Netflix Dominates, But Some Big Names Miss Out

Netflix's Emilia Pérez led the pack with six mentions in the recently released Oscar shortlists. Universal's Wicked and Fox's Alien: Romulus were close behind with four each. But some big names like Neon's Anora and Amazon/MGM's Nickel Boys were nowhere to be found. This doesn't mean they're not resonating with the Academy. These films just don't rely on the categories where shortlists were made. Some films got mixed results. Focus' Conclave was shortlisted for score but not sound or visual effects. And sequels like Warners' Joker: Folie à Deux and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga didn't do as well as their predecessors. This seems unfair, as the craft work in the new films was just as impressive. In the documentary feature category, Netflix claimed a fifth of the spots. Self-distributed social issue docs also did well. The music branch had a surprise too, leaving out past Oscar winners Jon Batiste and Alexandre Desplat.