I didn’t want to watch this movie, but, man, are the performances by Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as his former lawyer Roy Cohn so good? Absolutely. When I finished the film, I really sat there like, damn, I really just witnessed how Trump became Trump by watching this film. I would not be mad if either of them win in their categories. I also am glad that Stan didn’t get a performance nomination for “A Different Man,” which I couldn’t even finish. He’s much stronger in “The Apprentice.” — Erin

I have a ton of complicated thoughts about “The Apprentice” that have a lot to do with the way an increasingly conservative Hollywood, and most certainly Black audiences, feel about a Trump film of any kind. But I think the movie has merit, and that Jeremy Strong is especially good in it. I’m not mad at either of these nominations. — Candice

Agreed, Candice. I always think about your great, incisive review of it. Did this movie need to be made? Who is the audience for it? Does it give anyone any new information that they didn’t already know about Donald Trump? No. But man, these performances were so chillingly mesmerizing, especially Strong as Cohn. Oof.

Also, curious to see if a certain president goes on a rant about this… — Marina

Folks have been going up for Cynthia Erivo’s performance in “Wicked” since day one. I think she’s good in the movie, and I think Ariana Grande is good in it. But I also think that so much of the hoopla around this movie has been overblown standom for both people who ride hard for Grande the pop star and the original Broadway musical. For that reason, I feel like people were claiming this movie and the performances in it were great before they even saw it. And I think that the academy is desperate for young audiences to watch the awards, so they felt compelled to recognize the film here. So, while I do think the film has some merit (though, it is too long and should not have been split into two parts), I question the motives here. — Candice

Yeah, it’s giving they want Grande and Erivo to perform at the awards for ratings. I’m just saying! I’m not really a fan of film musicals to be honest, so I thought the movie was fine. But it definitely breaks my rule that any good movie shouldn’t be over two hours. — Erin

I keep thinking about your piece about how heavily “Wicked” was marketed, Candice. I was surprised to see it get so much love from the academy, but I truly think the cash they threw at putting “Wicked” literally everywhere is why it got several nods. I did think the film was good, the songs were catchy (though excessive) and Erivo’s acting was good, but I didn’t expect Grande to get an acting nod for it at all. Like, am I missing something? — Taryn

I’m not surprised at this. The academy, as you all have said already, likes to leave a spot for the big box-office spectacle of the year, so once “Wicked” made so much money over Thanksgiving weekend, it seemed inevitable it would start getting a ton of awards buzz. I have so many mixed feelings about “Wicked” too — a three-hour musical broken up into two parts, the first of which was almost as long as the entire musical itself?! Such a cash grab. I enjoyed seeing it with my parents in a packed theater over Thanksgiving weekend. It’s good to see so many people going to movie theaters. But the cash grab of it all, and the impulse to have to make everything into a franchise, left me so cynical by the end of the movie (which, again, is only the first part!!!). And yeah, while I enjoyed the spectacle of the movie and the experience of seeing it, it was mostly just … fine? Nothing to rave about, nothing to throw a bunch of awards at. — Marina

“Sing Sing” was the best film I saw last year. Hands down. And it deserved to be in this category. It was stellar all around. From the acting, to the screenplay to the fact that the cast and crew were given equal share of the film’s equity, it’s surprising (and disappointing) that this film doesn’t get more praise. The film stars Colman Domingo alongside a cast of formerly incarcerated men (Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin, Sean San José, Jon-Adrian "JJ" Velazquez, among others) who participated in the theater arts program while serving time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York. Though it stars established pros Domingo and Paul Raci, the men who are starring as themselves, telling their own stories of how the stage gave them the hope and strength to press on while incarcerated, is the most moving part of “Sing Sing.” Though it snagged a handful of nods, the academy made a glaring mistake not including this in the Best Picture category. — Taryn

Yeah, I am extremely pissed about this one. I’m happy that Maclin was nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category (well deserved!), but he definitely should have also been nominated in the supporting performance category. (And I would have swapped out Edward Norton’s nom for “A Complete Unknown” for Maclin.) The fact that only Colman Domingo was nominated as a performer — especially when many other white films here have several undeserved performances nominated — is more proof that the academy has no imagination, no sense of risk. They’re boring and clearly don’t know or appreciate how to qualify Black and brown talent. — Candice

So pissed! When this film came out over the summer, everyone was raving about it (as they should), and it felt like it had a lot of awards momentum. But by the fall, when the more “traditional” (heavy on the air quotes there) Oscars season contenders started to roll out, the enthusiasm for “Sing Sing” started to peter out, and I feared people would forget about it. I’m really sad to have been right. I’m so happy for Colman Domingo — but he should have been a slam-dunk nominee, not someone I was fearing would get snubbed, as he has been at several other award shows this season. A24 did re-release the film recently to get it back on awards voters’ radars, but that doesn’t appear to have been enough. Once again, it brings up so many of the questions we ask every year about which kinds of films get the resources for award campaigns, get anointed as contenders, etc., etc., etc. Endlessly frustrating. — Marina

So thrilled to see all the love for “The Substance,” especially in Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress. The academy famously is not too keen on genre films, so I wasn’t expecting this film to figure heavily as a possible awards contender. I’m so happy for Demi Moore: She gives such an incredible, career-defining performance in the film, and there’s something fascinating and poetic about the meta quality of it. The experience of her character, an actress whom Hollywood has discarded in favor of younger actresses, bears a lot of obvious parallels to her own decadeslong career. Really wonderful to see her get her flowers for this role. I’m also happy to see director Coralie Fargeat included in Best Director — but as I say every year, it’s confounding to me that the academy seems to think they can only nominate one (1) woman for Best Director (if they even nominate a woman at all). — Marina

Totally agree, Marina. Oscars famously hate horror films. So, I am glad to see both “The Substance” and “Nosferatu” get recognized this morning. I do wish that Lily-Rose Depp was nominated for “Nosferatu,” though, and that Margaret Qualley was nominated for “The Substance.” (And I would have very easily swapped Isabella Rossellini or Monica Barbaro out for Qualley in the Actress in a Supporting Role category, but alas). — Candice

Marina, to your point about the Best Director category — it’s become a habit of mine to see if a woman has even been nominated on Oscar nominations morning. And you’re right, it’s so, so, so rare that there is more than one. But yes, I’m happy for “The Substance” nominations! It was such a fun and disturbing viewing experience, in the best way. — Erin