Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman The Kneecap

Sundance kicks off today in Park City and fires are raging again in LA County, but this morning they twice delayed nominations for the 97^th The Academy Awards were finally announced.

With a clear wake-up call Wicked’s Bowen Yang and Bottom’s Rachel Sennott revealed the final nominees in all 23 categories early Thursday in a live stream from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, it was a brilliant Oscar morning for Emilia Perez, ConclaveBob Dylan biopic A complete unknownand The Brutalist.

“Rachel and I went through extensive pronunciation training for all the names today,” SNL Actor Yang joked at the top with a swipe at bad luck in previous nominations.

On the other hand, for some whose names were not mentioned correctly or incorrectly this morning, they may now find themselves almost agreeing with Stephen King’s call last week to cancel the Oscars. Having nothing to do with anyone’s nomination or lack thereof, the very serious context of the bestselling author and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member’s comment about pulling the plug on the Academy Awards was a response to the devastation, loss and pain caused by the ongoing forest fires.

Regardless, with promised recognition for both LA as the “city of dreams” and first responders, the Conan O’Brien-hosted show is still live on March 2 at 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT on ABC and Hulu.

Until then, as the next round of promotions begins now, take a look at our list of who was left out and who showed up. So drop us a line and let us know if there was anyone or a movie we missed.

SNUB

DENZEL WASHINGTON – One of the greatest actors of all time stages a literal and figurative battle royale of a performance in Gladiator II, and Denzel Washington’s name was unspoken today. The two-time Oscar winner was rightfully given a belated Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden earlier this month, but there will be no gold at this year’s Oscars for the former nine-time nominee. It is a crime.

KNEE CUP – The Rich Peppiatt-directed film about the fierce Irish hip-hop band of the same name premiered at Sundance 2024 and has been on the tear ever since. But today the music stopped for what was considered a major contender in the International Film category. To quote one of Knæskallen’s tunes, it’s sick in the head.

NICOLE KIDMAN – The Baby girl actress and former Best Actress winner was not the object of the Academy’s affection this year.

NOSFERATU – The Robert Eggers-helmed remake of the 1922 horror classic couldn’t seem to draw significant blood from AMPAS voters today.

DANIEL CRAIG – The Our friends in the Nordics and 007 alums Queer performance has been blessed with a holy trinity of Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG Awards nominations, but received no love from the Academy this AM. Would you say that to William S. Burroughs’ face?

PAMELA ANDERSON – Coming off a Golden Globe nomination and more recently a SAG Award nomination, The Last Showgirl star has not only flexed some real acting muscle on screen, but portrayed a true Hollywood comeback epic in real life with the Gia Coppola-directed drama. So what was the problem, AMPAS voters? And why co-star and former Best Supporting Actress winner Jamie Lee Curtis wasn’t invited to the party either?

EDWARD BERGER – Conclave was richly rewarded with nominations Thursday, including Best Picture, but, as happened to the helms of previous Best Picture winners CODA, and Argono best director white smoke rose from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater for Berger.

CHALLENGES – No match point here Luca! Not even the WGA Award nominated screenplay by Justin Kuritzke. Where’s John McEnroe when you need him?

JON M. CHU – Like the Golden Globes nominations at the end of last year, Evil was all over today’s Oscar nominations. Yet, like the Golden Globes nominations at the end of last year, its director was AWOL with AMPAS voters. It’s as bad as it looks, as Keith Richards would say.

SURPRISES

FELICITY JONES – The Brutalist is brutally long, but if you stuck it out through intermission, you’d have found that Erzsébet Tóth’s performance by former Oscar nominee Jones was in many ways the beating heart of the Brady Corbet-directed epic. Clearly, Academy voters are much more patient than many would have given them credit for. Well done!

NICKEL BOYS – Perspective is everything in the RaMell Ross-directed adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. With that POV, the film received an Adapted Screenplay nomination and a Best Picture nomination this morning. Let’s just say, congratulations to former Oscar nominee Ross and team Academy voters still recognize a truly original film when they see it.

SEBASTIAN STAN – The story of Donald Trump’s origin The apprentice attracted a lot of controversy and threats of lawsuits from past and present POTUS, but seems to be shunned by a cowed Hollywood, some of whom wouldn’t even be in the same room with Stan. Now with a Best Actor nomination for the man who also plays a certain Winter Soldier, the previous one Apprentice host can see Tinseltown flexing some muscles. Co-star Jeremy Strong also brought some nomination heat with his own nomination for his Roy Cohn.