The Oscars, also known as The Academy Awards, are arguably the most well-known and glamorous title of all film awards, as they have spent almost a century awarding excellence to the previous year of cinema. On Jan. 23, 2024, the list of nominations for this year’s Oscars was read live by actors Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid.
The 2024 season marks the 96th year that the awards have been held, with the first ceremony being held on May 16, 1929. The broadcast of the Oscars is set to air on Sunday, March 10, 2024. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is an international organization that strives to “[represent] the best of an international art form, [with its] members in countries all across the world.” The Academy is the organization that selects the awards based on a thorough, extensive selection of movies that are theatrically released each year, with this type of release being one of the criteria for consideration.
Movies are not the only part of the Academy that needs to meet the criteria. Members of the Academy are selected from a list of 18 branches, ranging from actors, directors and producers to writers, hairstylists and visual effects artists. To be sponsored for membership in the Academy, one must either be a part of a nominated film or make significant contributions to their respective category for a set number of years, depending upon the branch. The professionals making up the members of the Academy total somewhere over 10,000.
Other than sounding official and being incredible for a resume, being a member of the Academy grants a person other benefits, such as the selection of the nominees for each year’s awards. Members from each of the aforementioned branches vote to determine the nominees according to their branch, which means that writers vote for writers, costume designers vote for costume designers, actors vote for actors and so on.
The categories Animated Feature Film, International Feature Film and Live Action Short Film are selected by committees of Academy members across multiple branches who screen the eligible films. All members who are eligible to vote are allowed to cast their ballots for the Best Picture nominees. This year, members from 93 countries submitted their votes, putting submissions at an all-time high. The members of the Academy will place their votes for the winners of each respective category between Feb. 22–27.
There are 23 categories in which films can be nominated. The top nominee of this year is Christopher Nolan’s historical epic “Oppenheimer,” leading the awards with 13 nominations. The runner-up is Yorgos Lanthimos’ comedy-drama “Poor Things” with 11 nods. Other prominent films of the year include Martin Scorcese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” and Greta Gerwig’s summer blockbuster hit “Barbie.” A complete list of nominees can be found online.
To start off with the nominees, five actors have been nominated for the Best Actor award: Bradley Cooper for “Maestro,” Colman Domingo for “Rustin,” Paul Giamatti for “The Holdovers,” Cillian Murphy for “Oppenheimer” and Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction.” Murphy and Giamatti had both previously won Golden Globes, Actor in a Drama Motion Picture and Actor in a Musical or Comedy Picture, respectively, for their roles.
In the category of Best Actress, the nominees this season include Annette Benning for “Nyad,” Lily Gladstone for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall,” Carey Mulligan for “Maestro” and Emma Stone for “Poor Things.” Gladstone and Stone won Golden Globes for their roles this year, although controversy has been sparked due to the absence of a nomination for Margot Robbie’s role in “Barbie.”
Fans of the 2023 summer blockbuster, which grossed almost $1.45 billion, have voiced disapproval at the snub of the previously Oscar-nominated actress, as well as the lack of a nomination for Best Director for Greta Gerwig. The controversy has been worsened by the fact that Ryan Gosling has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ken, the character who is the figurative representation of societal patriarchy in Gerwig’s film.
His nomination over Robbie and Gerwig has sparked comments about the irony of the situation and how the Academy seemingly missed the point of the film. Even though the nominees were selected by fellow actresses and directors, the snub stings just the same. The original song “I’m Just Ken” recently beat Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” at the Emmy Awards, although Eilish did win the Golden Globe.
Finally, ten films are in the running for the award of Best Motion Picture of the Year. Both halves of the summer “Barbenheimer” are on the list, Bradley Cooper’s musical biopic of Leonard Bernstein, “Maestro,” has made the list, along with “Poor Things” and Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.” Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” Triet’s foreign film “Anatomy of a Fall” and Martin Scorcese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” bring strong competition to the table. Payne’s “The Holdovers” and Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut “American Fiction” round out the ten nominees. “Oppenheimer” has already been awarded the Golden Globe for Best Picture, but the Oscar is anyone’s win.
2023 was a refreshing year for film with movie theaters and movie production able to be back in full swing, so many brilliant movies graced the silver screen over the past year. No matter the highs and lows, successes and bombs, movies will continue to bring joy to audiences around the world.