MGM

Oscar nominations: 2

Best picture, best adapted screenplay.

A group of women in an isolated religious colony is at a crossroads after a series of sexual assaults.

The acclaimed movie written and directed by Sarah Polley was not a lock for a best picture nomination. It’s the only film this year directed by a woman to make it to the top list of contenders.

The nomination increased the film’s visibility, and will get more people to see this intime yet powerful movie, defined by a superlative female-ensemble.

20th Century Studios

Oscar nominations: 4

Best picture, best production design, best sound, best visual effects.

The sequel to the 2009 original follows Jake Sully and Neytiri as they move their family to the reefs of Pandora to escape the human colonizers.

Though James Cameron’s blockbuster has become a box-office sensation like its predecessor, it won’t have a storybook ending with a best picture win.

The competition is too tough this year, and there are better films around.

Paramount Pictures

Oscar nominations: 6

Best picture, best sound, best visual effects, best adapted screenplay, best editing, best original song.

Theme: Over 30 years after becoming a hot-shot pilot in the Top Gun program, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell returns to teach the new breed how to fly a dangerous mission.

It is one of few sequels that is better than the original, made in 1986. A nomination for best picture is just icing on the cake for Tom Cruise and Paramount.

Focus Features

Oscar nominations: 6

Best picture, best actress (Cate Blanchett), best director (Todd Field), best original screenplay, best cinematography, best editing.

Theme: Days away from conducting a career-defining symphony, composer Lydia Tár is embroiled in a scandal that changes her life.

Despite being one of the most critically beloved movies of 2022, the film is too provocative (and divisive) in its ideas and politics.

Cate Blanchett should win the best actress Oscar as opposed to the movie getting best picture. And it’s not a guarantee that Blanchett will win either (major threat comes from “Everything Everywhere All At One” star Michelle Yeoh).

Warner Bros.

Oscar nominations: 8

Best picture, best actor (Austin Butler), best cinematography, best costume design, best editing, best makeup and hairstyling, best production design, best sound.

Dazzling but shallow biopic of Elvis Presley.

Universal

Oscar nominations: 7

Best picture, best supporting actress (Michelle Williams), best supporting actor (Judd Hirsch), best director (Steven Spielberg), best production design, best original screenplay, best original score.

An enjoyable, rather soft and eager to please semi-autobiographical look at the childhood of Spielberg.

If any movie can pull off an upset win on Oscars night, it’s “The Fabelmans.”

Fueled by the talents and clout of Spielberg, who also received Best Director nod, it should please older Academy voters.

The question is, will there be enough support to surpass the frontrunners?

Searchlight Pictures

Oscar nominations: 9

Best picture, best lead actor (Colin Farrell), best supporting actor (Brendan Gleeson), best supporting actor (Barry Keoghan), best supporting actress (Kerry Condon), best director (Martin McDonagh), best original screenplay, best editing, best original score.

Theme: Set on a secluded island off the coast of Ireland, Pádraic is devastated when his closest friend Colm suddenly ends their friendship.

With 9 nominations, this dark comedy has become a frontrunner to win big on Oscar night.

The talents of writer-director Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards”), stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, and supporting cast members Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan are all on full display, making it deserving of the trophies it’ll likely take home on March 12.