Ahead of the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, Associated Press film writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr share some of their predictions. Nominees: “American Fiction”; “Anatomy of a Fall”; “Barbie”; “The Holdovers”; “Killers of the Flower Moon”; “Maestro”; “Oppenheimer”; “Past Lives”; “Poor Things”; “The Zone of Interest.” Lindsey Bahr: It will be “ Oppenheimer.' It's not just because it's won all the other major awards.
Downey will win his first Oscar, which no one would say he doesn’t deserve . De Niro, almost half a century after winning this award for a little movie called “The Godfather, Part II,” is back again, doing his best work in years. Brown, who gives “American Fiction” such a jolt, is as good as anyone working today. Ruffalo, great in everything, should someday soon get the “overdue Oscar” treatment Downey is receiving this year. And Gosling might be our best comic actor.