A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Nominations for this year's Academy Awards were announced early this morning from Beverly Hills. NPR's Mandalit del Barco will be covering the ceremony in March. But today, Mandalit was watching from Utah, where the Sundance Film Festival is starting. I know it's work, Mandalit, but what a place to go to work.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Pretty nice.
MARTÍNEZ: So OK. So tell us the big news. Which films got the most nominations?
DEL BARCO: Yeah. So "Sinners" - looks like Ryan Coogler's vampire drama set in the Jim Crow South broke the record for the most nominations for a single film. The film got 16 nominations, including for best picture, best director and best actor - Michael B. Jordan. He plays twins Smoke and Stack.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SINNERS")
MICHAEL B JORDAN: (As character) I love you, Brother. Be careful.
(As character) I will.
DEL BARCO: Co-stars Teyana Taylor and Wunmi Mosaku are also on the list in the acting categories. "Sinners'" 16 nominations beat the former record held by the films "All About Eve," "Titanic" and "La La Land," which had 14 nominations each.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So a great morning to be a sinner, I guess, or be the movie "Sinners." Did any other film resonate with the Academy this morning?
DEL BARCO: Yeah. Another film that was expected to get a lot of nominations and did - 13 of them, in fact - is Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another." Anderson got a nod. And so did Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro as supporting actors, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the role of a washed-up revolutionary.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER")
LEONARDO DICAPRIO: (As Bob) Viva la revolucion.
DEL BARCO: Viva. Other...
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
DEL BARCO: ...Best picture nominees included popular favorites and critical darlings "Train Dreams," "Sentimental Value," "Frankenstein," "Hamnet," "Marty Supreme," "The Secret Agent," "Bugonia" and "F1."
MARTÍNEZ: All right. Acting and directing categories - who are the nominees?
DEL BARCO: Well, in addition to directors Ryan Coogler and Paul Thomas Anderson, Chloe Zhao was on the list. And the actors from their films, of course, were nominated - Michael B. Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio, as I mentioned. Also, Wagner Moura from "The Secret Agent" and Stellan Skarsgard from "Sentimental Value" and Timothee Chalamet, who plays a ping-pong whiz in "Marty Supreme." Among the lead actress nominees, Jessie Buckley from "Hamnet," Rose Byrne from "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" and Emma Stone from "Bugonia."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BUGONIA")
EMMA STONE: (As Michelle) Where's my hair?
JESSE PLEMONS: (As Teddy) Your hair has been destroyed to prevent you from contacting your ship.
STONE: (As Michelle) What ship?
PLEMONS: (As Teddy) Your mothership.
MARTÍNEZ: Stone actually - and Stone has already two Academy Awards, so we'll see if she can get a third. Any surprises or snubs in any of the categories?
DEL BARCO: Well, the film "Jay Kelly," which stars George Clooney and Adam Sandler and was directed by Noah Baumbach - none of them got nominations. Gwyneth Paltrow didn't get nominated for co-starring in "Marty Supreme." And "Wicked: For Good," the musical sequel...
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, yeah.
DEL BARCO: ...Did not get any nominations.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, anything new that we might see this year at the Oscars?
DEL BARCO: Yeah. For the first time in its 98-year history, casting directors are going to be honored. They're nominees. They cast the films that are now up for best picture.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. Cool. Now, the Oscars ceremony is also a television show, so what musical performances might we see from the nominees?
DEL BARCO: Well, I'm pretty sure fans of "Wicked" will be disappointed that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were not nominated, and they probably won't be performing during the ceremony. But the singers from "KPop Demon Hunters," which is also up for best animated feature, might be. Their song "Golden" is up for best original song at the Oscars. A, you've got to sing along.
MARTÍNEZ: Well, I - now you've put this song in my head. It's going to be there all morning. I don't know how I'm going to get rid of it. We'll see. That's NPR's Mandalit del Barco. Mandalit, thanks a lot.
DEL BARCO: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOLDEN")
HUNTR/X: (Singing) We're going up, up, up. It's our moment. You know together we're glowing, going to be, going to be golden. Oh-oh-oh, up, up, up with our voices. (Singing in Korean). Going to be, going to be golden. Oh-oh-oh. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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