“Oppenheimer” leads this year’s Oscar nominations, announced Tuesday, with 13 nods, including Best Picture.
“Oppenheimer”’s Cillian Murphy picked up a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Christopher Nolan is up for Best Director.
“Barbie,” another summer blockbuster and one-half of the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon, scored a few nominations, but some fans feel the Academy snubbed lead actress Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig in their respective categories.
Longtime entertainment reporter John Horn agrees, noting that while there is no Ken without Barbie, there is no “Barbie” movie without Gerwig.
“I think it was a singular directing job by [Gerwig] and the fact that she wasn’t nominated doesn’t seem like just a numbers thing,” Horn says. “That seems like an old Academy boys club kind of decision and it’s really disappointing for the film.”
More Here & Now conversations about Oscar-nominated films
“Barbie”
Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig on the set of “Barbie.” (Courtesy of Jaap Buitendijk)
Nominated for Best Picture and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).
Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. America Ferrera, who plays Gloria, is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
“I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For” are nominated for Best Original Song.
“Barbie” brought a wave of hot pink and women’s empowerment when it hit the big screen in July 2023. The story follows the titular doll living blissfully in Barbieland until she confronts her own humanity and therefore mortality.
An epic journey of self-discovery ensues, bringing Barbie and Ken outside of their bubble and into the messy, chaotic real world where, contrary to Barbieland, women are not exactly on equal ground with men. Self-acceptance and the power of female friendship emerge as the dominant themes.
“Barbie has always been a symbol of this thing that you could never reach because she physically couldn’t stand up if she were a human being,” director Greta Gerwig says. “I wanted it to almost invert that formula and find a way that it gave you permission to just be yourself and know that that’s enough.”
Here & Now’s Scott Tong spoke with Gerwig when the movie first released.
Click here for that conversation.
“The Holdovers”
From left: Director Alexander Payne, Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph on the set of “The Holdovers.” (Courtesy Seacia Pavao/Focus Features)
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay).
Paul Giamatti, who plays Paul Hunham, is nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who plays Mary Lamb, is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
“The Holdovers,” released in October 2023, follows Paul Hunham, an unpopular instructor at a New England prep school. He stays on campus over the school’s winter break to watch over the other stragglers left behind. The group includes an abrasive-yet-bright student named Angus, and Mary Lamb, the school’s head cook who lost her son in the Vietnam War. And throughout the holiday, the group forms an unlikely bond.
Here & Now’s Robin Young talked with lead actor Paul Giamatti about finding humanity even in the unlikeable.
Click here for that conversation.
“To Kill a Tiger”
A film still from “To Kill A Tiger.” (Courtesy of Notice Pictures)
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.
When three men sexually assaulted 13-year-old Kiran, her family was grateful that she survived. But when they report the assault, the community doesn’t hold the perpetrators responsible. So Kiran’s family seeks justice on their own, something rarely done in India.
Directed by Nisha Pahuja and executive produced by Minda Kaling, Dev Patel and Rupi Kaur, the documentary follows the family’s fight against the culture of shame and silence that often surrounds victims of sexual violence.
“What was so exceptional and what was so unusual about this particular family is how they broke the mold,” Pahuja says, “the courage that they had, and this conviction and a belief in justice and also in doing the right thing to ensure that it didn’t happen to others.”
Here & Now’s Deepa Fernandes spoke with Pahuja when the film came out.
Click here for that conversation.
“Bobi Wine: The People’s President”
Bobi Wine and his wife, Barbie Itungo Kyagulany, address the media before leaving their house for the Presidential Nominations on November 03, 2020 in Kampala, Uganda. Popular singer Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known by his stage name of H.E. Bobi Wine, is set to appear before the Independent Electoral Commission this morning to be nominated to stand against incumbent Yoweri Museveni in the up coming Presidential elections in Uganda. (Photo by Luke Dray/Getty Images)
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.
This National Geographic documentary follows Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, or Bobi Wine, a Ugandan musician and member of Parliament. Wine’s unsuccessful but captivating campaign for the 2021 presidency of Uganda takes the forefront of the film.
Host Tong spoke with Wine and his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi last July.
Click here for that conversation.
“20 Days in Mariupol”
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.
In Russia’s occupation of Ukraine, images of the siege of Mariupol circulated and shocked the world. They offered compelling visual evidence of the atrocities committed by the Russian military.
The documentary follows the Associated Press journalists who risked their lives to get those photographs even after other reporters left the area.
Here & Now’s Celeste Headlee spoke with the film’s director, AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov, when the film premiered.
Click here for that conversation.
Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Grace Griffin adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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