Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
This morning's announcement of contenders for the 96th Annual Academy Awards was da bomb. Kind of literally.
[Scroll past the commentary for the full lineup of nominees for the March 10 Oscars, with my correct predictions in boldface.]
As expected, Christopher Nolan's high-minded summer blockbuster Oppenheimer led the 2024 field – and hoo-boy did it. With 13 nominations, Nolan's A-bomb origin story made the cut in every single category it was eligible for: Best Picture, Directing, Lead Actor (Cillian Murphy), Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt, receiving her first Academy nod ever, if you can believe it), Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, Sound, Original Score, and Makeup & Hairstyling. Had it been eligible for Best Visual Effects – the movie having not made the branch's short-list of 10 options – Nolan's epic would've no doubt landed there, too. And if it had, you know, a song or a lead actress, we might easily have seen this global smash break the Oscars record for the most citations ever. I highly doubt, however, that this year's three-time honoree Nolan is kicking himself about that – not when he's all but assured to walk out of the March 10 ceremony with at least a couple trophies for Picture and Directing, with his film netting a number of others besides.
And what about the second half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon? It did quite well, though not quite as well as its team was certainly hoping. Eight nods including Best Picture is nothing to sniff at for a work inspired by a toy, and Barbie showed up in most of the expected places, even scoring a hardly secure Supporting Actress nomination for America Ferrera. Yet as numerous prognosticators (including yours truly) were starting to sense, the Academy's directing branch did indeed deny Greta Gerwig a Best Directing nomination, although she and husband Noah Baumbach were cited for Adapted Screenplay. Even more surprisingly, despite Ferrera and Ryan Gosling scoring acting bids, Barbie herself Margot Robbie – in what was easily the shock of the morning – was excluded from the very competitive Best Actress race. (We knew there'd be blood in the water in that category this year; most of us just wrongly presumed the blood would be that of Annette Bening's swimmer Diane Nyad.) Still, as with Gerwig, Robbie can at least console herself with a Barbie nod elsewhere, as she's one of her movie's nominated producers. Just like Poor Things' Emma Stone, who did manage to double-dip in the Best Picture and Actress categories.
All told, there was a lot of dipping for that enlightened-bride-of-Frankenstein comedy, which nabbed the morning's second-highest nomination tally with 11, and also found Poor Things' Yorgos Lanthimos doubly cited as director and producer. Hot on that film's heels was Martin Scorsese's Native American elegy Killers of the Flower Moon with 10, one for Lily Gladstone – the Oscars' first-ever Native American contender for Best Actress – and Scorsese himself acknowledged for directing and producing (although, in another surprise, not for his and Eric Roth's script). That means Killers, Poor Things, Oppenheimer, and Barbie collectively scored 42 of the 105 nominations available to feature-length releases, leaving a whopping 34 additional films – plus, of course, all those not-nominated ones – to forage for the rest.
Naturally, some succeeded better in the foraging than others. Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein opus made a fine showing with seven citations including Best Picture, Original Screenplay (which Cooper wrote with Josh Singer), and Actor (Cooper again). That ties Maestro producer Bradley with Chris Nolan for the morning's largest personal haul of three each, and for the same awards – albeit swapping Adapted for Original – Cooper vied for with 2018's A Star Is Born. That also means the multi-hyphenate was again left out of the Directing race, but he has to be happy about top-billed co-star Carey Mulligan making the Best Actress cut. Today's announcement also ups the man's total nomination tally to 12 nods in five categories over 12 years – though sad to say, he's probably not going to win any this year, either. Chin up, dude … you've gotta be eligible for that Lifetime Achievement prize any minute now!
Four other Best Picture contenders amassed five nominations apiece: Cord Jefferson's frustrated-author dramedy American Fiction (Jeffrey Wright! Finally!); Alexander Payne's frustrated-professor dramedy The Holdovers; and the foreign-language two-fer of Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, both of which also made the Best Directing lineup for their respective helmers Justine Triet and Jonathan Glazer. Adding two nods for Celine Song's decades-spanning romance Past Lives, and the aforementioned 10 are our 2024 Best Picture nominees. Their combined appearance in this category makes this the first time since maybe 1992 that I managed to perfectly predict the Best Picture race, and my first time in ages that I guessed five-for-five in Directing. But enough about me. For now.
It's safe to presume that mimosas were being sipped in Hollywood as early as 5:35 a.m., when the sweetly paired Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid began their Oscars announcement. But some contenders might be feeling even more celebratory than most, because we saw several records broken and the ends to a bunch of dry spells. With his 10th Directing nod, Martin Scorsese bypasses his longtime pal Steven Spielberg to be the second-most-nominated director in history behind William Wyler with 12. (Weep not for Spielberg, who was cited as one of Maestro's producers). At age 81, Marty also becomes the oldest nominated director over the Academy's 96-year history.
Not to be outdone, because he keeps outdoing everyone, composer John Williams nabbed his 54th Oscar nod, breaking his own records as the most-cited living individual and the oldest nominee ever, receiving Original Score recognition for Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny just 16 days shy of his 92nd birthday. Relative infant Robert De Niro, meanwhile, scored his eighth acting nomination at age 80, and now joins Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, and Denzel Washington as the four living male actors with the most nods. Yet De Niro even managed to top that feat: With this morning's recognition, the guy just ended Katharine Hepburn's run as the performer who saw the most years pass between first nomination and last (or, in De Niro's case, most recent). Kate had 48 years between 1933's Morning Glory and 1981's On Golden Pond; Bobby has 49 between 1974's The Godfather; Part II and 2023's Flower Moon. Whatever he, Scorsese, and Williams are putting in their breakfast cereal, I want some.
Regarding long waits, Nyad's Best Actress contender Annette Bening received her first nod since 2010's The Kids Are All Right, and now joins a select few in having been Oscar-cited at least once in each of the past four decades. Bening's co-star Jodie Foster was also acknowledged in the Supporting Actress lineup (her first time in that category since - get ready for your minds to be blown – Taxi Driver, which was 47 years ago), making this Foster's first nomination in 29 years, and making both women now tied for five career nominations apiece. The Holdovers' Paul Giamatti scored his Best Actor citation 18 years after his last mention as a Supporting Actor nominee; it's been since 2009 that Oppenheimer's Robert Downey Jr. contended; De Niro – him again! – was last recognized for 2012's Silver Linings Playbook and has now been nominated at least once over five decades. (It would've been six had the Academy not taken a break from him during the aughts.) And speaking of the ends to droughts, Colman Domingo, with his Best Actor recognition for Rustin, becomes the first gay actor to be cited for playing a gay lead since Ian McKellen in Gods & Monsters, which happened a mere … lemme check my notes … quarter-century ago. So hooray for progress, I guess. On a less cynical note, another hooray for Domingo and his fellow Best Actor contender Jeffrey Wright for securing Oscar nods to go with their previous Emmys and Tonys recognition. Mulligan, Cooper, Ruffalo, and first-time Academy Awards honorees Danielle Brooks (for The Color Purple) and Da'Vine Joy Randolph (for The Holdovers) are also Tonys veterans. So while we're at it: Hooray for stage actors making their marks in movies!
With so much worth celebrating, it's almost – almost – an afterthought that I successfully managed to break my predictions record of 79 out of 105 correct by guessing … 80 out of 105 correct! Twenty-five more years and I'll have this thing down! (Beyond Picture and Directing, I forecast perfectly in Cinematography and Makeup & Hairstyling, and am embarrassed to have gone only two-for-five in International Feature given that we had a short list of only 15 choices to pick from. Comme c'est humiliant!) But let's return to shining light on others. Congrats, Mission – Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One for two nods that were the first two in this lo-o-o-ong-running series' entire history! Congrats, Wes Anderson: Asteroid City may have been totally bypassed, but The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar made the cut in Live-Action Short, and you may actually win this year! Congrats, Diane Warren, on your 15th career nomination for your “The Fire Inside” song from Flamin' Hot … even though I can't believe you're now forcing me to watch an origin story about Cheetos.
Naturally, there's plenty to lament about this morning's announcement: no Andrew Scott or All of Us Strangers anywhere; no Rachel McAdams or Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret? anywhere; no Asteroid City or Air or Saltburn or Past Lives actors or Across the Spider-Verse beyond its Animated Feature recognition … . But I could do this for hours. It's nominations day, so I'm happy! Godzilla Minus One for Visual Effects! (If I'm right, the first-ever Academy recognition for a Godzilla!) Two nods for Society of the Snow! Sandra Hüller! The El Conde cinematography! Jeffrey Wright!!! And, lest we forget, Ninety-Five Senses for Animated Short! Don't know what that is? Neither do I, but its nominated creators are married filmmakers Jerusha and Jared Hess. That's right: Jared Hess is now an Oscar nominee. If the Academy can find room for Napoleon Dynamite, friends, there's hope for us all.
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 DIRECTING
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 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 ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Fiction, Cord Jefferson
Barbie, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan
Poor Things, Tony McNamara
The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
American Symphony, “It Never Went Away”
Barbie, “I'm Just Ken”
Barbie, “What Was I Made For?”
Flamin' Hot, “The Fire Inside”
Killers of the Flower Moon, “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Boy & the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
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 DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
20 Days in Mariupol
Bobi Wine: The People's President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
BEST FILM 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 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 ORIGINAL SCORE
American Fiction
Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Năi Nai & Wài Pó
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White, & 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
Total Number of Nominations
Oppenheimer – 13
Poor Things – 11
Killers of the Flower Moon – 10
Barbie – 8
Maestro – 7
American Fiction – 5
Anatomy of a Fall – 5
The Holdovers – 5
The Zone of Interest – 5
Napoleon – 3
The Creator – 2
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – 2
Nyad – 2
Past Lives – 2
Society of the Snow – 2
20 Days in Mariupol – 1
American Symphony – 1
Bobi Wine: The People's President – 1
The Boy & the Heron – 1
The Color Purple – 1
El Conde – 1
Elemental – 1
The Eternal Memory – 1
Flamin' Hot – 1
Four Daughters – 1
Godzilla Minus One – 1
Golda – 1
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 1
Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny – 1
Io Capitano – 1
May December – 1
Nimona – 1
Perfect Days – 1
Robot Dreams – 1
Rustin – 1
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – 1
The Teachers' Lounge – 1
To Kill a Tiger – 1
