5 Winners and 4 Losers from the 96th Academy Awards Nominations

The latest Oscar nominations bring a few surprises.

Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid announce the 96th Oscars Nominations. Source: Oscars YouTube.

Today I’m pleased to welcome William Bibbiani to Decoding Everything to share his thoughts on the 96th Academy Award nominations, which were just announced this morning. William Bibbiani is a film critic who has been writing and podcasting professionally for almost 15 years. He is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the co-host of The Critically Acclaimed Network. -David

When the Academy Awards were invented they were a small affair, given out quickly and without much hullabaloo. Even MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer said they had less to do with celebrating the art of cinema than they did with keeping studio talent distracted with gold statues, in an underhanded attempt to pre-emptively bust unions. In the nearly 100 years that followed, the Oscars became a major cornerstone of the film industry, with at least half of every calendar year dedicated to campaigning and prognosticating. It’s not just the talent that’s distracted, it’s everybody.

This year, the narratives that grew up around the prospective Academy Award nominees were dominated by the pop culture event of the summer: “Barbenheimer,” the unlikely simultaneous release of Christopher Nolan’s epic historical biopic Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s feminist comedy toy tie-in. The unusual counter-programming, buzz-friendly portmanteau, and the fact that both films wound up critically acclaimed led to two mega-blockbusters which seemed destined for Oscar glory.

And indeed, both Oppenheimer and Barbie were among the most nominated films of the year. Oppenheimer led the pack with 13 nominations, and even though Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon got more nominations than Barbie (with 11 and 10, respectively), Gerwig’s acclaimed comedy still managed to earn 8 nods, including Best Picture. 

But that’s not the only story emerging from this year’s Oscars. In addition to some surprising snubs (a complete shut-out for Andrew Haigh’s heartbreaking All of Us Strangers, Charles Melton getting left off of the ballot for May December) and some they-were-probably-a-long-shot disappointments (Rachel McAdams in Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret will always be a winner in our hearts), there were also some pleasant surprise inclusions. A lot of people probably googled Pablo Larraín’s bizarre vampire film about Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet after it snuck into the Best Cinematography category, and although some were hoping Godzilla Minus One might sneak into the Best Picture category, at least it got a nod for Best Visual Effects (and seriously, don’t rule out a win either). 

There are certainly a lot of nominees the Academy can be proud of, and as always a couple of a head-scratchers. These are the winners and… well, maybe “losers” is too harsh a word, but “the didn’t winners” is pretty clunky, so we’ll go with that instead, followed by the complete list of nominations.

WINNER: Oppenheimer

Look, you don’t get the most Oscar nominations of the year and not go down in history as a winner. (Okay, okay, The Turning Point got 11 nominations in 1977 and didn’t win anything. Are you happy now? Don’t you feel like a keen observer of detail?) Christopher Nolan’s sprawling biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man history deems responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb, is the kind of film that wins Academy Awards. The voters historically love biopics, historical epics, and specifically movies about World War II. And they also love giving Christopher Nolan movies Oscars. They just don’t love giving Nolan one of them.

That tide seems likely to turn this year, with Oppenheimer now the clear frontrunner for Best Picture (Nolan is one of three credited producers), and in the category of Best Director his biggest competition, Greta Gerwig, is mysteriously absent from the ballot. He’s also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, so the question is, will the Academy make it a trifecta? His competition is stiff in the screenwriting category. Maybe three Oscars is a lot to ask for. Either way it seems like he’ll probably be juggling gold statues come Oscar night.

WINNER: Barbie

Oppenheimer may have taken home more nominations, but who would have thought a year ago that a billion-dollar movie based on a toy would be up for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay? It’s rare these days that the highest-grossing movie of the year gets a Best Picture nomination at all, but that probably says more about the often-juvenile films that break the bank in the 21st century than it does about the Academy, whose tastes have remained fairly similar for decades. There was a time when the highest-grossing films of the year were movies like The Godfather, Rocky and Kramer vs. Kramer instead of superhero films.

Barbie also managed to overcome a last-minute hurdle, when the Academy made the semi-controversial decision to declare Greta Gerwig’s and Noah Baumbach’s screenplay — which Warner Bros. had been campaigning in the Best Original Screenplay category, and racked up multiple nominations in that field — was technically an Adapted Screenplay, since it was based on a pre-existing product (even though it wasn’t based on any pre-existing story). This could have led to some confusion amongst Academy voters, but they apparently embraced the decision and now Barbie is nominated in an absolute murderer’s row of a category. 

Best Adapted Screenplay is going to be very hard to predict this year, with every nominee — American Fiction, Barbie, Oppenheimer, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest — having passionate supporters, and the Barbenheimer frontrunners possibly in a position to siphon votes off of each other, leaving room any of the other contenders to swoop in.

LOSER: Barbie

While in the grand scheme of things it’s still amazing that Barbie is a serious Oscar contender in many categories, the nominations it lost are still completely baffling. Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera are wonderful nominees, but Margot Robbie was the anchor of the film and gave a masterful comedic and dramatic performance. Her absence in the Best Actress category is a head-scratcher.

Even more baffling is Greta Gerwig getting shut out of Best Director, for a film whose success almost entirely stems from a director of unique vision pushing through the studio system and transforming what could have been a lazy toy commercial into a beloved and intelligent Oscar-nominated cultural event. This may be the Academy’s most bizarre oversight of the year.

WINNERS: Nimona and Robot Dreams

The Best Animated Feature category tends to be dominated by giant studio product, and occasionally the latest Studio Ghibli release, but this year finds Elemental, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron competing with two underdogs whose nominations should be making a lot of people very happy.

Nimona’s nomination is especially worthy of celebration, since the film was initially acquired by Disney during its takeover of Fox, delayed, and then abandoned when Disney shuttered Blue Sky Studios. Disney also reportedly got skittish over the film’s overtly queer characters and story. Thankfully the film, based on a graphic novel by ND Stevenson about a sci-fi/fantasy world where a shape-changing anti-hero teams up with a disgraced knight to challenge a kingdom’s oppressive social structure, was picked up by Annapurna and Netflix, and found an appreciative audience.

And then there’s Robot Dreams, an adaptation of Sara Varon’s comic about a lonely dog who befriends a robot in 1980s Manhattan. Adorably animated and largely silent, the film has charmed critics nationwide and made an impressive showing at various critics awards leading up to the Oscars. Its nomination should raise the film’s profile considerably, and of course make its fans very happy.

LOSER: Disney’s 100th Anniversary 

It was supposed to be a triumphant year for Disney, which went out of its way to celebrate its 100th anniversary with the animated musical Wish, which paid homage to most of the Disney classics that preceded it, and the animated short Once Upon a Studio, about the studio’s beloved character leaping out of their animation cels to pay homage to their creator and take a group photo.

Instead, Disney had one of its rockiest years since the 1980s, with most of its theatrical dramatically underperforming — including seemingly sure things like two Marvel movies and an Indiana Jones — and Wish, which ironically turned out to be a film about why the ruler of a magic kingdom was evil because they hoarded intellectual property, was a dud too. 

Both of Disney’s 100th anniversary celebration movies were passed over by the Academy, although the studio still managed to earn a few nods for Elemental, which overcame a middling opening weekend to become the sleeper hit of the summer, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, because never count out John Williams (54 nominations and counting!), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and two films it didn’t put the “Disney” name on and instead released via Searchlight: Flamin’ Hot and Poor Things. 

Yes, Poor Things, the feminist and pro-sex work Frankenstein film with more fornication scenes than probably any other major movie released this year, is technically a Disney film, whether they slap a “Magic Kingdom” title card at the beginning or not. Eleven nominations is a big win for Searchlight, just not for the Disney brand.

WINNER: Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

It’s strange to think that, even though Wes Anderson is one of the most beloved and celebrated directors of his generation, he’s never won an Academy Award. As of this writing, he’s been nominated eight times across five categories, but classics like The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel have all left him empty-handed.

There is an excellent chance that this is the year that changes. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, the longest of the four short films based on Roald Dahl stories Anderson released on Netflix this year, has been nominated for Best Live-Action Short Subject. And while anything can happen in these below-the-radar categories, this is the first time Anderson hasn’t been nominated opposite an overwhelming favorite. Even two-time Oscar-winner Pedro Almodóvar, who was eligible this year for the western Strange Way of Life, didn’t make the Academy’s cut.

LOSER: Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City

And yet, somehow, Wes Anderson’s acclaimed new film Asteroid City was completely shut out across the board. Best Production Design should have been a lock, at least. A bittersweet day.

WINNER: Anatomy of a Fall

Justine Triet’s acclaimed mystery thriller, about a writer accused of murder when her husband dies under strange circumstances, already won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, not to mention more critics awards than we could comfortably fit into a single paragraph. It also took home five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing. 

Sandra Hüller, who stars in Anatomy of a Fall, is having a gigantic breakout year in the international scene. After years of starring in acclaimed motion pictures like Toni Erdmann and Requiem, her one-two punch of Anatomy and Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest had many pundits believing she could be double-nominated for this year. That nomination for Zone didn’t materialize, but it’s a still a remarkable year by any actor’s standards. Meanwhile, Justine Triet becomes only the eighth woman nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, and yes, after nearly 100 Oscar ceremonies it is still deeply shameful that that number is still in the single digits.

LOSER: The Taste of Things

At a glance it might seem strange that Anatomy of a Fall could earn five Academy Award nominations but somehow get “snubbed” in the Best International Feature category. But that’s notthe Academy’s fault. Nominees for Best International Feature are selected by their country of origin, and France controversially decided instead to submit Tran Anh Hung’s romantic culinary drama The Taste of Things in that category.

It’s worth noting that The Taste of Things is a remarkable, beautiful, affecting, and (not for nothing) delicious motion picture. It was even this critic’s pick for the best film of 2023. But this turned out to be a massive miscalculation, since Anatomy of a Fall raked in the Oscar nominations and The Taste of Things got shut out entirely. 

This isn’t the first time France has whiffed it in exactly this way: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma’s queer historical romance (which was almost immediately declared the 30th greatest movie ever made by critics the world over in the 2022 Sight and Sound poll) was passed over in favor of the crime drama Les Misérables. Although at least Les Misérables was nominated for Best International Feature. (It lost to Parasite, which also won Best Picture.) -William Bibbiani

The complete list of nominees is below.

Best Motion Picture of the Year

• "American Fiction" Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers

• "Anatomy of a Fall" Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers

• "Barbie" David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers

• "The Holdovers" Mark Johnson, Producer

• "Killers of the Flower Moon" Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers

• "Maestro" Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

• "Oppenheimer" Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers

• "Past Lives" David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers

• "Poor Things" Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers

• "The Zone of Interest" James Wilson, Producer

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

• Bradley Cooper in "Maestro"

• Colman Domingo in "Rustin"

• Paul Giamatti in "The Holdovers"

• Cillian Murphy in "Oppenheimer"

• Jeffrey Wright in "American Fiction”

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

• Sterling K. Brown in "American Fiction"

• Robert De Niro in "Killers of the Flower Moon"

• Robert Downey Jr. in "Oppenheimer"

• Ryan Gosling in "Barbie"

• Mark Ruffalo in "Poor Things”

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

• Annette Bening in "Nyad"

• Lily Gladstone in "Killers of the Flower Moon"

• Sandra Hüller in "Anatomy of a Fall"

• Carey Mulligan in "Maestro"

• Emma Stone in "Poor Things”

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

• Emily Blunt in "Oppenheimer"

• Danielle Brooks in "The Color Purple"

• America Ferrera in "Barbie"

• Jodie Foster in "Nyad"

• Da'Vine Joy Randolph in "The Holdovers”

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

• "The Boy and the Heron" Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

• "Elemental" Peter Sohn and Denise Ream

• "Nimona" Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary

• "Robot Dreams" Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz

• "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal

Achievement in Cinematography

• "El Conde" Edward Lachman

• "Killers of the Flower Moon" Rodrigo Prieto

• "Maestro" Matthew Libatique

• "Oppenheimer" Hoyte van Hoytema

• "Poor Things" Robbie Ryan

Achievement in 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

Achievement in 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 Documentary Feature Film

• "Bobi Wine: The People's President" Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek

• "The Eternal Memory" Nominees to be determined

• "Four Daughters" Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha

• "To Kill a Tiger" Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim

• "20 Days in Mariupol" Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath

Best Documentary Short Film

• "The ABCs of Book Banning" Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic

• "The Barber of Little Rock" John Hoffman and Christine Turner

• "Island in Between" S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien

• "The Last Repair Shop" Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers

• "Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó" Sean Wang and Sam Davis

Achievement in 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

Best International Feature Film of the Year

• "Io Capitano" Italy

• "Perfect Days" Japan

• "Society of the Snow" Spain

• "The Teachers' Lounge" Germany

• "The Zone of Interest" United Kingdom

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

• "Golda" Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue

• "Maestro" Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell

• "Oppenheimer" Luisa Abel

• "Poor Things" Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston

• "Society of the Snow" Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé

Achievement in Music written for Motion Pictures (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

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original song)

• "The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot"Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

• "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie"Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

• "It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony"Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson

• "Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon"Music and Lyric by Scott George

• "What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie"Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

Achievement in 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

Best Animated Short Film

• "Letter to a Pig" Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter

• "Ninety-Five Senses" Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess

• "Our Uniform" Yegane Moghaddam

• "Pachyderme" Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius

• "WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko" Dave Mullins and Brad Booker

Best Live-Action Short Film

• "The After" Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham

• "Invincible" Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron

• "Knight of Fortune" Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk

• "Red, White and Blue" Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane

• "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" Wes Anderson and Steven Rales

Achievement in Sound

• "The Creator" Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

• "Maestro" Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

• "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

• "Oppenheimer" Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell

• "The Zone of Interest" Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn

Achievement in Visual Effects

• "The Creator" Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould

• "Godzilla Minus One" Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima

• "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek

• "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould

• "Napoleon" Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould

Adapted Screenplay

• "American Fiction" Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson

• "Barbie" Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach

• "Oppenheimer" Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan

• "Poor Things" Screenplay by Tony McNamara

• "The Zone of Interest" Written by Jonathan Glazer

Original Screenplay

• "Anatomy of a Fall” Screenplay - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari

• "The Holdovers” Written by David Hemingson

• “Maestro" Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer

• "May December” Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik

• "Past Lives” Written by Celine Song