“Barbie” makes a strong showing on Oscar shortlists
Will the Oscars also be living in a “Barbie” world when the statuettes are handed out in March? Maybe, if the shortlists in what’s known as below-theline categories are anything to go by. The academy released the equivalent of semifinalists for best song, documentary and more on Dec. 21, and “Barbie,” which is director Greta Gerwig’s feminist smash, made a strong showing.
Three songs from the film — Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” — landed on the list for best song, while the film also showed up in the best score and sound categories.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” was also well-represented, appearing on the lists for makeup and hairstyling; score; sound; and song “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People).”
What about the other film that contributed to our Barbenheimer summer? “Oppenheimer” made the cut in three categories: score, sound, and makeup and hairstyling. It tied with “The Color Purple,” for score and the songs “Keep It Movin’” and “Superpower ( I)”; “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse,” for score, visual effects and the song “Am I Dreaming”; and “The Zone of Interest,” for international feature, score and sound.
The academy unveiled a total of 10 categories; the final nominations will be released Jan. 23. Here are the shortlists for song, documentary feature and international feature.
Original Song
“It Never Went Away,” from “American Symphony”
“Dear Alien ( Who Art in Heaven),” from “Asteroid City”
“Dance the Night,” from “Barbie”
“I’m Just Ken,” from “Barbie”
“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”
“Keep It Movin’,” from “The Color Purple”
“Superpower ( I),” from “The Color Purple”
“The Fire Inside,” from “Flamin’ Hot”
“High Life,” from “Flora and Son”
“Meet in the Middle,” from “Flora and Son”
“Can’t Catch Me Now,” from “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Quiet Eyes,” from “Past Lives”
“Road to Freedom,” from “Rustin”
“Am I Dreaming,” from “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse”
Original Score
“American Fiction” “American Symphony” “Barbie”
“The Boy and the Heron” “The Color Purple”
“Elemental”
“The Holdovers” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”
“Saltburn”
“Society of the Snow” “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse”
“The Zone of Interest”
International Feature
Armenia, “Amerikatsi” Bhutan, “The Monk and the Gun”
Denmark, “The Promised Land”
Finland, “Fallen Leaves” France, “The Taste of Things”
Germany, “The Teachers’ Lounge”
Iceland, “Godland”
Italy, “Io Capitano” Japan, “Perfect Days”
Mexico, “Totem” Morocco, “The Mother of All Lies”
Spain, “Society of the Snow”
Tunisia, “Four Daughters”
Ukraine, “20 Days in Mariupol”
United Kingdom, “The Zone of Interest”
Documentary Feature
“American Symphony” “Apolonia, Apolonia” “Beyond Utopia”
“Bobi Wine: The People’s President”
“Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy”
“The Eternal Memory” “Four Daughters” “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” “In the Rearview” “Stamped From the Beginning”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”
“A Still Small Voice”
“32 Sounds”
“To Kill a Tiger”
“20 Days in Mariupol”