The nominees for the 94th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Feb. 8, with “The Power of the Dog” and “Dune” taking the most nominations out of the 23 categories. Hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan, the nomination announcements aired live on YouTube and other social media platforms at 8 a.m. as nominees for Best Picture, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects and 21 other categories were announced. 53 total movies and short films were included in the nominations.
“The Power of the Dog,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, received the most nominations of any film, receiving 12 for categories including Best Picture, Best Actor (for Benedict Cumberbatch) and Best Original Score. Cumberbatch and the rest of the cast have been highly acclaimed for their acting in the western drama about love, jealousy and grief. “The Power of the Dog” can be found on Netflix.
Part one of the science fiction film “Dune” is close behind the high number of nominations for “The Power of the Dog.” Starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, the two- and-a-half-hour long film about dangerous space travel and a futuristic world received 10 total nominations, including one for its notable visual effects.
“My favorite part of Dune was the CGI and realism of it,” Jacob Beaton ’25 said. “It was so surreal and looked like real life even though it was science fiction.”
Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up” received four nominations. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, the apocalyptic comedy set the record for most views of a movie in a single week on Netflix with over 150 million hours of the film watched in its first seven days. The humorous and clever film explores a possible reaction from society to a comet about to destroy the planet.
Disney received 23 nominations across several of their motion pictures this year, including “Encanto,” an extremely popular animated movie with music by Lin Manuel Miranda, and West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg. “Cruella,” “Free Guy” and Pixar’s “Luca” also received some of Disney’s many Oscar nominations.

The animated Disney movie, “Encanto,” received three nominations, one being “Best Animated Feature Film.” Encanto’s success largely comes from its music, with the wonderfully catchy “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” reaching number one on the Billboard charts.
“The music in [Encanto] was amazing,” Ryan Ryan ’25 said. “All the songs in the movie were so much fun to listen to and so much fun to sing.”
Encanto received a Golden Globe earlier this year for best animated feature film, along with an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Feature.
“As someone who plans on being an animation major, all of the animation [in Encanto] was incredible to see,” Abby Della Valle ’23 said. “Some of the ideas they came up with were really colorful and original.”
The 94th Annual Academy Award, also known as the Oscars, will air on March 27. The ceremony will have three hosts, Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall, each leading a one hour act.