Oscar nominations 2024 are out: 'Oppenheimer' and 'Poor Things' dominate, 'Barbie' snubbed?

The Oscar nominations for the 96th Academy Awards threw up a few surprises with 'Oppenheimer' grabbing 13 nods, while  'Barbie', perched as another dominant force this year, got just eight nods.

'Barbie' failed to get the Best Director nomination for Greta Gerwig and also the Best Actress nod for Margot Robbie, making it appear as the biggest snub in the Oscar race.

Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' led with 13 nods, while the Pink-fueled 'Barbie' snagged 8 nods. Emma Stone-starrer 'Poor Things'  got 11 nods while Martin Scorsese's 'Killer of the Flower Moon' got 10. Incidentally, Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie''s absence from the Best Director and Best Actress categories has raised a few eyebrows.

Another surprising snub  stemmed from Leonardo DiCaprio not being nominated for best actor for his role in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” But the movie did get a nod in best director category. Actress Lily Gladson, who was nominated for Best Actress for the same film, has now become the first Native American to be a part of this category.

The nominations were announced by 'Atlanta' and 'Joker' actor Zazie Beetz alongside Jack Quaid, who appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, on Tuesday evening at 5.30pm UAE time. It was also live streamed on Oscars.com, Oscars.org and the academy’s social media platforms, and carried live on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Christopher Nolan’s three-hour opus “Oppenheimer” grabbed nods for best picture, best director and a host of other awards. Cillian Murphy (Best Actor nod), Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt landed Best Supporting actors' nods, while the film’s crafts was richly rewarded in the technical categories. Though Nolan is regarded as the big-budget auteur of his era, he's never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won best picture. This could be his year, according to AP. 

Greta Gerwig’s feminist blockbuster 'Barbie', which collected over $1.4billion at the box-office and was nominated for Best Picture but missing from two other crucial categories including Best Director and Best Actress, had to settle for far less. Gerwig was nominated for best director in 2018 for her solo directorial debut, “Lady Bird.” At the time, she was just the fifth woman nominated for the award. Since then, Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) have won best director. Before those wins, Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker,” in 2010) was the only woman to win the Oscar’s top filmmaking honor.

Both Martin Scorsese’s Osage epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein riff “Poor Things” were also widely celebrated. 

The Oscars will take place on March 10 and will be hosted for the fourth time by comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

Lead nominees “Oppenheimer," “Barbie,” “Poor Things” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” made for a maximalist quartet of Oscar heavyweights. Nolan’s sprawling biopic. Gerwig’s near-musical. Scorsese’s pitch-black Western. Lanthimos’ sumptuously designed fantasy. Each utilized a wide spectrum of cinematic tools to tell big, often disturbing big-screen stories. And each — even Apple’s biggest-budgeted movie yet, “Killers of the Flower Moon” — had robust theatrical releases that saved streaming for months later.

The Associated Press notched its first Oscar nomination in the news organization’s 178-year history with “20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing chronicle of the besieged Ukrainian city and of the last international journalists left there after the Russia invasion. It was nominated for best documentary, along with “Four Daughters," “Bobi Wine: The People's President,” “The Eternal Memory" and “To Kill a Tiger.”

Historically, blockbusters have helped fueled Oscar ratings. Though the pile-up of award shows (an after-effect of last year’s strikes ) could be detrimental to the Academy Awards, the Barbenheimer presence could help lift the March 10 telecast. 

Here's the list of the nominations:

Oscar for 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"

Oscar for Best Actor:

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

Oscar for 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”

Oscar for Best Director:

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

Oscar for 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”

Oscar for 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”

Oscar for best International Film:

• “Society of the Snow” (Spain)
• “The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom)
• “The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany)
• “Io Capitano” (Italy)
• “Perfect Day” (Japan)

Oscar for Costume Design:

• “Barbie”
• “Killers of the Flower Moon”
• “Napoleon”
• “Oppenheimer”
• “Poor Things”

Oscar for Adapted Screenplay

• "American Fiction"
• "Barbie"
• "Oppenheimer"
• "Poor Things"
• "The Zone of Interest"

Oscar for Original Screenplay

• "Anatomy of a Fall"
• "The Holdovers"
• "Maestro"
• "May December"
• "Past Lives"

Oscar for Live Action Short Film

• “The After”
• "Invincible"
• "Night of Fortune"
• “Red, White and Blue”
• “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”

Oscar for Animated Short Film

• “Letter to a Pig”
• “Ninety-Five Senses”
• "Our Uniform"
• "Pachyderme"
• “War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko”

Oscar for Best animated film:

• "The Boy and the Heron”
• “Elemental”
• “Nimona”
• “Robot Dreams”
• “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”