Awards season is in full swing, which means the 96th Academy Awards — the pinnacle of achievement in the film world — are right around the corner. The Oscars will be doled out on March 10 and honor the greatest in cinema the past year had to offer. The best films, actors, actresses, directors, editors, screenwriters, composers, costume designers and more will be honored at the glitzy festival. Winners will be crowned. Dreams will be made or dashed. Exasperated and breathy speeches will be uttered. Viewers will cheer when their favorites win, post angry Tweets (er... Xes?) when their favorites lose and get plenty drunk while playing Oscars drinking games (every time the music cuts off a speech, take a swig).
This year sees a heaping portion of nominations for the film "Oppenheimer," Christopher Nolan's blockbuster take on the construction of the atomic bomb and its (both literal and figurative) fallout. Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" is also up for several awards — the two movies created a box office frenzy known as "Barbenheimer," rising above the typical arthouse fare of awards season like a towering pink mushroom cloud. Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things" and Martin Scorcese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" are also expected to win big. All eyes are on "Poor Things'" Emma Stone and "Killers'" Lily Gladstone as they vie for best lead actress.
Scroll through for the biggest, most-nominated films of the past year and how to watch them.
'Oppenheimer'
Universal Pictures
In the thick of World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. drops the task of a lifetime on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer's desk: the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer, alongside a squad of top-tier scientists, dives headfirst into creating the world's first nuclear bomb.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Directing (Christopher Nolan), Best Lead Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), Best Writing for Adapted Screenplay (Christopher Nolan), Best Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), Best Costume Design (Ellen Mirojnick), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Luisa Abel), Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson), Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound
Stream starting Feb. 16 on Peacock; buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
'Poor Things'
Searchlight Pictures
Rendered with stunning steampunk-esque design, this modern and absurdist take on the classic Frankenstein story is an empowering look at female autonomy.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Directing (Yorgos Lanthimos), Best Lead Actress (Emma Stone), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Best Writing for Adapted Screenplay (Tony McNamara), Best Cinematography (Robbie Ryan), Best Costume Design (Holly Waddington), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston), Best Original Score (Jerskin Fendrix), Best Production Design, Best Film Editing
In theaters; Not yet streaming
'Killers of the Flower Moon'
Apple TV+
The powerful true story of Mollie Burkhart, a member of the Osage Nation who attempts to save her family from greedy opportunists seeking the oil found on their land.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Directing (Martin Scorsese), Best Lead Actress (Lily Gladstone), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto), Best Costume Design (Jacqueline West), Best Original Song ("Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" by Scott George), Best Original Score (Robbie Robertson), Best Production Design, Best Film Editing
Stream on Apple TV+; buy or rent on Prime Video
'Barbie'
Warner Bros.
Barbie lives in a fantasy land where everything is pink and perfect. But when she wakes up with flat feet and anxiety, she has to venture into the real world to meet her human owner.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera), Best Writing for Adapted Screenplay (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach), Best Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran), Best Original Song ("I'm Just Ken" by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt; "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell), Best Production Design
Stream on Max (also available through Prime Video, DirecTV Stream, Hulu), buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
'Maestro'
Netflix
Bradley Cooper, who plays American conductor Leonard Bernstein, famously spent years perfecting the art of conducting for one scene. His prosthetic nose may have stirred controversy, but there's no denying his steadfast commitment to the role.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Lead Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Lead Actress (Carey Mulligan), Best Writing for Original Screenplay (Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer), Best Cinematography (Matthew Libatique), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell), Best Sound
Stream on Netflix
'Anatomy of a Fall'
Le Pacte
In this French production by filmmaker Justine Tret, an author is accused of murdering her husband. The only witness? Her blind son.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Directing (Justine Triet), Best Lead Actress (Sandra Hüller), Best Writing for Original Screenplay (Justine Triet, Arthur Harari), Best Film Editing
Buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
'The Holdovers'
Focus Features
When an uptight teacher is tasked with watching students at a New England preparatory school, he forms an unlikely bond with an intelligent but troubled student, a woman who recently lost her son in the Vietnam War, and the school chef.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Lead Actor (Paul Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Best Writing for Original Screenplay (David Hemingson), Best Film Editing
In theaters; Stream on Peacock
'American Fiction'
Amazon MGM Studios
Monk is a novelist fed up with authors using offensive Black stereotypes to sell books. But when he writes a satire that critiques the issue, the novel ends up being taken seriously — and becomes a massive success.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Lead Actor (Jeffrey Wright), Best Supporting Actor (Sterling K. Brown), Best Writing for Adapted Screenplay (Cord Jefferson), Best Original Score (Laura Karpman)
In theaters; Pre-order on Prime Video
'The Zone of Interest'
A24
Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, builds a luxurious home and life for his family right next door to the death camp. The film juxtaposes privilege and extreme cruelty to demonstrate how easily one can become trapped in a bubble while unspeakable horrors exist a mere stone's throw away.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Directing (Jonathan Glazer), Best Writing for Adapted Screenplay (Jonathan Glazer), Best International Feature Film, Best Sound
In theaters; Not yet streaming
'Past Lives'
A24
A woman who emigrated from South Korea is reunited for a weekend with her childhood friend. Now she must reckon with the effect her life has had on two separate men on two separate continents.
Oscar nominations Best Picture, Best Writing for Original Screenplay (Celine Song)
Buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
'The Color Purple'
Warner Bros.
Adapted from the Tony award-winning Broadway play, the musical film tells the story of a woman who suffers extreme abuse but finds a safe haven amidst a new group of sisters.
Oscar nominations Best Supporting Actress (Danielle Brooks)
In theaters; Buy or rent online at Prime Video
'Nyad'
Netflix
The film tells the remarkable true story of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, who, at 64 years old, sets out to become the first person to swim from Florida to Cuba.
Oscar nominations Best Lead Actress (Annette Bening), Best Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster)
Stream on Netflix
'Rustin'
Netflix
Bayard Rustin organized Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic March on Washington in 1963. However, the openly gay man was all but erased from the movement he helped build due to his sexual orientation.
Oscar nominations Best Lead Actor (Colman Domingo)
Stream on Netflix
