The 2024 Oscars are shaping up to be a battle between two titans of the film industry: Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Both films are nominated for Best Picture, and they couldn't be more different.
‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ were both released on the same day in 2023, prompting users online to make memes parodying the dichotomy of the two films and leading to the ‘Barbenheimer’ craze.
People were quick to discuss which film they would be seeing on that day, with some even plotting to see both - that's a five-hour cinema marathon!
Barbie is a live-action comedy that tells the story of the iconic doll's rise to fame, praised for its humour, heart, and stunning visuals. Directed by Greta Gerwig, best known for the coming-of-age drama ‘Lady Bird’ starring Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet and her retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’. Both ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Little Women’ took home 5 Academy Award nominations, with ‘Little Women’ winning Best Costume Design - unsurprisingly!
‘Oppenheimer’, on the other hand, is a historical drama that chronicles the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan, who has been nominated for six Academy Awards but never won. In 2002, ‘Memento’ was nominated for Best Original Screenplay; in 2011, ‘Inception’ was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay; in 2018, the war drama ‘Dunkirk’ was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director, and in 2024, ‘Oppenheimer’ was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay.
Could this be the year Christopher Nolan, a film giant and highly-respected director, finally takes home his Academy Award? Or is it the year for Greta Gerwig to shine as an outstanding female director?
In addition to Best Picture, Barbie is also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design. Oppenheimer is nominated for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.
The race for Best Actress is also heating up, with Saoirse Ronan (’American Fiction’), Florence Pugh (’Anatomy of a Fall’), and Olivia Colman (’Past Lives’) all vying for the golden statuette. The Best Supporting Actress category is equally competitive, with Da'Vine Joy Randolph (’Killers of the Flower Moon’) and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) considered the frontrunners.
Surprisingly, Margot Robbie was not nominated for her performance in ‘Barbie’, although America Ferrera was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the film.
In Best Actor, familiar names appear with Bradley Cooper nominated for ‘Maestro’, and of course Cillian Murphy for ‘Oppenheimer’. Also in this category are Paul Giamatti for ‘the Holdovers’, Colman Domingo for ‘Rustin’, and Jeffrey Wright for ‘American Fiction’.
‘Barbie’ does make another appearance in Best Supporting Actor, with Ryan Gosling nominated for his portrayal of Ken, alongside Sterling K. Brown in ‘American Fiction’; Robert De Niro in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’; Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Oppenheimer’, and Mark Ruffalo in ‘Poor Things’.
But whether you're holding out hope for ‘Barbie’ or ‘Oppenheimer’ to take home the award for Best Picture, I think we can all agree that the award for Best Original Song belongs to ‘Barbie’ for ‘I’m Just Ken’, the song that got stuck in our heads in July and never left!
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