Eight surprise takeaways from the nominations

Awards pundits were stunned by the first two words spoken at the Oscar nominations ceremony on Thursday.

“Elle Fanning for Emotional Value,” hosts Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman said, kicking off the nominations with the best supporting actress category.

Fanning’s appearance got things off to an exciting start from the earliest possible moment; He had received praise for his performance in the Norwegian family drama, but few predicted he would be nominated.

The opening category set the tone for an increasingly intense series of snubs and surprises. Here are eight of the big takeaways.

Although Hamnet and One Battle After Another performed well, both fared slightly softer than expected in the acting categories.

Paul Mescal We missed out on a supporting actor nomination for Hamnet; It’s a surprising omission, but we’re sure it won’t have much impact on leading lady Jessie Buckley’s best actress frontrunner status.

Meanwhile, One Battle After Another’s four major actors have been recognized, but its breakout star Chase Infiniti Even though she was a hot contender, she missed out on best actress.

It was undoubtedly a competitive category. But at 25 years old and receiving rave reviews for her performance in the film, we’re pretty sure we haven’t heard the last of her.

Including other players who gained momentum but faded away Jesse Plemons for Bugonia and Joel Edgerton For Train Dreams. However, both of these films were awarded best picture; so the Academy clearly liked them overall.

F1, in which Brad Pitt played a racing driver coming out of retirement, was the biggest surprise in the best picture category.

He wasn’t much of an outsider; many awards pundits expected it to receive a few nominations below the line due to its impressive technical achievements (we recommend watching the film in a theater or with surround sound if possible).

But the fact that it had the momentum to carry it to the best film was a real tour de force; especially without other major nominations in the best director or acting categories.

This shows that the Academy’s old guard still appreciates traditional, well-made movies that you can enjoy with a bucket of popcorn.

The Sinners earned a record-breaking 16 nominations, besting previous joint record holders La La Land, Titanic and All About Eve with 14 nominations each.

Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror movie has been particularly successful in maintaining its momentum with voters, considering it was released last spring.

But this is exactly the kind of movie the Academy would want to recognize. While vampire movies aren’t traditional Oscar bait, The Sinners, which blended the horror genre with 1930s blues music against the backdrop of the Mississippi Delta, was a true artistic achievement.

Coogler also made headlines in Hollywood trade publications last year for his deal with Warner Brothers. which will see the film’s ownership rights reverted to him 25 years later.

The first Wicked movie received 10 Oscar nominations and won two. That’s why the sequel’s zero rating is an extraordinary fall from grace.

But this was largely expected. Bad: For Good It was much less well-liked than its predecessor; this is something it shares with the original musical.

The second act of the stage show is considered weaker than the first, partly due to all the big hits appearing before intermission.

However, it was still thought that Wicked: For Good could enter some categories, and many were predicting a best original song nomination for The Girl in the Bubble. Ariana Grande This was just added for the movie adaptation.

There was better news for another blockbuster, Avatar: Fire and AshIt managed at least a few technical nominations for visual effects and costume design.

Some of the most popular movies can be found in the animation category instead. Here we find the revenue of 1.7 billion dollars Zootopia 2 (known as Zootropolis 2 in the UK) and viral streaming hit KPop Demon Hunters.

Not only did The Sinners score the highest number of nominations, it also saw only two Brits nominated in the acting categories.

Wunmi Mosaku And Delroy Lindo She became the best supporting actress and actor respectively.

While Mosaku’s was generally expected, Lindo’s was more of a surprise, and her involvement is perhaps one of the biggest indicators of how much love there is for Sinners throughout the Academy.

Lindo narrowly missed out on a best actor nomination a few years ago for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. The 73-year-old actor’s first Oscar nomination seems long overdue.

Three of the actresses nominated Thursday were the only awards their films received.

Rose Byrne It was the only representation of the drama of motherhood If I Had Legs I’d Kick You kate hudson He appeared alone in the touching musical love story Song Sung Blue.

Meanwhile Gun star Amy Madigan She was nominated for her role as an eccentric aunt who shows up in a US town just before local schoolchildren go missing.

Madigan’s nomination is perhaps the most impressive, considering horror movies aren’t traditional Oscar bait.

But the 75-year-old was a hot pick among many pundits and voters, and fans campaigned hard for him to be recognized for his unforgettable (and slightly frightening) performance.

The newly introduced casting category matched many leading actors with nominations, including Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Sinners and The Secret Agent.

However, we can’t help but be a little surprised, especially since one more movie has been missed.

Sentimental Value failed to receive a casting nomination despite all four of its lead stars receiving individual nods. Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning, Renate Reinsve And Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.

If these four were impressive enough to be nominated individually, you’d think the casting directors who brought them together, Avy Kaufman and Yngvill Kolset Haga, would have a good chance of being recognized.

At the SAG Awards last year, Timothée Chalamet he spoke of his desire to eventually be seen as “one of the best in Hollywood”.

He’s one step closer to that with the possibility of winning his first Oscar this year, as he’s a clear frontrunner for best actor in the table tennis drama Marty Supreme.

Although he has only been nominated twice before, Chalamet is extremely popular at the Academy, having starred in numerous films that have been nominated for eight best films.

He also became the youngest actor since Marlon Brando to receive three nominations for best leading actor. Brando was 30, the same age as Chalamet, when he received his third in 1954.

Timothée came close to winning last year when he played Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, but we’re sure 2026 will be his time to come out on top.