Eight surprise takeaways from the Oscar nominations

Awards pundits were taken by surprise from the first two words spoken at the Oscar nominations on Thursday.

"Elle Fanning, for Sentimental Value," said hosts Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman, as they kicked off the nominations with the best supporting actress category.

Fanning's appearance got things off to a spicy start from the earliest possible moment - she had received praise for her performance in the Norwegian family drama but few had predicted a nomination.

The opening category set the tone for a string of snubs and surprises, which started coming thick and fast. Here are eight of the big takeaways.

Although Hamnet and One Battle After Another did well, both had a slightly softer showing than expected in the acting categories.

Paul Mescal missed out on a supporting actor nod for Hamnet - a surprising omission, although we're confident it won't have much impact on his co-star Jessie Buckley's frontrunner status for best actress.

Meanwhile, four big actors from One Battle After Another were recognised, but its break-out star Chase Infiniti missed best actress despite being a red-hot contender.

It was an admittedly competitive category. But at 25 years old and with rave reviews for her performance in the film, we're pretty sure we haven't heard the last of her.

Other actors who had momentum but ended up missing included Jesse Plemons for Bugonia and Joel Edgerton for Train Dreams. But both of those movies made it into best picture - so the Academy clearly liked them overall.

F1, which stars Brad Pitt as a racing driver brought out of retirement, was the biggest surprise in the best picture category.

It wasn't exactly an outsider - many awards pundits expected it to pick up several below-the-line nominations for its impressive technical achievements (we recommend watching the film in a cinema or with surround sound if you can).

But the fact that it had enough momentum to propel it into best picture was a real show of strength - especially without other major nominations in best director or the acting categories.

It shows the old guard of the Academy still appreciates traditional, well-made films that can simply be enjoyed with a bucket of popcorn.

Sinners scored a record-breaking 16 nominations, flying way past the previous joint record holders La La Land, Titanic and All About Eve, which got 14 each.

Ryan Coogler's vampire horror has done particularly well to maintain its momentum with voters, considering it was released last spring.

But it's exactly the kind of film the Academy would want to recognise. Although vampire movies might not be traditional Oscars bait, Sinners was a real artistic achievement, blending genre horror with 1930s blues music against a backdrop of the Mississippi Delta.

Coogler also made headlines in the Hollywood trade publications last year for the deal he negotiated with Warner Brothers, which will see the film's ownership rights return to him after 25 years.

The first Wicked film received 10 Oscar nominations and went on to win two. So it's an extraordinary fall from grace for its sequel to have got zero.

This was largely expected, however. Wicked: For Good was far less well received than its predecessor - something it shares with the original musical.

The second act of the stage show is widely considered weaker than the first, partly because all the big hits appear before the interval.

But it was still thought that Wicked: For Good could get into some categories, with many predicting a best original song nomination for The Girl in the Bubble, a track performed by Ariana Grande that was newly added for the film adaptation.

There was better news for another blockbuster, Avatar: Fire and Ash, which at least managed a couple of technical nominations for visual effects and costume design.

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