The 96th Academy Awards – Reviews Of Nominated Films & List Of All Nominees

Happy Oscars Day!! Ugh. Why do I care?! I loved three of the nominees. I quite liked several. Many were meh. I absolutely hated a few.

I did manage to review all that I’ve seen recently on Letterboxd yesterday (clearly a very productive day for me… Screw housework!). So I’ll include the links to my reviews below because you obviously want to read my ramblings, right?! 🙂

Ranked list of all nominees I’ve seen, starting with my favorites:

1. Barbie – 8.5/10
2. The Boy and the Heron – 8/10
3. Past Lives – 8/10
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 7.5/10
5. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – 7.5/10
6. American Fiction
7. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – 7.5/10
8. Society of the Snow – 7/10
9. Killers of the Flower Moon – 7/10
10. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – 7/10
11. The Creator – 7/10
12. Nyad – 6.5/10
13. Oppenheimer – 6.5/10
14. Elemental – 6/10
15. Nimona – 6.5/10
16. Invincible (won’t rate shorts or docs – the shorts links are all to my ranked Letterboxd list, where I have reviews of all the shorts)
17. The Eternal Memory
18. Maestro – 6.5/10
19. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
20. American Symphony
21. Rustin – 6/10
22. The After
23. Bobi Wine: The People’s President
24. Flamin’ Hot – 6/10
25. Island In Between
26. The Last Repair Shop
27. The Barber of Little Rock
28. May December – 6/10
29. Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó
30. Napoleon – 5.5/10
31. Poor Things – 5/10
32. El Conde – 4/10

And here’s the full list of nominees. I’ve put a heart by the one I want to win & a trophy by the one I think will win in each category (if you can see emojis on whatever you’re looking at this on, I guess). Oh, and I’ve not researched ones I’ve not seen AT ALL. Can’t be bothered so don’t take these guesses too seriously…:

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

Best actor
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
🏆Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
❤️Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Best actress
Annette Bening – Nyad
❤️🏆Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Huller – Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Emma Stone – Poor Things

Best supporting actress
Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
❤️America Ferrera – Barbie
Jodie Foster – Nyad
🏆Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

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

Best director
Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon – Martin Scorsese
🏆Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan
Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos
❤️The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer

Best adapted screenplay
American Fiction
❤️Barbie
🏆Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

Best original screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
❤️🏆Past Lives

Best original song
The Fire Inside – Flamin’ Hot (Diane Warren)
I’m Just Ken – Barbie (Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt)
It Never Went Away – American Symphony (Jon Batiste, Dan Wilson)
Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People) – Killers of the Flower Moon (Scott George)
❤️🏆What Was I Made For? – Barbie (Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell)

Best original score
American Fiction
❤️Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
🏆Poor Things

Best international feature
Io Capitano
Perfect Days
❤️Society of the Snow
The Teachers’ Lounge
🏆The Zone of Interest

Best animated feature
❤️The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
🏆Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best documentary feature
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
❤️The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
🏆20 Days in Mariupol

Best costume design
❤️Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
🏆Poor Things

Best make-up and hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
🏆Poor Things
❤️Society of the Snow

Best production design
❤️Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
🏆Poor Things

Best sound
The Creator
Maestro
❤️Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
🏆Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

Best film editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
❤️Killers of the Flower Moon
🏆Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
❤️🏆Poor Things

Best visual effects
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
❤️Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
🏆Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

Best live action short
The After
❤️Invincible
Knight of Fortune
🏆Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Best animated short (dunno – seen none!)
Letter to a Pig
🏆Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
❤️Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

Best documentary short
🏆The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
❤️Island In Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó