The nominations for the 96th Academy Awards ceremony were announced on Tuesday, Jan. 23, and brought with them applauded nods for shoo-ins and highly disputed snubs.
Christopher Nolan’s historical thriller “Oppenheimer” led the nominations with 13, which included Best Picture, Best Director, Actor in a Leading Role for Cillian Murphy, Actor in a Supporting Role for Robert Downey Jr., Actress in a Supporting Role for Emily Blunt and Adapted Screenplay.
Ludwig Göransson was also nominated for Original Score for “Oppenheimer” as a nod to his expansively otherworldly composition of strings, harps and piano that transformed the movie completely — and even felt like its own character.
The Emma Stone led story of bizarrely brilliant self-discovery “Poor Things” followed with 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Yorgos Lanthimos, Actress in a Leading Role for Emma Stone, Actor in a Supporting Role for Mark Ruffalo and Adapted Screenplay.
“Poor Things” costume designer Holly Waddington also earned an Oscar nomination for Costume Design for her fantastically frilly, eccentric work that characterized Bella Baxter so well.
Lily Gladstone earned an Actress in a Leading Role nomination for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” — the true story behind the Osage murders. The nomination made Gladstone the first Native American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, following her history making Golden Globes win.
Another movie that dominated the nominations conversation was “Barbie,” which made its well-known hot pink splash in the box office this past summer.
“Barbie” earned nominations for Best Picture, Actor in a Supporting Role for Ryan Gosling, Actress in a Supporting Role for America Ferrera, Adapted Screenplay for Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, as well as Costume Design and Production Design.
“Barbie” also received two nominations for Original Song, with Mark Ronson’s Gosling power ballad “I’m Just Ken” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” receiving nods.
If you’re thinking something is missing from that recap of nominations, you and the internet at large would be in agreement.
Margot Robbie — who played the titular Barbie — was not nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal, and “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig was not nominated for Best Director, which spurred on online discourse surrounding the apparent snub.
Ryan Gosling released a statement in response to his nomination — and Robbie and Gerwig’s lack thereof — where he expressed his disappointment at the lack of recognition for their major contributions to the film.
“There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Grewig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius,” Gosling said in his statement provided to CNN.
Ferrera also expressed her support for Robbie and Gerwig when discussing her own nomination with Variety.
“Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list,” Ferrera said in her interview with Variety.
The Oscars will be taking place on Sunday, March 10, as this competitive awards season comes to a close.
