The 2024 Oscar nominees are here! The biggest night in showbiz will take place on the 10th of March and we now know exactly who will compete for the top prizes. It has been a landmark year for movies with some excellent flicks putting bums on seats worldwide.
Of course, arguably the biggest cinematic event of the past year was Barbenheimer, and indeed both Oppenheimer and Barbie have received plenty of nominations, but there are plenty of other brilliant films that were released in 2023 (and early 2024 in the UK).
Luckily for your wallet, you won't have to watch all of them in the cinema, here's where to stream all of the Best Picture nominees for the Oscars 2024.
Anatomy of a Fall
- Rent on: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
Unfortunately, Anatomy of a Fall isn't streaming on any of the best streaming services but you can rent it for a fraction of the price of a cinema ticket.
The winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and now a best picture nominee, this is a superb french language legal drama directed and co-written by Justine Triet.
It all centers around the trial of Sandra Voyter, a novelist who's husband turns up dead. She argues it was a tragic acciednt, the prosecution that it was murder. A simple premise but brilliantly executed.
Barbie
What can you say that hasn't already been said about Barbie? This is the only film I've even dressed up (in pink) to go and see in the cinema, and I stand by that decision. One half (the best half) of the Barbenheimer phenomenon, Greta Gerwig's film is a brilliantly meta comedy.
Co-written with Noah Baumbach, this is a superbly sharp skewering of all things Barbie that just makes you think, how dd they ever get permission? With an all-star cast and superb soundtrack this is the cinematic event of a generation.
The Holdovers
- Stream on: Peacock Premium
Alexander Payne's brilliantly funny and heartwarming film may have a holiday flavour to it but in the UK it didn't release until mid-January so you'll have to catch it in the cinema. As for those lucky US lot, you can stream it via Peacock Premium.
Paul Giamatti (also up for Best Actor) plays a stuck-in-his-ways classics teacher at a prestigious boarding school tasked with taking charge of those misfit boys who can't go home for the holidays.
It's sweet, sad and funny all at once and worth a watch whatever time of year it is.
Killers of the Flower Moon
- Streaming on: Apple TV+
This 3-hour epic from the great Martin Scorsese is the jewel in the Apple TV+ crown and exclusive to the service. Both Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro are nominated for their performances in this Western that recounts the tale of the Osage murders in Oklahoma in the1920s.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays WW1 veteran Ernest who returns home and falls in love with Osage member Mollie Kyle (Gladstone) who also happens to be from an oil-rich family. From there things start to get messy. Clear out an evening for the 206-minute run time and enjoy.
Maestro
- Stream on: Netflix
Directed by and starring the irritatingly talented (and handsome) Bradley Cooper, both he and co-star Carey Mulligan are up for top gongs. Maestro is a biopic of the legendary composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife, the actress Felicia Montealegre.
Bernstein's genius was a flawed one and the film recounts his monumental rise and tumultuous personal life in which he struggled with his sexuality, promiscuity and substance abuse.
Oppenheimer
- Rent on: Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video
The early favourite to win the category, Christopher Nolan's biopic of the man who invented the atomic bomb is a cinematic spectacle that deserves to be seen in the theatre. But failing that it's well worth a rental on your VOD service of choice.
Cillian Murphy is also touted to win the Best Actor prize for his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer while Emily Blunt is also up for Best Supporting Actress. and Robert Downey Jr given the nod for Best Supporting Actor. It's not necessarily a fun movie for everyone, (and Nolan's films have historically struggled to create credible female characters) but it is a movie everyone should see.
Past Lives
- Rent on: Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video
For any filmmaker to have a Best Picture nomination is incredible, but what's incredible is this is the debut film from director Celine Song. Song herself is a Korean/Canadian and this film is a semi-autobiographical tale.
Starring Greta Lee (from Netflix's superb Russian Doll) and Teo Yoo, this is a tender romantic drama about missed connections and long-distance friendships. You might have a little tear in the eye by the end, but that's how you know it was worth watching.
Poor Things
- Streaming: Currently N/A but it will come to Disney+/Hulu
Ok so currently it's only in cinemas but Poor Things is a Searchlight Pictures (owned by Disney) movie, meaning it will be coming to Disney+ and or Hulu eventually.
The latest film from visionary director Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things sees him once again teaming up with Emma Stone for a typically weird black comedy.
Stone is in many people's minds an absolute lock for Best Actress and it's easy to see why. This twist on a Frankenstein-style tale sees her shine as Bella Baxter, a girl stitched together by a mad scientist (Willem Dafoe on glorious form) and implanted with the brain of her unborn child.
As she quickly grows we follow Bella on a journey of personal and sexual self-discovery as she tours Europe with the caddish Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo). It's bonkers and brilliant all at once.
Where to watch American Fiction, The Zone of Interest
Unfortunately, currently, both American Fiction and The Zone of Interest are not streaming or available on demand anywhere on either side of the Atlantic. In the UK, both will be released in cinemas on the 2nd of February while US film fans can catch both in cinemas now.
American Fiction is a comedy-drama that stars Jeffrey Wright as Monk, a frustrated author who writes a stereotypically 'black' book as a work of satire only for it to become a genuine success.
The Zone of Interest is an adaptation of the 2014 Martin Amis novel of the same name. It is a historical drama about Rudolf Höss, the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
