The 97th Academy Award nominations were released on Jan. 23, with “Emilia Peréz,” “Wicked” and “The Brutalist” leading the pack. The nominations were postponed due to the Los Angeles wildfires, which have been wrecking historical levels of destruction since Jan 7.
The Oscars ceremony will be held on March 2, despite industry members calling for its cancellation due to the wildfires. Academy leaders argued for the ceremony to go on as scheduled for its economic impact on Los Angeles and as a symbol of resilience.

Source: Instagram, @emiliaperezfilm

Source: Instagram, @arianagrande
The nominations have sparked plenty of discussion among Sacred Heart University’s students and staff regarding their thoughts on who should win each of the coveted award slots.
“I have only seen one film on the list [of Best Picture Nominations] and that is ‘Dune: Part Two,’” said Prof. Keith Zdrojowy. “I’m partial to ‘Dune’ personally as I am a big fan of the book series, and I think the new movies do a really good job of bringing the book to life.”
“Dune: Part Two” received five Oscar nominations, including Best Achievement in Cinematography and Best Sound. According to IMDB, the film follows Paul Atreides, who unites with the Fremen on a warpath against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future.
“‘Emilia Peréz’ did not deserve the most nominations. I have not heard of the movie but would like to watch it,” said junior Brendan Reed, secretary of the film club.
“Emilia Peréz” is a Spanish-language, French-made Netflix film that earned 13 nominations, the most of the year. According to Netflix, the film is about a cartel boss who recruits a Mexico City lawyer for a life-changing job. It was not only nominated for Best Picture but also Best Actress for Karla Sofía Gascón, who is the first openly transgender actor ever nominated for an Oscar.
The film, while gaining critical acclaim, has garnered a lot of public backlash due to its tonal extremes and controversial depiction of Mexican culture. It is also one of two films nominated that openly discussed its use of AI in its production.
“The Brutalist,” which was nominated for ten awards, used AI in post-production to fix Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones’ Hungarian pronunciation, according to Cosmopolitan. They also used GenAI to create a sequence at the end of the film, bringing the main character’s architectural designs to life.
“Here is the reality check about AI in film, it is not new. Peter Jackson and his production company-built graphics for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ series to animate the battle scenes using AI,” said Zdrojowy. “I don’t really know how AI in films is going to shake out or how to feel about it. It is important that unions ensure their contracts to protect them from being replaced by AI.”
The Associated Press and Alessia Catino contributed to this article.