Right on cue and amongst great anticipation, the 96th Academy Awards nominations were released on Jan. 23, 2024. After a turbulent and fantastic year for films of all kinds, including the cultural phenomenon that was “Barbenhiemer,” the Academy had a great range of films to choose from. As someone who has a (self-proclaimed) impressive Letterboxd account, I have a plethora of opinions on who should win their Oscar this upcoming awards night. 

Before I go into my favorites, as always, let’s first get into what you should know of this year’s Academy Awards. The most nominated films rank with “Oppenheimer” leading with 13 nominations, followed by “Poor Things” with 11, “Killers of the Flower Moon” with 10 and “Barbie” with eight. 

Amongst impressive records, there were several notable nominees. Steven Spielberg extended his record for most Best Picture nominations to 13 for “Maestro.” John Williams beat his own record again of most Oscar-nominated person alive (with 54 nominations) for Best Original Score for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Martin Scorsese became the most Best Director-nominated alive, surpassing Spielberg with his 11th nomination for “Killers of the Flower Moon.” “Godzilla Minus One” became the first Godzilla movie from its long franchise to be nominated for an Academy Award (and by God, I hope it wins; it was a phenomenal film) for Best Visual Effects.

Of the acting nominees, three are openly-LGBT+ actors: Colman Domingo, Jodie Foster and Lily Gladstone. Lily Gladstone also became the first Native American to be nominated for Best Actress for her incredible work in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Similarly, Scott George is the first member of the Osage Nation to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Wazhazhe (A Song for My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon.” 

The 96th Academy Awards is the first time the Academy has enforced diversity rules for the Best Picture category, designed to encourage an “equitable representation on and off screen to better reflect the diverse global population.” On top of this, nobody pulled a “Riseborough,” with no surprising nomination coming out of the blue, which the Academy had discouraged last year. For the first time since 2001, the Academy announced a new category for Best Casting, which is set to be included by 2026. However, they were criticized yet again for not recognizing stunt performers and performances as their own category at the awards, considering it’s one of the film industry’s oldest art forms. 

Amongst the controversial, Greta Gerwig was snubbed of a Best Director nomination for her film “Barbie,” resulting in massive uproar among film fans. Even more surprising, Margot Robbie was not nominated for Best Lead Actress for “Barbie,” despite her co-stars Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera having garnered ones. Likewise, Leonardo DiCaprio was snubbed from an expected nomination for Best Lead Actor for “Killers of the Flower Moon”. 

There are several personal favorites I believe were snubbed from this year’s awards. There were no nominations for Pedro Almodóvar’s western short film, “Strange Way of Life,” Charles Melton for his role in “May December,” Dominic Sessa for his role in “The Holdovers” and Celine Song and Greta Lee, respectively, for Best Director and Best Lead Actress for “Past Lives.”

Now onto my top picks for who I’d like to see win this year’s Oscars! For Best Original Screenplay, David Hemingson’s “The Holdovers” deserves to win as one of my personal favorite films to have come out recently. The premise of a strict teacher (notably played by the incredible Paul Giamatti) forced to chaperone students who’ve got nowhere to go on Christmas break really sold me as a concept and a film, regardless of the predictions pointing towards Celine Song’s “Past Lives.” 

While predictions also point toward Da’Vine Joy Randolph for Best Supporting Actress for her work in “The Holdovers,” I personally favor Danielle Brooks for her fantastic role as Sofia in “The Color Purple.” As the only Academy nomination the movie received, and all other snubs accounted for, it would be remarkable if Brooks won, considering she previously played the role on Broadway. She has been one of my favorite actresses in recent years, coming from incredibly comedic roles in “Orange is the New Black” and “Peacemaker.” My pick for Best Supporting Actor is, unsurprisingly, Robert Downey Jr. for his role as Lewis Strauss in the brilliant biopic, “Oppenheimer,” whom other predictions point to as well for greatest contender. 

Against popular opinion and what my friends know about me, my top pick for Best Leading Actor isn’t Cillian Murphy for his role in “Oppenheimer.” While I am a big fan of Murphy, especially in “28 Days Later,” “Batman Begins” and “Breakfast on Pluto,” my heart and pick goes out to Colman Domingo for his role as the gay civil rights activist, Bayard Rustin, in “Rustin.” Domingo, a prominent gay Afro-Latino actor, has been one of my favorite actors ever since I first watched him in “Fear the Walking Dead.” If he were to win, he would make incredible breakthrough records as the first Afro-Latino as well as first openly-LGBT actor to play an LGBT role.  

Similarly, my top pick for Best Leading Actress is, of course, Lily Gladstone for their role as Mollie Kyle in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” While overall predictions are split between Gladstone and Emma Stone for her role in “Poor Things,” when comparing the two films, I just absolutely fell in love with Gladstone and their performance. If they were to win, they’d achieve an accomplishment most of us merely dream of: fulfilling her high school superlative of “Most likely to win an Oscar.” I can’t wait to see her star in more films to come after such an incredible film debut. 

Of the Best Animated Film category, I believe each one deserves the award. However, if I were to choose one above all, it would have to be ND Stevenson’s “Nimona.” Adapted from the graphic novel, the film has an impressive take on different types of love as well as gender identity. Mixed with a fantasy fairytale storyline, stunning vocal performances from Riz Ahmed, Chloë Grace Moretz and Eugene Lee Yang and a one-of-a-kind animated style, it makes it my top pick of the season. I have no idea who might truly win considering the popular predicted nominees are Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse,” but “Nimona” has my full support. 

Now, like how all Academy Awards end, here’s my top pick for Best Picture. In a not-so-surprising manner, I have to agree with what everyone else believes will be the winner, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” As a huge fan of Nolan’s work, “Oppenheimer” is one of his most awe-inspiring, with an enormous, star-studded cast. As someone who also had a huge hyperfixation on the history of the atom bomb when they were 12, I am astounded that there is now a movie dedicated to it, and that people now know about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the horrors he helped contribute. With its 11 nominations, as well as the number of other accolades the film has received, “Oppenheimer” is a total shoo-in. 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and predictions. That being said, I do declare my top picks are better than everyone else’s. The 96th Academy Awards is set to air on March 10, 2024, and I encourage everyone to tune in. If you’re unable to, I highly recommend watching all the nominees I detailed as my favorites. You should give them all the love and attention they deserve.