The race for Oscar glory is about to get real.
The nominees for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced at 8:30 a.m. ET, kicking off an almost 50-day sprint to the Oscars ceremony March 10. Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid are set to present the lists of contenders. Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel is lined up to host the awards show itself for the fourth time.
The nominees will hail from a year in movies that some critics called the best in recent memory. Two culture-swallowing hits are likely to lead the pack: Christopher Nolan’s atomic-age epic “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s pink-powered “Barbie” look assured of best picture nominations. The two films, which were released the same weekend last July, became known as the cultural phenomenon “Barbenheimer.”
Oscar voters are expected to heap recognition on a trio of critical favorites: Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” a bittersweet tale of the boarding school blues; Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a chronicle of the Osage murders of the 1920s; and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” a feminist spin on the Frankenstein story.
What about the other five slots in the best picture category? The nominees could include Justine Triet’s courtroom saga “Anatomy of a Fall,” Cord Jefferson’s literary satire “American Fiction,” Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein portrait “Maestro,” Celine Song’s wistful character study “Past Lives,” and Jonathan Glazer’s Auschwitz drama “The Zone of Interest.”
In the acting races, no performer may be more of a lock than Da’Vine Joy Randolph for her supporting turn in “The Holdovers” as a cafeteria manager mourning the death of her son in the Vietnam War. Randolph took home best supporting actress honors from the Golden Globe Awards, the Critics’ Choice Awards and the National Board of Review.
The prospects for the best actor Oscar include Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) and Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), who both won Golden Globes on Jan. 7. Best actress predictions include Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”), who also nabbed Golden Globes for their lauded performances.
Robert Downey Jr., who played the cunning Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” looks set for his third Oscar nod, though he faces competition in the supporting actor race from the likes of Robert De Niro (“Flower Moon”), Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”) and Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”). Charles Melton of “May December” is a dark horse there.
“Barbie” fans might be rewarded with news of two nominations in the original song category: one for Gosling’s self-pitying power ballad “I’m Just Ken,” another for Billie Eilish’s moving track “What Was I Made For?” (Eilish and Finneas O’Connell shared a Golden Globe, while the team behind “I’m Just Ken” earned Critics’ Choice Awards.)
The list of nominees could also feature a few surprises. Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” an unconventional adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s book “Caste,” debuted in wide release only a few days ago, but the strong critical reception has boosted its Oscar chances. Netflix’s survival drama “Society of the Snow” also has late-breaking momentum.
Technically, four luminaries have already won Oscars this year. Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and accomplished editor Carol Littleton (“E.T.”) were presented with honorary prizes at a ceremony Jan. 9; Sundance Film Festival executive Michelle Satter received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
The recognition of box-office champions “Barbie” ($1.4 billion worldwide) and “Oppenheimer” ($952 million worldwide) might help attract viewers to this year’s telecast. Last year, the Oscars got a bump in the ratings thanks in part to “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” two big hits that were up for best picture.
This article will be updated when the nominees are announced.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
