Oppenheimer is leading the charge in this year's Academy Award nominations. Photo: UNIVERSAL PICTURES / AFP
This year's Oscars is likely to be the thing Hollywood usually wants to avoid - a big bomb.
An Oppenheimer-sized bomb, that is, with Christopher Nolan's smash hit biopic of the atomic bomb's creator leading the way with 13 Academy Award nominations.
Close behind are the twisted Frankenstein fable Poor Things with 11 nominations, Martin Scorsese's epic Killers of the Flower Moon with 10 and the year's biggest box office bonanza, Barbie, with eight (but a couple of notable omissions for that picture).
Sure, the Oscars are silly, overhyped and a bit old-fashioned, but in a world filled with an endless procession of grim headlines, a little glam celebration of the best of the silver screen feels like an act of optimism.
In this "Barbenheimer" year for film, it's looking like the 'Heimer will take the lead on the big night, with likely wins for Best Picture, Best Director and possibly Best Actor for Cillian Murphy.
So will there be any big surprises on Oscar night?
It seems unlikely that anything can stop Oppenheimer from grabbing Best Picture, although New Zealand's Power Of The Dog by Dame Jane Campion seemed pretty likely to win a couple of years back and was beaten by the underdog CODA. With 10 nominees for Best Picture, anything could happen.
The acting nominations are a bit more interesting, with Cillian Murphy and the superb Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers wrestling for Best Actor. Maestro's Bradley Cooper is an outside chance but the well-loved and charming Giamatti has the momentum for his terrific turn as a curmudgeonly teacher. His Golden Globes victory speech alone makes you want to give it to him.
For Best Actress, Margot Robbie truly was robbed of a nomination for bringing a plastic doll to unforgettable life in Barbie, but Emma Stone really did deliver the year's most fearless performance in the delightfully weird Poor Things. Don't count out Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon, the first ever Native American acting nominee, or an outside chance by multiple nominee, never a winner Annette Bening for Nyad.
Former Iron Man, former drug addict and Oscar-less superstar Robert Downey Jr. is likely to be the popular choice for best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer for his remarkable career rehabilitation, while Da'Vine Joy Randolph is pretty much a lock for Best Supporting Actress for her heartbreaking turn in The Holdovers.
It's hard not to imagine Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan winning Best Director, but on the other hand, it's a crime against film that pretty much Hollywood's best living director, Martin Scorsese, has only had one win out of 10 career nominations to date, and despite being a bit long, Killers of the Flower Moon is a masterful work.
Since Parasite's historic Best Picture win in 2020, international films have edged more and more into the mix, with Past Lives, Zone of Interest and Anatomy of A Fall all getting Best Picture nominations. The Oscars feel a lot more global than they once did.
Yeah, mate, but did New Zealand get anything, though?
We may not be leading the top nominees but New Zealand does have some Oscar ties this year. Wēta FX appears to be once again holding the fort for New Zealand, with its staff having worked on Special Effects nominee Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Congratulations to our Wētā FX crew on their @TheAcademy Award nomination for 'Best Visual Effects' for their outstanding work on @Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3! #Oscars2024 #OscarNoms #Oscars #GuardiansoftheGalaxy #WētāFX #VFX pic.twitter.com/U39psQkBBE
— Wētā FX (@WetaFXofficial) January 23, 2024
The Best Animated Short Film nominee War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, directed by Dave Mullins, was also brought to life with the help of Sir Peter Jackson and WetaFX.
Also, we got a bit of sideways recognition for one of the nominees, The Color Purple's Danielle Brooks, who's currently filming the Minecraft movie in this country:
It was 3:30 a.m. in New Zealand, where the actress Danielle Brooks was filming a Minecraft movie. But she was wide awake. “I’m alive and I am an Oscar nominee today,” she said minutes after the news. “I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to sleep.” https://t.co/ee118JqcIQ
— New York Times Arts (@nytimesarts) January 23, 2024
OK, but who missed out?
The snubs for Robbie and Greta Gerwig for Best Director for Barbie are pretty shocking. But look for Barbie to still pick up some Oscar gold. (If Ryan Gosling's Ken as Best Supporting Actor wins an Oscar instead of Robbie's Barbie, though, wouldn't that be the height of irony for this innovative feminist narrative?)
Margot Robbie missed out for her starring role in Barbie. Photo: WARNER BROS. PICTURES
But pour some out for Willem Dafoe, ignored for his haunting mad scientist in Poor Things, or newcomer Dominic Sessa, who was fantastic as a troubled student in The Holdovers. The dark, filthy satire Saltburn missed out on nominations for star Barry Keoghan and Rosamund Pike. For Best Actor, Nicolas Cage truly deserved another nomination for the twisty comedy Dream Scenario, while Leonardo DiCaprio, whose enjoyably subtle turn in Killers of the Flower Moon was some of his best work, was also skipped over.
Wes Anderson's latest quirky delight Asteroid City entirely missed out and deserved a look for its colourful production design at the very least, while the year's best action movie, Japan's Godzilla Minus One, only took a special effects nod.
Where can I watch them to catch up?
Many of the major nominees are now available for digital rental or available for purchase on DVD/blu-ray. Maestro and Nyad can now be seen on Netflix and Killers of the Flower Moon on Apple TV+. Best Picture nominees Poor Things, Zone Of Interest and The Holdovers are still currently in selected cinemas.
The full list of 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 actor in a leading role
Bradley Cooper - Maestro
Colman Domingo - Rustin
Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright - American Fiction
Best actor in a supporting role
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 actress in a leading role
Annette Bening - Nyad
Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller - Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan - Maestro
Emma Stone - Poor Things
Best actress in a supporting role
Emily Blunt - Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple
America Ferrera - Barbie
Jodie Foster - Nyad
Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers
Best directing
Anatomy of a Fall - Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon - Martin Scorsese
Oppenheimer - Christopher Nolan
Poor Things - Yorgos Lanthimos
The Zone of Interest - Jonathan Glazer
Best animated feature film
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best adapted screenplay
American Fiction
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best original screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives
Best cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best costume design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best documentary feature film
Bobi Wine: The People's President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol
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 film editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best international feature film
Io Capitano
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Teachers' Lounge
The Zone of Interest
Best makeup and hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow
Best original score
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
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 My People) - Killers of the Flower Moon
What Was I Made For? - Barbie
Best production design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
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 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
