Oscar Voters Go Big and Go Weird to Make Sense of a Big, Weird Year

The nominations leave “Oppenheimer” as the clear frontrunner, but recent years haven’t been kind to frontrunners

Oppenheimer
Universal Pictures

In a year beset by strikes, a lingering pandemic and rocky times at the box office, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did what it could with Tuesday’s Oscar nominations.

It went big, showering nominations on the blockbuster “Oppenheimer” and on prestige projects like “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Maestro.”

It went little, finding room in the top category for “Past Lives” and “American Fiction.”

It went global, putting three movies entirely or partially not in English into its Best Picture lineup for the first time ever with “The Zone of Interest” (German), “Anatomy of a Fall” (French and English) and “Past Lives” (English and Korean).

Comments

2 responses to “Oscar Voters Go Big and Go Weird to Make Sense of a Big, Weird Year”

  1. cadavra Avatar
    cadavra

    Gerwig and Robbie weren’t snubbed. The former got two nominations (Picture and Screenplay) while the latter also got a Picture nomination. “Please, sir, I want some more” didn’t work in “Oliver Twist,” either.

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