color Purple" had managed to get its act together. However, it's wild that "May, December," got no acting nominations. I understand why Charles Melton couldn't squeeze his way into Best Supporting Actor, because that category is so crowded this year, but Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman whiffing is more of a shock. Nobody from "Past Lives" made it either. Instead, "Nyad" got both of its nominations in acting categories. I'm also a little disappointed that "Maestro" is taking up so much real estate - it's a well made film but too self-important for its own good. Bradley Cooper's recent spate of campaigning is not helping things.
Counting up the total nominations by film, the frontrunners are who you'd expect them to be - "Oppenheimer," "Poor Things," and "Killers of the Flower Moon," with "Barbie" losing some momentum. With the understanding that I haven't seen several major contenders like "American Fiction" and "The Zone of Interest" yet, right now I'm rooting for "The Holdovers," especially for Paul Giamatti. I think it's probably Christopher Nolan's year, however, and he's overdue for some Academy recognition so that's fine. I'm also secretly glad that I won't have to pay as much attention to less successful contenders like "Napoleon" and "The Color Purple," which I didn't much like. However, it's good to see some of the others, like "The Society of the Snow," "The Creator," not being overlooked. I feel a bit warmer now towards "Past Lives," which only got Best Picture and Best Screenplay nods, and clearly just made it into the race by the skin of its teeth.
Amusing single nominations abound this year. The Flamin' Hot Cheetos movie, "Flamin' Hot," is now an Oscar nominee, thanks to shrewdly including an original Diane Warren song on its soundtrack. The Golda Meir biopic that nobody seemed to like scored a Makeup and Hairstyling nomination. "Godzilla Minus One" scored the kaiju franchise's first nomination in Best Visual Effects, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is in Best Original Score (possibly John Williams' swan song), and that wacky vampire Pinochet film, "El Conde," got a Best Cinematography nomination and deserved it. Wes Anderson struck out again with "Asteroid City," but he did get a Best Live Action Short nomination for "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar."
Focusing on the positive, I'm so happy that "Nimona" made it into the Best Animated Feature race, though "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" probably has this sewn up. Best Song continues to be the most chaotic category, but I will look forward to the performance of "I'm Just Ken" on Oscar night, and no doubt Margot Robbie will still show up to the ceremony in another spectacular Barbie outfit, nomination or no.
Notable also rans include "Asteroid City," "The Iron Claw," "All of Us Strangers," "Priscilla," "Ferrari," and "The Killer." Despite rumors of a late "Saltburn" surge, one did not appear. It's absolutely tragic it got nothing for production design - or Rosamund Pike. But, oh well. It was a very good year at the movies, and the state of the Oscars this year reflects that.
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