‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ tops Oscar nods with 11

Surreal sci-fi flick "Everything Everywhere All At Once" topped the Oscar nominations on Jan. 24 with 11, as Hollywood formally kicked off the race to the all-important Academy Awards.

German anti-war movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" and Irish black comedy "The Banshees of Inisherin" followed with nine nominations each from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will hand out the awards on March 12.

As expected, Academy voters also rewarded blockbusters such as Tom Cruise's "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" for helping to bring audiences back to movie theaters after the pandemic.

Both were nominated for best picture, Tinseltown's most coveted prize, although another crowd-pleaser - "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" - missed out.

The remaining best picture slots went to rock-and-roll biopic "Elvis," Steven Spielberg's quasi-memoir "The Fabelmans," Cate Blanchett's latest tour-de-force "Tar," Cannes festival-winning satire "Triangle of Sadness" and literary adaptation "Women Talking."

Absurdist indie film "Everything Everywhere All At Once" portrays a Chinese-American immigrant family undergoing a tax audit, who are quickly drawn into an inter-dimensional battle to save the multiverse from a powerful villain.

It became a huge word-of-mouth hit and has grossed more than $100 million worldwide.

The film earned four acting nominations for its cast, including best supporting actor for Ke Huy Quan, who appeared as a child in "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom" almost four decades ago, and best lead actress for Michelle Yeoh.

Yeoh becomes just the second Asian woman ever nominated for lead actress in 95 years of Oscars history.

Her co-star Stephanie Hsu was also...