The 2024 Academy Award nominations were announced last week! The annual award show returns with flying colors and much-buzzed-about controversy, a typical trend for the awards in the past decade. “The Boys” star Jack Quaid and “Atlanta” icon Zazie Beetz announced the nominations last Monday, January 22.
Blockbuster hit “Oppenheimer” led with 13 nominations, followed by Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi art house film, “Poor Things,” with 11, and Martin Scorsese’s devise “Killers of the Flower Moon” with 10 nominations.
Oppenheimer has the keen advantage of being both a sentimental performance-driven drama and an explosive special effect powerhouse. Four of the 13 nominations were for acting performances and directing, those being actors Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and director Christopher Nolan. Three of the four (excluding Blunt) are currently the shoo-in winners for their category. Although I have personal preference for Ryan Gosling’s plastic life in “Barbie” and Lanthimos’ ballet of cacophonous monsters, I think it is safe to assume Murphy, Downey Jr. and Nolan will all bring home their much-deserved golden statuette.
Among the film’s other nominations, it currently leads the race in Best Sound, Score, Cinematography, Editing, and even Best Picture. The forecast predicts a clean sweep.
The aforementioned “Poor Things” was my personal favorite of the award season. It is a brilliantly crafted genre film that imbues the runtime with as much meaningful content as possible. For more, make sure to read this week’s article on the movie by Taylor Beidler ’25.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” has also had quite an eventful year. Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of “the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” to quote the book’s subtitle, managed to become one of Apple TV’s most successful products of 2023. Even with its three-and-a-half-hour runtime, the film managed to gross over $150 million worldwide.
Much of Scorsese’s criticism was not directed at the runtime, but rather the exploitive content of the film. St. Lawrence Visiting Professor Santee Frazier said of his viewing experience, “I got about an hour in and left once they started showing the scalping.” At times, the film feels like it exploits the exploitation of the Osage community for the sake of revenue. Although the production worked closely with several Osage members, the final product more so portrays the story behind the infamous murderers rather than the historical importance of those murdered.
I can say by experience, this is an awful date night movie. (Sorry Taylor).
Another big note of the award season is the consistent snubbing of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” Many critics were peeved by the absence of Gerwig’s Best Director nomination and Margot Robbie’s Lead Actress nomination, instead being overshadowed by Hollywood icon Annette Benning’s turn as marathon swimmer Diana Nyad.
It is clear that “Barbie” spoke to a larger demographic than “Nyad.” “I felt so seen,” said Chloe O’Shea ’26. Critiques from the Hill News Media Room rang true for many of the film’s content and its surrounding release: “[The press is] pitting Margot Robbie and America Ferrera against each other.” “Less Ken!” “It was one long Mattel commercial.”
Personally, I also strangely felt seen. “Barbie” is firstly a feminist movie, but I believe that message ends with the marketing. It’s a story about finding a greater place in humanity and finding vulnerability in the most painful life experiences. Yes, there is no Ken without Barbie. But the opposite is still valid: there is no Barbie without other Barbies or no Ken without Kens or even Alans. We all desperately need each other to get by and find our identity. If we all decide to enforce conformity and limit the real experience of change, nobody succeeds, and we all suffer. Everyone is constantly changing. It is vital to support each other, even if it’s a begrudging personal force.
I am not saying this is the end-all message of “Barbie.” But for a story with many open ends about its theme, this was my conclusion. I would love for more people to write in and express their own experiences with “Barbie.” The best part about being human is the impactful collaboration and insightful communication derived from everyone’s diverse experiences and backgrounds. It’s natural to change and integral to accept the change of others. Just remember that.
Anyways, I have rambled. In conclusion, watch “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Support local theaters screening lesser-known films like “Poor Things” or Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall.” And make sure to watch the Oscars on March 10.