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barbie and oppenheimer
barbie and oppenheimer
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Culture > Entertainment

What Pace Students Think of the 2024 Oscar Nominations

Tara Siegel
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pace chapter.

It’s every movie buff’s favorite time of the year– awards season. And now, the 2024 Oscar nominations have dropped. This season’s film lineup has been particularly buzz-worthy, with “Barbenheimer” taking over this past summer, and other notable titles like Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things trending everywhere. Previous awards shows like the Golden Globes and SAG Awards are historically a strong predictor of what the Academy’s nominations could look like. But from the looks of this year’s nominees, you can never fully predict what names and films will earn a spot on the coveted list.

 Speaking of Barbenheimer, Barbie received eight nominations. Greta Gerwig was snubbed from the Best Director category after being nominated in every other award show prior. The same goes for Margot Robbie in the Best Actress category. Lastly, America Ferrera earned a Supporting Actress nomination, which was a first for this season. Oppenheimer received 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. 

I asked 13 Pace University students what their winner predictions are for the top 5 categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor/Actress. Their responses help represent the films that this generation of undergraduate students are loving, and just how passionate they are! The results are:

Best Picture

  1. Oppenheimer – six votes
  2. Barbie – four votes
  3. Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives, Poor Things – one vote each

Best Actress

  1. Emma Stone (Poor Things) and Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) – six votes each
  2. Carey Mulligan (Maestro) – one vote

Best Actor

  1. Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) – 10 votes
  2. Bradley Cooper (Maestro) – two votes
  3. Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) – one vote

Best Supporting Actress

  1. America Ferrera (Barbie) – eight votes
  2. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) – four votes
  3. Jodie Foster (Nyad) – one vote

Best Supporting Actor

  1. Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer) – six votes
  2. Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), and Ryan Gosling (Barbie) – two votes each 
  3. Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction) – one vote

Many responses expressed passionate feelings towards the decisions of the Academy this season. Ella, 18, responded “Margot Robbie ROBBED,” same with Alec, 19, saying “Margot [Robbie]  and Greta [Gerwig] were robbed of their noms.” Adeesa, 21, is really rooting for Past Lives to take Best Picture, as it “changed her as a person,” but she doesn’t have high hopes. Savannah, 21, says “I need Yorgos Lanthimos to win best director for Poor Things.” 

The Oscars airs Sunday, Mar. 10th on ABC. 

Tara Siegel is a sophomore contributor to the Her Campus chapter at Pace University. She writes about a wide variety of topics, including music, film, pop culture, and current events. Beyond Her Campus, Tara is studying Communications and Media at Pace, and minoring in Journalism. She is also a writing tutor at the Learning Commons on campus. While in her hometown of Denver, Colorado she has taught children's dance at her local studio and loves to participate in her old dance community. She is interested in pursuing a career in media or journalism. In her free time, you can probably find Tara at a concert of one of her many favorite artists, reading, playing with makeup, or talking about K-pop with her best friends.