2024 Oscar Nominations: 'Best Picture,' 'Best Actor,' 'Best Actress,' and More

• Frontrunner: Oppenheimer
• Other Nominees: Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things, Zone of Interest, American Fiction

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer has been generating Oscar buzz for 'Best Picture' since before it was even released in July. All we had to do was see if the hype matched the performances, and indeed it did with the picture receiving praise from critics and movie goers, and snagging major awards at both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards this year. Sometimes cleaning up at those respective ceremonies means you'll nab some hardware at the Academy Awards, and sometimes it doesn't. That said, our money has been on Oppenheimer all awards season, and we're going to stick with it.

• Frontrunner: Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)/Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
• Other nominees: Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Giamatti is going to have some tense competition in this category, but we truly think this is his year as many believe his performance in The Holdovers to be the best in his career. While we might argue Big Fat Liar for our respective Y2K childhoods, if we're being reasonable here—The Holdovers could very well present itself as being the best in his filmography. That said, many people have got their money on Cillian Murphy (who very well might snag it as well which is why we have them tied). It's going to be a tough battle, but we can only pick one and we're going with Giamatti for the surprise.

• Frontrunner: Emma Stone (Poor Things)
• Other nominees: Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Annette Bening (Nyad)

While 'Best Actress' is likely going to be another intense battle with Lily Gladstone commanding stellar reviews for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, we're going with Emma Stone for this category as her performance in Poor Things has been one of the talks of Tinseltown. Every actor has that one defining performance/film, and decades from now it's possible that when we're reflecting back on Stone's career, Poor Things is the movie that will be considered her respective magnum opus. For the record, Emma Stone did win 'Best Actress' at the Golden Globes, and again while that isn't always an indication of what's going to happen at the Academy Awards, sometimes it does provide a hint.

• Frontrunner: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
• Other nominees: Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), Ryan Gosling (Barbie), Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

For the record, we totally agree with Robert Downey Jr. when he says his performances as Iron-Man aka Tony Stark went unnoticed because of the superhero film genre being "looked down upon," but alas those films haven't gotten him to Oscars. Oppenheimer, however, has—and if the Academy Award lords are on Downey Jr.'s side this year, he'll finally be able to take home the coveted golden trophy. Things are already looking up for the actor as he won in this same category at the Golden Globes, so we predict he wins it.

• Frontrunner: Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
• Other nominees: Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), America Ferrera (Barbie), Jodie Foster (Nyad)

Believe us when we say that we truly feel every single nominee in the 'Best Actress' category delivered a performance worth winning an Academy Award, but even though winning at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards isn't always an indicator of what the Oscar committee is going to end up deciding, the buzz surrounding Da'Vine Joy Randolph's performance in The Holdovers (and the fact that she did clean up at those ceremonies) makes it hard to believe that she isn't going to be the clear-cut winner here. Of course, our prediction could end up being wrong, but our gut feeling is telling us Da'Vine Joy Randolph.

• Frontrunner: , Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
• Other nominees: Jonathan Glazer, (The Zone of Interest), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things), Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)

Ultimately we think the 'Best Director' category is going to come down to Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon. This is another tough prediction because both of these films were around the three hour mark, turned in brilliant performances from the cast, received rave reviews from critics and the general public, and are a highlight of two legendary directors who knew how to get the best out of their actors. That said, we're going with Christopher Nolan for the win. When Nolan accepted his award for 'Best Director' at the Golden Globes he told the crowd that the last time he was on that respective stage was to honor Heath Ledger. We think he'll be standing on the Oscar stage this year honoring his buddy again.