Heavy hitters were rewarded and there were some surprises

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday Night: Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid at 8:30 a.m. ET ET/BCS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had some difficult choices to make by last week, because it was a strong year for films. There are more good movies and excellent performances this year than there are awards to honor, as I have written throughout this awards season. I was trying to narrow down the list after I came up with predictions. But that also means I have some ideas about the names and titles Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid will announce when they reveal the nominees at 8:30 a.m. on ABC and Oscars.com. Here’s what to expect:

The Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” racked up 13 nominations, tying it with “The Descendants” for the most nominations.

Alexander Payne’s dramedy “The Holdovers” about a history teacher, a cook and a student forced to stay at a boarding school during winter break has had strong success all awards season long. Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph will be at the event on Tuesday to show their names for the prizes they have won. And besides a likely best picture nod, there could be ones for directing and screenplay as well.

The Times’ Picks: “Killers of the Moon” and “Poor Things” Nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor

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“Killers of the Flower Moon” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” were both well-received. “Poor Things” landed 11 nods, while “Killers of the Moon” was nominated for 10 Oscars.

Jodie Foster, “Nyad” and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers” are examples.

One of the most competitive categories was the best actor category. In the end, the nominees were Murphy, Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”), Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”) and Colman Domingo (“Rustin”). Domingo’s nomination, for his performance as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, made him just the second openly gay man to be nominated for playing a gay character, following Ian McKellen for the 1998 film “Gods and Monsters.”

“American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson’s insightful drama about a frustrated novelist, had an especially good day, collecting five nominations. The nominee for best supporting actor was Sterling K. Brown. Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) rounded out that category with Downey Jr. and Gosling.

One woman director is in, a couple of others are out. The devastating story of a woman suspected of being responsible for the death of her husband was directed by Justine Triet. But both Greta Gerwig, who directed the much-nominated Barbie, and Celine Song, who directed the beautiful best picture nominee Past Lives, were left out of the category. Both their lead actresses, Margot Robbie and Greta Lee, went without nominations in that category, too.

Nolan’s directorial effort, which was seen as the best picture frontrunner, was nominated for best picture, as well as a number of acting awards, including nominations for Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy. Though Nolan is regarded as the big-canvas auteur of his era, he’s never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won best picture. This, though, could be his year.

Gerwig was surprisingly left out of the best director field. She was nominated for best director in 2018 for her solo directorial debut, “Lady Bird.” At the time, Gerwig was just the fifth woman nominated for the award. The Power of the dog was nominated for best director and won by Jane Campion. Prior to those wins, the only woman to win an Oscar was for “The Hurt Locker.”

Lily Gladstone, star of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” became the first Native American nominated for best actress. For the 10th time, Scorsese was nominated for best director. The best actor was not won by Leonardo DiCaprio. The late Robbie Robertson, who died in August, also became the first Indigenous person nominated for best score.

“Poor Things” received nominations for Lanthimos’ direction, Emma Stone’s leading performance, Mark Ruffalo’s supporting performance, and the old-school design of its film.

The films that were nominated for best picture were “Oppenheimer”, “Barbie,” “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “The Holdover,” “American Fiction,” “Past Lives” and “Anatomy of a Fall“.

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.”

The nominees for best international film are: “Society of the Snow,” (Spain); “The Zone of Interest,” (United Kingdom); “The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany); “Io Capitano” (Italy) ; “Perfect Days” (Japan).

Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”; Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”; Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”; Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things”

The Barbenheimer presence of “Maestro” and “I’m Just Ken” will lift the ABC March 10 broadcast of “American Fiction”

The best-picture collection of films — all of which played in theaters for at least a month, including Netflix’s “Maestro” — reflected the industry’s rebalancing after years of experimentation during the pandemic. Netflix came away with the most nominations of any studio with 18, but industry consensus has, for now, turned back to believing cinemas play a vital role in the rollout of most movies. Apple and Amazon, which in 2022 acquired MGM, have each made theatrical a priority.

TheOscar ratings have been helped by blockbusters. Through 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 on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel is returning as host, with the ceremony moved up an hour, to 7 p.m. EST.

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

Annette Bening, “Nyad”; Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”; Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”; Emma Stone, “Poor Things”

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

“What Was IMade For?” is from “Barbie”, while “I’m Just Ken” is from “Flamin’ Hot”.

The Oscars: What Happened to 10 Best Picture Oscar Nominated Films? (Review after the Breakup of the German-French Films)

The Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning, and most of the heavy hitters were richly rewarded. A man was nominated for playing a doll; a woman was nominated for playing a baby (sort of). Ten pictures will vie to be considered best. Let’s discuss what happened.

A couple of contenders came up empty or nearly so. There were a lot of films that elbowed their way into big nominations; that’s what you get when you start with 10 best picture nominees. Origin and All of Us Strangers, movies with Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, were left out of the nominations. The Color Purple musical adaptation was nominated for a couple of awards, one of which was for Danielle Brooks’ performance.

Many of the acting nominees are first-timers. There are 10 first-time acting nominees: Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Colman Domingo (Rustin), America Ferrera (Barbie), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction). They’re a fascinating mix of familiar good actors who you might be surprised are first-timers (Blunt, Domingo, Wright, Murphy), folks who did great work on television before they got much recognition in film (Ferrera, Brown, Brooks), and people who probably feel like relative newcomers to a lot of Oscar voters even though they are emphatically not (Gladstone, Randolph, Hüller).

International films are doing well. Alfonso Cuarn’s film was nominated for both best international film and best picture, making it the only non-English-language film to ever do so. But just since then, there have been four more: Parasite, Drive My Car, All Quiet on the Western Front and now The Zone of Interest, the disturbing study of a family living happily just outside the walls of Auschwitz, where the father is commandant. Do you mean the short version? There’s no longer any reason to suspect that a film with subtitles won’t be nominated for best picture, which is a great development.

They set records for John Williams and Thelma Schoonmaker. Williams received his 54th nomination, for the score to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, a movie that many consider to be one of the greatest of all time. It is more nominations than any other living person has. And Schoonmaker, longtime collaborator of Martin Scorsese, became the most nominated editor ever when she was recognized for the ninth time, for his film Killers of the Flower Moon. She’s won for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed. Both Williams and Schoonmaker are examples of essential collaborators without whom celebrated directors could not do their work, whether they’re making tragic epics or swashbuckling adventures.