A weekend party at an English mansion in the 1930s leads to murder in this seriocomic whodunit, with Robert Altman directing an all-star cast. The Oscar-winning screenplay came via Julian Fellowes, who later explored the same milieu for Downton Abbey. The remarkable transatlantic cast includes Alan Bates, Bob Balaban (who also produced and came up with the story idea with Altman), Clive Owen, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson, and Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith, who were both nominated for their performances. The film’s seven nominations include Best Picture, Directing, and Art Direction, with production designer Stephen Altman and set decorator Anna Pinnock mixing authentic English mansions and soundstage sets to evoke the glamour and class divisions of the era.

Wannabe celeb Roxie Hart murders her lover and is sent to jail, only to discover that a tabloid scandal may be her best route to true stardom in this stylish and lively version of the stage musical. Rob Marshall, making his feature directing debut, pays due homage to the distinctive style of Bob Fosse’s original Broadway production while bringing his own energetic approach to the material, which features such classic Kander and Ebb songs as “All That Jazz,” “Cell Block Tango,” and “Mister Cellophane.” The first movie musical to win Best Picture in the 34 years since Oliver! (1968), it received 13 nominations and also won for Costume Design, Film Editing, Sound, Catherine Zeta-Jones’s commanding performance as Roxie’s frenemy Velma Kelly. Production designer John Myhre and set decorator Gordon Sim also won for their Art Direction, featuring just the right blend of fantasy and reality.

Olivia Colman won the Best Actress Oscar for her richly detailed performance as England’s Queen Anne, who finds two women competing for her affections in their quest for power: the aristocratic Lady Sarah (supporting actress nominee Rachel Weisz) and the impoverished Abigail Hill (supporting actress nominee Emma Stone). Working from a darkly comic, fact-based screenplay by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, director Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, 2023) subverts the cliches of historical dramas to startling effect. The Favourite’s 10 nominations include Best Picture, Directing and Original Screenplay. Nominated production designer Fiona Crombie and set decorator Alice Felton used a stark, black-and-white palate for their regal settings, matching Sandy Powell’s elegant, nominated costume designs.