Takeaways from the Oscar nominations

It has, by the account of many pundits, been a remarkably strong year for "Oppenheimer" with 2023 easily offering the most packed lineup of commercial and critical hits since before the pandemic.

That strength makes the seemingly unstoppable awards success of Nolan's "Oppenheimer" all the more impressive.

The film earned rave reviews on its release last summer, and ranked third at the global box office with $950 million behind only "Barbie" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."

The three-hour historical drama has since swept every major best picture award going, including at the Golden Globes (best drama) and the Critics Choice Awards.

And its haul of 13 Oscar nominations is only one shy of the all-time record for a film, held jointly by "All About Eve," "Titanic" and "La La Land."

Can anything now stop the "Oppenheimer" juggernaut on March 10?

"Barbie," last year's highest grossing film, had been widely expected to secure an Oscar nomination for its female star. But it was America Ferrera, not Margot Robbie, whose name was read out on Jan 23. 

Ferrera, a Latina actress of Honduran ancestry, was previously best known for television comedy "Ugly Betty."

But her emotional turn as a regular mom in "Barbie," which included a powerful monologue on the impossible double standards of being a woman, clearly caught Academy voters' attention.

Another "snub" for the film came as Greta Gerwig missed out on a best director nomination, four years after she was controversially overlooked for her adaptation of "Little Women."

But there was solace for Gerwig as the movie landed a best picture nomination, making her one of three female directors with a film in the key category for the first time in Oscars history.<...