And the winner is… “American Fiction”

Also nominated:
“Barbie”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”
“The Zone of Interest”

And the winner is… “Anatomy of a Fall”

Also nominated:
“The Holdovers”
“Maestro”
“May December”
“Past Lives”

And the winner is… “The Boy and the Heron”

Also nominated:
“Elemental”
“Nimona”
“Robot Dreams”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

And the winner is… “War Is Over!”

Also nominated:
“Letter to a Pig”
“Ninety-Five Senses”
“Our Uniform”
“Pachyderme”

And the winner is… Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”

Also nominated:
Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”
Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”
America Ferrera, “Barbie”
Jodie Foster, “Nyad”

Jimmy Kimmel opened his Oscars monologue taking a dig at artificial intelligence. He addressed the crowd saying, “Look at these beautiful human actors.”

Technology in the space continues to be a source of panic for Hollywood scribes and actors. So much so, that guidelines were put in place after two dual labor strikes in 2023. 

Kimmel then poked fun at the typically long-running Academy Awards show, noting that Sunday’s show was already running 5 minutes late.

He then turned his attention to the biggest films nominated for the 96th annual event. He called out “Barbie” for being the biggest movie of the year and noted that Greta Gerwig was not nominated for best director.

“I know you’re clapping, but you’re the ones who didn’t vote for her,” Kimmel chided the audience.

Kimmel poked fun at “Oppenheimer,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and other films that had long run times, telling guests in attendance that Hollywood films have gotten too long.

He also championed film crew members who are currently working on new contracts and told them, “we will stand with you too”

“Before we celebrate ourselves, let’s have a very well-deserved round of applause for people behind the scenes,” Kimmel said, bringing the Oscars crew onto the stage.

They received a standing ovation.

— Sarah Whitten

The best actress category is a tight race between Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”).

The actresses have traded wins throughout this year’s award season. Gladstone picked up wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama. Stone won the BAFTA and Critics Choice trophies, as well as the Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy.

Stone previously won the best actress award at the Oscars in 2017 for her role in “La La Land.” Winning on Sunday would make her the 15th woman to own at least two best actress trophies.

However, if Gladstone wins, she will be the first Native American person to ever win a competitive acting Oscar in the ceremony’s 96-year history.

— Sarah Whitten

Heading into Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, some pundits are still questioning why “Barbie” co-writer and director Greta Gerwig isn’t among those nominated for best director.

Gerwig’s pink-fueled comedy, which skewered the patriarchy and explored what it means to be a woman — human or doll — in the modern world, generated nearly $1.5 billion at the global box office. It was the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman.

Gerwig earned a nomination in the directors category for her solo directorial debut, “Lady Bird,” but missed out on the category for her next film, “Little Women.” All three of her films were nominated for best picture.

Host Jimmy Kimmel joked about the snub in his marketing materials for Sunday’s ceremony. In the video, he’s lost in Barbieland and needs the help of Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie as well as America Ferrera, who plays Gloria, and Ryan Gosling, the iconic Ken.

Gosling, who was nominated for best supporting actor for his role as Ken in the film, criticized the Academy’s vote in a public post immediately following the nominations.

“No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius,” he said in a statement of both Gerwig and Barbie herself, Margot Robbie. “To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”

The snub is also paired with a head-scratching decision by the Academy Awards to place the “Barbie” script in the adapted screenplay category rather than the original screenplay category. The film campaigned to be placed in the original screenplay category.

While the script is wholly original, it is likely that the Academy decided to push the film over to adapted screenplay because it’s based on preexisting characters.

— Sarah Whitten

Two songs from Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” are nominated for Sunday’s Oscars.

The Academy’s music branch selected “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell and “I’m Just Ken” by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt to compete for the best original song trophy.

This is not the first time multiple songs from a film have been nominated. The first film to receive multiple song nominations was 1980’s “Fame” and only four have received three nominated songs — “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “Dreamgirls” and “Enchanted.”

However, after both “Dreamgirls” and “Enchanted” failed to win any golden statues, the Academy revised nomination rules so that no film could have more than two nominated songs.

Previously, up to five songs from a single film could be submitted for consideration, though the rules changed in 2023 to allow only three to be submitted. Even still, most studios usually only submit one, fearing that having more nominations will lead to split votes.

This was the case when Disney nominated “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto” for Academy Award contention instead of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” The nomination was submitted before “Bruno” rose to popularity.

This year, the two “Barbie” tunes are considered the frontrunners, with “What Was I Made For?” expected to take the prize. Siblings Eilish and O’Connell won the award in 2021 for “No Time to Die” from the James Bond movie of the same name.

Meanwhile, Ronson and Wyatt were two of the four 2018 winners for the song “Shallow” from “A Star is Born.”

Here are all the nominees for best original song:

• “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie”
• “What Was I Made For” from “Barbie”
• “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot”
• “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”
• “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”

— Sarah Whitten

Legendary composer John Williams has broken his own record for most Oscar nominations earned by a living person.

The maestro earned his 54th nomination this year, this time for his work on “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Williams is just behind the late Walt Disney, who had 59 Oscar nominations, for the most Academy Award nominations of all time.

Williams received his first Oscar nomination for 1967′s “Valley of the Dolls” and his first win for 1971′s “Fiddler On the Roof.”

Throughout his career, Williams has created some of the most iconic scores in cinematic history. He is responsible for the panic-inducing “Jaws” theme, the haunting soundtrack to “Schindler’s List” and the heroic “Superman” theme.

He’s also the mastermind behind the music of such blockbusters as “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “Harry Potter” and “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.”

In addition to “Fiddler,” for which Williams won for adapted score, he has received the golden trophy for “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial” and “Schindler’s List.”

If he wins, he will become the oldest Oscar winner in history at age 92.

— Sarah Whitten

It was no surprise that Warner Bros.′ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer” were among the 10 best-picture nominees announced for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. The duo exploded into cinemas in July, generating big box-office bucks and enchanting critics and audiences alike.

Helmed by Academy darlings Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, respectively, the dichotomous films were on Oscar prediction lists for months. Although Gerwig missed out on a best director nomination, both filmmakers received nods for their screenplays.

The tag team of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” also represented 88% of the cumulative box-office haul generated by best picture nominees prior to their nomination, according to data from Comscore.

The 10 best-picture films together tallied $1.09 billion at the domestic box office before the Oscar nominees were announced. That’s the fifth-highest haul for the slate of nominees since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began nominating 10 titles for the top award in 2009.

“Barbenheimer” accounted for $963.1 million of this year’s figure.

Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the Academy Awards for the second consecutive year. This marks his fourth time helming the gig — he also emceed in 2017, 2018 and 2023.

The late-night talk show host was tapped for the job again after attracting nearly 19 million viewers last year, the most since 2020’s pre-pandemic Oscars ceremony.

The show went hostless in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes split hosting duties in 2022, the year Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.

Kimmel has had his fair share of iconic Oscars moments, too. In 2017, the musical “La La Land” was mistakenly announced as the year’s best picture. “Moonlight” had actually won the award.

— Sarah Whitten

Fans of the Oscars know the ceremony typically takes place at 8 p.m. ET, but this year it’s starting an hour earlier.

Sunday also marks the first full day of Daylight Saving Time, and clocks moved forward at 2 a.m.

The earlier start could keep viewers tuned in longer and boost ratings. In the past, networks and ceremony hosts have attempted to keep the show under three hours, but many have still managed to stretch until after 11 p.m. ET. Much of the drop-off in viewership has come from East Coasters turning off their TVs in the third hour.

Many speculate that ABC, which is handling the telecast this year, could also benefit from moving up the start time. This year it’s following the Academy Awards with a new episode of the hit show “Abbott Elementary.” The ceremony’s earlier start time could bring more eyeballs to the show.

— Sarah Whitten

For those who still have a cable subscription, the 96th Academy Awards will be aired live on ABC starting at 7 p.m. ET.

The ceremony will also be streamed live on abc.com and the ABC app, as well as through streaming services like Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV.

— Sarah Whitten