Only few hours left for the 96th Academy Awards, the biggest awards night of the year, and the most prestigious. Fans and critics are waiting to do a post-mortem of the ceremony and debate and discuss who won what and how deserving it was. And of course, there are predictions too, and we have ours as well.

Here are the nominees:

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES
BRADLEY COOPER
Maestro
COLMAN DOMINGO
Rustin
PAUL GIAMATTI
The Holdovers
CILLIAN MURPHY
Oppenheimer
JEFFREY WRIGHT
American Fiction

Cooper and Cillian are likely to have a tough fight, but most likely, it’s going to be the latter for Nolan’s meticulously crafted drama. The actor’s intense physical and emotional prep made fans take notice of his scintillating act as the American theoretical physicist
J. Robert Oppenheimer. 
 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES
ANNETTE BENING
Nyad
LILY GLADSTONE
Killers of the Flower Moon
SANDRA HÜLLER
Anatomy of a Fall
CAREY MULLIGAN
Maestro
EMMA STONE
Poor Things

Stone’s haunting and melancholic film has bagged 11 nominations, and the actress’ stunning performance became an instant favourite, nothing to take away from the acts of the other nominees. But the best bet as off now is this lady who breathed life into the character of Bella Baxter.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES
STERLING K. BROWN
American Fiction
ROBERT DE NIRO
Killers of the Flower Moon
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
Oppenheimer
RYAN GOSLING
Barbie
MARK RUFFALO
Poor Things

Gosling may have been a fan favourite but we shall put our money on the two Roberts- DeNiro and Downey Jr. It’s either of the two or none.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES
EMILY BLUNT
Oppenheimer
DANIELLE BROOKS
The Color Purple
AMERICA FERRERA
Barbie
JODIE FOSTER
Nyad
DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH
The Holdovers

Even here, it’s going to be Oppenheimer but there could be a surprise in store for us.

DIRECTING
NOMINEES
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

Nolan’s tenacity was lauded by fans and critics alike across the globe, and the biopic roared commercially and critically too. It’s not just a choice out of popularity but reviews as well.

BEST PICTURE
NOMINEES
AMERICAN FICTION
Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers
ANATOMY OF A FALL
Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers
BARBIE
David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers
THE HOLDOVERS
Mark Johnson, Producer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers
MAESTRO
Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
OPPENHEIMER
Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers
PAST LIVES
David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers
POOR THINGS
Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers
THE ZONE OF INTEREST
James Wilson, Producer

Again, the obvious choice would be Nolan’s film. But the Oscars have surprised in the past and this year’s ceremony could be no exception. There could be some unexpected wins and snubs, controversies and comedy, and everything else in between.