The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were announced this morning.
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” defied all expectations and earned a whopping 16 nominations — an Oscar record. Can it win Best Picture? It’ll have to get past the current frontrunner, “One Battle After Another,” which nabbed 13 nominations this morning. Meanwhile, “Marty Supreme” and “Frankenstein” picked up nine, and “Hamnet” came in with eight.
In fact, it’s quite astounding to look at that “Sinners” tally, which handily beat out previous record-holders “All About Eve,” “Titanic,” and “La La Land,” all of which were tied at 14 nominations each. It certainly helps that “Sinners” is a film that crosses multiple genres — including musical, horror, historical, and drama — which allows it to rack up nominations across a wide range of categories, from craft branches to above-the-line races.
I won’t go through all of the nominations; the expected names showed up — DiCaprio, Chalamet, Buckley, Byrne, Del Toro, Penn, Skarsgård, Madigan, Taylor, etc.
Our Best Picture lineup featured all the warhorses: “One Battle After Another,” “Marty Supreme,” “Sinners,” and “Hamnet.” However, the one major surprise was Joseph Kosinski’s “F1” getting in. One could surmise that Kosinski stole a spot from Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” — the Palme d’Or winner was snubbed.
Delroy Lindo (“Sinners”) earned his first-ever Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor, coming after a notable snub in 2021 for his acclaimed turn in “Da 5 Bloods.” Lindo made it well known during that campaign that he was unhappy about being ignored for the performance. He’s now been redeemed with this morning’s nod.
And how about Kate Hudson? She snuck into Best Actress for her work in “Song Sung Blue,” which means Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”) did not get nominated. This marks Hudson’s second Oscar nomination, arriving 25 years after her first, for Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.”
There weren’t too many surprises in the acting categories overall. The biggest snubs appear to be Ariana Grande (“Wicked: For Good”), Odessa A’Zion (“Marty Supreme”), and Paul Mescal (“Hamnet”).
Meanwhile, I’m not at all surprised that Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” failed to get honored in the International Feature category — the Academy’s voting body in this branch just doesn’t seem to like him. If you remember, they also ignored “Decision to Leave” back in 2023. Instead, “The Voice of Hind Rajab” claimed that elusive fifth and final slot; the other four nominees were all expected (“The Secret Agent,” “It Was Just an Accident,” “Sirat,” and “Sentimental Value”).
It was such a weak year for animation that Pixar’s “Elio” somehow made it into the final five. It won’t win, but it’s still a major W for the toon company, which did not earn the best reviews for the film. “Elio” went through a major creative overhaul, including the firing of its director and the removal of LGBTQ elements from the storyline.
The one category the “experts” got dead wrong was Best Documentary. Sure, “The Perfect Neighbor” and “The Alabama Solution” showed up, but expected contenders “20,000 Meters to Andriivka,” “Cover-Up,” “Apocalypse in the Tropics,” and “My Undesirable Friends” were snubbed. Instead, we got “Come See Me in the Good Light,” “Cutting Through Rocks,” and “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.”
Some key films that got ZERO nominations include “Jay Kelly,” “Sorry, Baby,” “28 Years Later,” “No Other Choice,” “Wicked: For Good,” “The Testament of Ann Lee,” “Die, My Love,” “Nouvelle Vague,” “A House of Dynamite,” “Roofman,” and “Superman.”
More stats: Timothée Chalamet, 30, is the youngest actor ever to have 3 Oscar nominations since Marlon Brando back in 1954. Wagner Moura (“The Secret Agent”) made history as the first Brazilian lead actor Oscar nominee. Warner Bros. tied a studio record for most noms with 30.
The 98th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 15.
Best Picture
Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train DreamsBest Director
Chloe Zhao (Hamnet)
Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)
Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)
Ryan Coogler (Sinners)Best Actress
Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)
Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)
Emma Stone (Bugonia)Best Actor
Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)
Michael B Jordan (Sinners)
Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value)
Amy Madigan (Weapons)
Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)
Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)Best Supporting Actor
Benicio Del Toro (One Battle After Another)
Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)
Delroy Lindo (Sinners)
Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)
Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value)Original Screenplay
Blue Moon
It Was Just An Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
SinnersAdapted Screenplay
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train DreamsCasting
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners
The Secret Agent
One Battle After AnotherAnimated Feature
Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amelie
ZootopiaProduction Design
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
SinnersCinematography
Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train DreamsCostume Design
Avatar
Hamnet
Frankenstein
Sinners
Marty SupremeMakeup and Hairstyling
Kokuho
Frankenstein
Sinners
Smashing Machine
The Ugly StepsisterSound
F1
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
SiratFilm Editing
F1
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sentimental ValueVisual Effects
Avatar
F1
Jurassic World Rebirth
The Lost Bus
SinnersOriginal Score
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
SinnersOriginal Song
Dear Me (Diane Warren: Relentless)
Golden (KPop Demon Hunters)
I Lie To You (Sinners)
Sweet Dreams Of Joy (Viva Verdi!)
Train Dreams (Train Dreams)Documentary Feature
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me In The Good Light
Cutting Through Rocks
Mr Nobody Against Putin
The Perfect NeighbourInternational Feature
The Secret Agent
It Was Just An Accident
Sentimental Value
Sirat
The Voice Of Hind RajabAnimated Short
Butterfly
Forever Green
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Retirement Plan
The Three SistersDocumentary Short
All The Empty Rooms
Armed Only With A Camera
Children No More
Perfectly A Strangeness
The Devil Is BusyLive Action Short
Butchers Stain
A Friend Of Dorothy
The Singers
Two People Exchanging Saliva
Jane Austen’s Period Drama
Marvel's "Ghost Rider" just hired one of the best cinematographers working today. Linus Sandgren will serve as DP on Shawn Levy's MCU flick, and, most notably, the project will be shot on film.