Gear up for the Oscars with the help of our screentime columnists

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The 2024 awards season will conclude on Sunday night with the 96th Academy Awards. The hit summer double feature, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” both of which are nominated for several categories at the awards, defined the past year.

In addition to the celebration of “Barbenheimer,” there are several other interesting films nominated for Oscars this year. Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” is a fascinating courtroom drama, Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” displays a unique journey of self-discovery and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” is an emotional comedy-drama about finding connections between people.

Here are our screentime columnists’ predictions for who will take home a golden statue on Sunday:

Best Picture

Matt Deckers: “Oppenheimer”
“Oppenheimer” emerged as an awards front-runner in a highly competitive race, earning top prizes at the Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards and other awards bodies. All its acclaim is for good reason. Christopher Nolan’s historical biopic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is a monumental technical achievement and a harrowing, paradoxical portrait of science, ideology and destruction. There are several great films nominated for Best Picture, but “Oppenheimer” is the best.

Best Director

Nate Lechner: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
For over 20 years, Nolan has been lauded as one of the most exciting filmmakers in Hollywood, bringing a unique blend of original storytelling and technical design to his work. While he has received several Oscar nominations for his past films, Nolan has yet to receive the Best Director award, which he deserves for “Oppenheimer.” The film is the perfect mix of Nolan’s visual prowess and intricate storytelling.

Best Actor

Henry O’Brien: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
As part of the “Oppenheimer” sweep, Murphy will bring home this award. He was the Best Actor winner at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, and he should gain the golden trophy at the Academy Awards. I have a massive soft spot for Paul Giamatti’s performance in “The Holdovers,” but Murphy has all the qualities of the titular subject, with the nuclear physicist’s charm, eccentricity and contradictions that made the picture a force.

Best Actress

Lechner: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
This year featured several tremendous performances from lead actresses, including Sandra Hüller in “Anatomy of a Fall” and Emma Stone in “Poor Things.” Their performances were uniquely nuanced and drove each film’s emotional force. Despite the success of the other nominees, Gladstone’s work in “Killers of the Flower Moon” is the most moving. Her performance as Mollie Burkhart stands out from the film’s many greedy characters and is a small beacon of sincerity, even as everyone she loves is being murdered. During awards season, Gladstone received recognition for her role at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards and should receive the Best Actress award Sunday, making history as the first Indigenous actress to win the award.

Best Supporting Actor

O’Brien: Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
Downey Jr. was a magnificent antagonist, playing an egotistical, power-obsessed heel to J. Robert Oppenheimer. Lewis Strauss represented the idea of fusion, a far more destructive force than Oppenheimer’s fission, and Downey Jr. should get his roses for displaying that idea. However, there were better supporting performances in the past year. Robert De Niro’s haunting performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon” is one of the best of his storied career. Still, no shade toward RDJ. The win will still be a deserving victory for an actor who contributed to morphing Hollywood into what it is today with his leading role in “Iron Man.”

Best Supporting Actress

O’Brien: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Although Giamatti may not win Best Actor, his co-star will win Best Supporting Actress. As the film’s lonely cafeteria manager Mary Lamb, Randolph was the emotional anchor of the film that put both Giamatti and Dominic Sessa’s characters in their place. Randolph constructs emotional walls around her character and once they start to crumble, the audience can sympathize with Lamb’s feelings. While Emily Blunt and America Ferrera gave commendable performances in “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” respectively, I can’t imagine Randolph not winning the award.

Best Original Screenplay

Deckers: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Aside from “Maestro,” a story with pompous dialogue that reveals little value about its characters, any of these nominees deserve to win for Best Original Screenplay. The “May December” nomination is welcome, given how little love Todd Haynes’ masterpiece has received this season. But the statue will go to “Anatomy of a Fall.” Its writing just barely edges out “May December,” brilliantly examining how subjectivity and media portrayals of women shape opinions in judicial systems. The adorable canine star of the film, Messi, has been hugely popular among the Academy.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Lechner: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
Taking an 800-page biography that took 25 years to write and turning it into a nearly $1 billion blockbuster is an incredible feat on its own, but Nolan’s work in adapting Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s “American Prometheus” deserves recognition. Even when jumping forward in time, “Oppenheimer” does not waste a single line of dialogue across multiple locations and characters. Gerwig and Noah Baumbach deserve praise for their writing on “Barbie” as does Tony McNamara on “Poor Things,” but Nolan will keep the “Oppenheimer” train rolling and pick up a Best Adapted Screenplay award.

Best Cinematography

Deckers: Hoyte van Hoytema, “Oppenheimer”
From the striking black-and-white photography of the beginning of “Maestro” to the inventive use of camera lenses in “Poor Things,” there are plenty of visual delights in this year’s cinematography lineup. Four-time Nolan collaborator Hoyte van Hoytema will win for his groundbreaking use of IMAX, which paints events both enormous and intimate on a massive canvas. I personally felt that Rodrigo Prieto’s work on “Killers of the Flower Moon” left me with more to think about, from colorful Oklahoma vistas to fiery violence. However, the Academy Award will go to Hoytema, a deserved win.