It’s that magical time of the year where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestows on us their nominations for the best films of the previous year. Nominations were announced this morning by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott. Let’s look at this year’s nominees.
Best Picture
ANORA
THE BRUTALIST
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
CONCLAVE
DUNE: PART TWO
EMILIA PEREZ
I’M STILL HERE
NICKEL BOYS
THE SUBSTANCE
WICKED
The top six has been firmly planted in the race for a while, with Emilia Perez and The Brutalist leading the way in nomination totals, as well as vying for the potential win. The foursome of Conclave, Anora, Wicked, and Dune: Part Two have all solidified their positions in the last few weeks. The Substance and A Complete Unknown both performed well with the guilds and landed firmly in the race.
But the big surprises were both Nickel Boys and I’m Still Here. Nickel Boys was an early contender that had fallen off in recent weeks, but it still found it’s way in the Best Picture ten despite having only one other nomination (Adapted Screenplay). Meanwhile, Brazil’s International Feature submission I’m Still Here surprised everyone with it’s inclusion. I’m not sure I saw a single pundit predicting it.
Best Actress
CYNTHIA ERIVO, WICKED
KARLA SOFIA GASCON, EMILIA PEREZ
MIKEY MADISON, ANORA
DEMI MOORE, THE SUBSTANCE
FERNANDA TORRES, I’M STILL HERE
For the first time since 1977, all five Best Actress nominees star in Best Picture nominees. Four of the five are first-timers (with Erivo nominated for a second time), and Gascon is the first ever Transgender acting nominee. Torres follows up her mother Fernanda Montenegro’s nomination 30 years later directed by the same person (Walter Salles). Early predictors Saoirse Ronan, Amy Adams, and Angelina Jolie were passed over, while Nicole Kidman and Marianne Jean-Baptiste couldn’t muster enough eyes or enthusiasm for their films to find a nomination.
Best Actor
ADRIEN BRODY, THE BRUTALIST
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
COLMAN DOMINGO, SING SING
RALPH FIENNES, CONCLAVE
SEBASTIAN STAN, THE APPRENTICE
Outside of Stan, this has been the lineup for months without much mystery. The real mystery lied with that final spot. It was between Daniel Craig’s performance in Queer, Stan in The Apprentice, and Stan again in A Different Man. I guess the Academy went with the most recognizable performance. I can’t say how many times the portrayal of a sitting President has been nominated for an Oscar, but this might be the first.
Best Supporting Actress
MONICA BARBARO, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
ARIANA GRANDE, WICKED
FELICITY JONES, THE BRUTALIST
ISABELLA ROSSELLINI, CONCLAVE
ZOE SALDANA, EMILIA PEREZ
Jones is the only returning nominee from the group, but her inclusion was by no means assured. She bumped out Margaret Qualley from The Substance, Selena Gomez from Emilia Perez, and a late-surging Jamie Lee Curtis from The Last Showgirl. Rossellini joins her mother Ingrid Bergman as an Oscar nominee (Bergman won three times).
Best Supporting Actor
YURA BORISOV, ANORA
KIERAN CULKIN, A REAL PAIN
EDWARD NORTON, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
GUY PEARCE, THE BRUTALIST
JEREMY STRONG, THE APPRENTICE
Culkin has been the frontrunner here and that doesn’t look to change come Oscar time. Much like Supporting Actress, Edward Norton is the only previous nominee, this time with his fourth nod. Strong was the one who was the most in flux, but his Roy Cohn beside Donald Trump in The Apprentice got him there in the end. No eleventh nomination for Denzel Washington as Gladiator II greatly underperformed at the box office. Sixth place was probably Clarence Maclin for his touching work in Sing Sing.
Best Director
JACQUES AUDIARD, EMILIA PEREZ
SEAN BAKER, ANORA
BRADY CORBET, THE BRUTALIST
CORALIE FARGEAT, THE SUBSTANCE
JAMES MANGOLD, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Oscar voters didn’t stray from the Best Picture lineup when it came to director this year. All five ended up with corresponding Best Picture nominations. It used to happen much more frequently, but its the fourth straight year all have synced up. All five are first time Directing nominees, but Mangold is probably the biggest surprise. Looking around the other nominations, A Complete Unknown overperformed across the board, so it’s not that much of a surprise. Edward Berger just missed the lineup again after missing in 2022 with All Quiet on the Western Front.
Best Original Screenplay
ANORA
THE BRUTALIST
A REAL PAIN
SEPTEMBER 5
THE SUBSTANCE
Considered an early frontrunner, September 5 was only able to make a dent here and nowhere else. Despite the nomination for Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain had some juice for a Best Picture nomination as well, but writer/director/star Jesse Eisenberg will have to settle for a nomination here instead.
Best Adapted Screenplay
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
CONCLAVE
EMILIA PEREZ
NICKEL BOYS
SING SING
Three Best Picture nominees were eligible in this category (Dune: Part Two, I’m Still Here, Wicked) but didn’t end up with a nomination. Instead, Sing Sing, a film that might have finished 11th, snags it from that group.
Technical Categories
Shockingly, Dune: Part Two didn’t dominate the other categories, while Emilia Perez showed up almost everywhere it was eligible with 13 nominations. The animated film Flow (despite not having dialogue) ended up in International Feature and Animated Feature. That happened last in 2021 with the film Flee. Speaking of Animated Feature, The Wild Robot managed three notices even with some notable snubs.
Despite no above-the-line nominations, Nosferatu managed four technical notices. In the Original Song category, Elton John and Dianne Warren continue their nomination spree with another nod each.
