Oscar Nominations – Reaction | 98th Oscars

The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards have been announced! There were surprises, headscratchers, shocks, and snubs, as is always the case. Below, I’ve assembled bullet points and explanations of the biggest headliners, in my opinion, from this year’s nomination group. Let’s get to them.

• SINNERS made history!!: In my predictions, I did, indeed, predict that Sinners would break the all-time record for Oscar nominations for a single film (previously held by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land with 14). But while I predicted it would get a total of fifteen nominations, it actually smashed the record by getting a whopping 16 nominations. Now, some naysayers may say that this is only due to the new casting category introduced this year, but that would be misrepresenting the truth. Because, for several years in the past, Best Sound was split into two categories, whereas it is now only one, so getting sixteen nominations is huge, and the achievement does not need a conditional asterisk next to it.
• So happy for SINNERS: And I am elated about Sinners‘ success. Here we have an inspired genre film with something on its mind (don’t let anybody tell you it is just a vampire movie; it has a lot to say about music, history, and appropriation). Furthermore, it defied baffling and unfair negative press to become a success with moviegoers, at the box office, with critics, and with the industry. You love to see it.
• Delroy Lindo finally got a nomination!!: The main reason why Sinners got 16 and not 15 nominations is that Delroy Lindo snatched a spot in the Best Supporting Actor category, which, frankly, had seemed locked for some time. I did not see this coming, but I am very happy for Lindo, who has long deserved to be recognized by the Academy. I am still upset he wasn’t nominated for Da 5 Bloods years back.
• Happy day for horror: In general, it was a very happy day for fans of horror. Not only did Sinners break through and smash the all-time nominations record, but Frankenstein, The Ugly Stepsister, and Weapons were also nominated. It was only a single nomination for both Weapons and The Ugly Stepsister, but it is still a big deal to see body horror and scary genre films be nominated. It’s also just so cool to see AMPAS recognize actors who played the Frankenstein monster (Jacob Elordi) and a disturbing witch (Amy Madigan).
• One Battle After Another remains very strong: The film that many expect to win the biggest prize of the night also had a big day with 13 nominations. It could have gotten maybe one or two more, but I think it is still in a very strong position, despite one key performer having been left out.
• Infiniti was snubbed: It is such a shame that Chase Infiniti was not nominated, and it is a little bit baffling, given the strength of her film across the board. In the end, she was knocked out by a lone Song Sung Blue nomination for Kate Hudson.
• Heia Norge!!: It was a fantastic day for my country’s neighbors in Norway. Although I have not yet had the opportunity to see Sentimental Value, I am very much cheering it on due to my love for Joachim Trier’s oeuvre (and my love for Stellan Skarsgård). But it wasn’t just Sentimental Value that had a great day (9 nominations is huge!), as, like I mentioned earlier, The Ugly Stepsister also got a nomination. So, there were a lot of very happy Scandinavians (more on that later).
• Vroom vroom: Fast cars go vroom vroom, and Apple’s big racing movie,F1, made its way into Best Picture by, essentially, taking the spot that many had reserved for the Palme d’Or winner, It Was Just an Accident. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed F1 a fair bit, but I think I would’ve preferred for the international voting bloc to get an additional film not in the English language into Best Picture, even though I have not yet had the opportunity to see Jafar Panahi’s film.
• I demand justice for Jesse Plemons!: I was very happy to see Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia get a lot of love with 4 nominations, but it deserved at least one more. Jesse Plemons is crucial to that film and is brilliant in it. Although the Best Actor category is really competitive this year, I would’ve liked to have seen him get his second-ever Oscar nomination.
• Emma Stone continued her hot streak: His on-screen adversary Emma Stone did get nominated, though. She now has a total of 7 Oscar nominations (and 2 wins) already at only 37 years-old. Five of these are for acting, and two of them are for producing. Emma Stone really is continuing to prove herself as perhaps her generation’s best and bravest actor.
• Wicked: For Good put up a goose egg: Meanwhile, Wicked went from hero to zero. Last year, the first part got 10 nominations, but the much-maligned second part was left out entirely. I had expected it to get in with a handful of nominations despite the film being widely regarded as a disappointment, but to not even get a single nomination is a major surprise.
• Costume design headscratcher: While Wicked: For Good was left out of Best Costume Design, Avatar: Fire and Ash earned its franchise its first-ever nomination in that category. Although most of the film is visual effects, I am sure there was a lot of artistry in crafting the costumes. Still, it is odd that it got in over a film like Wicked, which has long been lauded for its costumes.
• Casting debut: As mentioned earlier, the Best Casting category made its debut. Notably, all five nominated films were also nominated for Best Picture. I would be very interested in hearing from members of that branch of the Academy to find out exactly how they evaluate this. I will also add that I find it to be very cool that an international film got into this brand new category.
• The Danish Perspective: Although the Danish entry for Best International Feature missed that category, it did actually get a nomination. Mr. Nobody Against Putin is an international co-production, which was the Danish selection, and it is one of my favorite documentaries of the year, so I was so happy to see it get a nomination in the documentary feature category. In addition to this, Danes were also nominated in Best Picture (producer Lars Knudsen for Bugonia), Cinematography (Dan Laustsen for Frankenstein), Make-up and Hairstyling (Anne Cathrine Sauerberg and Thomas Foldberg for The Ugly Stepsister), and Film Editing (Olivier Bugge Coutté for Sentimental Value). Oh, and, of course, Norway’s Joachim Trier, who was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, is partly Danish and was born in Denmark. But, hey, let’s not try to make everything about Denmark, it’s just nice to see so many Scandinavians being nominated, including Swedish Stellan Skarsgård.

Those are my main thoughts about the nominations. I am very much looking forward to the ceremony in March. Feel free to comment below, or to send me a message on social media (I am very active on Bluesky nowadays), with your thoughts on the nominations.

– Article written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.