‘Sinners’ makes history, earning 16 Oscar nominations

Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” led all films with 16 nominations to the 98th Academy Awards Jan. 22, setting a record for the most in Oscar history.

It broke the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Along with best picture, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters nominated Coogler for best director and best screenplay, and Michael B. Jordan was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for best actor.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s father-daughter revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another,” the favorite coming into nominations, trailed in second with 13 of its own. Four of its actors — Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn — were nominated.

The 10 films nominated for best picture are “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sinners” and “Train Dreams.”

Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” and Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” all scored nine nominations.

The nine for “Marty Supreme” included a third best actor nod for 30-year-old Timothée Chalamet, the favorite in the category he narrowly missed winning last year for “A Complete Unknown.” Along with Jordan, Chalame and DiCaprio, the other nominees are Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent.”

Nominated for best actress was the category favorite, Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), along with Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”), Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”) and two-time winner Emma Stone, who landed her sixth nomination, for “Bugonia.”

The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be televised live on ABC and Hulu. Conan O’Brien will return as host.

Here are the biggest snubs and surprises:

“Wicked” got a staggering 10 nominations last year, and yet its much darker sequel, “Wicked: For Good,” ended up with zero. That’s possibly because the film wasn’t as well received as the first by critics, but most still thought that Grande would snag another supporting nomination for her effervescent Glinda.

One of the biggest surprises was a supporting actor nod for Lindo for playing the hard-drinking blues great Delta Slim in “Sinners.” It’s his first ever Oscar nomination and long overdue.

Mescal, who delivered an achingly poignant performance as the grieving father William Shakespeare in “Hamnet” didn’t make the list. It could have been his second Oscar nomination; in 2023, he was recognized for playing another sad father in “Aftersun.”

Who says awards campaigns don’t pay off? Hudson made it into the best actress category on a wave of celebrity support and goodwill for her performance as Claire Sardina, one part of a Neil Diamond tribute act. It’s recognition that was a long time coming. Her first and last acting nomination was 25 years ago, for playing Penny Lane in “Almost Famous.”

Infiniti’s performance as the teen Willa, wrapped up in a life-or-death situation of her parents’ making, was the heart of Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece, and an arrestingly great screen debut.

Seyfried was not as widely expected to get a leading actress nomination as Infiniti was, but she deserved one for her visceral, ecstatic turn as Shakers founder Ann Lee. With only one nomination to her name, for playing Marion Davies in “Mank,” Seyfried is becoming one of our most underappreciated talents, at least as far as awards are concerned.

Oscar voters hate to be boxed in, and apparently this year they heard the cries about biases against horror movies. Zach Cregger’s “Weapons” was certainly one of the most talked about films of the year, but that doesn’t always translate at awards time. But Amy Madigan, who seemed like the rebellious, out-of-the-box pick for critics groups, made it into the hypercompetitive supporting actress category. Not included, however, were the women of “Marty Supreme,” Gwyneth Paltrow and Odessa A’zion, or Regina Hall for “One Battle After Another.”

The Oscars have long overlooked anime, despite its immense popularity and quality and, this year, “Demon Slayer,” which has made over $722 million worldwide, was the big oversight in the animation category. Even “Elio” was nominated.

The Formula One racing movie “F1” might have been a big crowd-pleaser and a hit for Apple, but it hadn’t been on many lists for a best picture nomination.

Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” might have once been a top Oscar nominee. It’s everything the academy tends to swoon over, a lovingly comedic ode to their industry and the people in it. Adam Sandler was great! As was Nicholas Britell’s score. But it got zero nominations.

“Bugonia”; “F1”; “Frankenstein”; “Hamnet”; “Marty Supreme”; “One Battle After Another”; “The Secret Agent”; “Sentimental Value”; “Sinners”; “Train Dreams.”

Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”; Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”; Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”; Emma Stone, “Bugonia”; Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue.”

Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”; Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”; Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”; Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent.”

Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”; Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”; Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value”; Benicio del Toro, “One Battle After Another” Delroy Lindo, “Sinners.”

Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”; Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”; Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet”; Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”; Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value.”

“Golden” from “Kpop Demon Hunters”; “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams”; “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless”; “I Lied To You” from “Sinners”; “Sweet Dreams Of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!”

“Bugonia,” Jerskin Fendrix; “Frankenstein,” Alexandre Desplate; “Hamnet,” Max Richter; “One Battle After Another,” Jonny Greenwood; “Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson.

“Arco”; “Elio”; “KPop Demon Hunters”; “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”; “Zootopia 2.”

“The Perfect Neighbor”; “The Alabama Solution”; “Come See Me in the Good Light”; “Cutting Through Rocks”; “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.”

“Hamnet”; “Marty Supreme”; “One Battle After Another”; “The Secret Agent”; “Sinners.”

“F1”; “Frankenstein”; “One Battle after Another”; “Sinners”; “Sirāt.”

“Frankenstein”; “Marty Supreme”; “One Battle After Another”; “Sinners”; “Train Dreams.”

“Blue Moon,” Robert Kaplow; “It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi, with script collaborators Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian; “Marty Supreme,” Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie; “Sentimental Value,” Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier; “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler.

“Butcher’s Stain”; “A Friend of Dorothy”; “Jane Austen’s Period Drama”; “The Singers”; “Two People Exchanging Saliva.”

“Butterfly”; “Forevergreen”; “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”; “Retirement Plan”; “The Three Sisters.”

“All the Empty Rooms”; “Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”; “Children No More: Were and Are Gone”; “The Devil Is Busy”; “Perfectly a Strangeness.”

“Avatar: Fire and Ash”; “F1″; “Jurassic World Rebirth”; “The Lost Bus”; “Sinners.”

“Frankenstein”; “Hamnet”; “Marty Supreme”; “One Battle After Another”; “Sinners.”

“Frankenstein”; “Kokuho”; “Sinners”; “The Smashing Machine”; “The Ugly Stepsister.”