2024 Oscar nominations disappoint

The long-awaited nominations for the 96th Academy Awards were finally revealed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday.

Like any other award show, this year’s nominations are filled with snubs and surprises, so here’s a list of the major categories and which nominees deserve to win or not.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”

This is Domingo’s, Murphy’s and Wright’s first time nominated for an Academy Award and Cooper’s fourth nomination for Best Actor.

The biggest outlier in the category has to be Domingo. While his performance in “Rustin” was good, his spot should’ve been given to Leonardo DiCaprio for his role in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Murphy and Giamatti are definitely the front-runners for this category. Both actors won the Golden Globe in their respective categories, but Giamatti took home Best Actor over Murphy at the Critics Choice Awards. The Oscar could go to either one of them, and I would not be upset with either outcome.

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 has been by far the most controversial category from this year, especially on TikTok. Two actresses notably absent from this list are Margot Robbie from “Barbie” and Greta Lee from “Past Lives.” Both actresses were nominated for a Golden Globe this year, and either one should have replaced Bening on the list, who had a weaker performance compared to Robbie and Lee.

Gladstone is the first Native American nominated for Best Actress and is slated to be the winner of her category – and possibly the first Native American winner – with Stone following her in a close second place. Both actresses won the Golden Globe in their respective categories; although, Stone beat Gladstone for Best Actress at the Critics Choice Awards.

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”

Charles Melton was snubbed for his role in “May December.” He did a great job portraying a 36-year-old father who still had a child-like view on life after starting a troubling relationship as a teenager. His performance was absolutely heartbreaking and deserves more recognition.

Downey Jr. is definitely leading this category after winning both the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award, but I’m still holding out for Gosling as Ken.

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”

The big surprise in this category is Ferrera for her role in “Barbie,” especially after no acting nomination for Robbie and no directing nomination for Greta Gerwig. Her monologue in the film was powerful, but I wouldn’t have minded a nomination for Rosamund Pike in “Saltburn” or Julianne Moore in “May December” instead.

Randolph is the most likely nominee to win this category, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if Blunt somehow took the win for her portrayal of Katherine Oppenheimer. Both actresses were nominated at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards, but Randolph took home both awards.

BEST DIRECTOR

Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things”
Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Justine Triet, “Anatomy of a Fall”

Despite receiving three nominations, Cooper did not get a nomination for his directing in “Maestro.” Also absent from this list is Gerwig for “Barbie” and Celine Song for “Past Lives.”

This year might finally be Nolan’s year. The director has been nominated in this category once before for “Dunkirk” but has never won an Academy Award. He has recently received a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for Best Director. His work is an integral part of filmmaking over the last two decades, so only time will tell when Nolan finally gets his win.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

“American Fiction”
“Anatomy of a Fall”
“Barbie”
“The Holdovers”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Maestro”
“Oppenheimer”
“Past Lives”
“Poor Things”
“The Zone of Interest”

International foreign-language films are getting a lot of love this year as “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” were both nominated for Best Picture. Pair those with “Past Lives,” which features both English and Korean, this is the year for international movies.

2023 was an incredible year for movies, and the Best Picture nomination list proves that which is why it’s hard to pinpoint what film could win. That being said, “Oppenheimer” has the best chance out of the other nine films to win the award. The three-hour biographical drama won for Best Picture at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards beating out many of the current nominees.

Ultimately, anyone or any film could win in their categories. Even if one nominee is considered the best of its category, it doesn’t mean it’s going to win in the eyes of the Academy.

The 96th Academy Awards will air live on March 10 at 6 p.m.