The Oscars might be better viewed through the zoom lens of famous actors who never received an Oscar.

For your consideration, actors who never won a competitive Oscar include Hollywood screen legends: Charles Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Erroll Flynn, Barbara Stanwyck, Montgomery Clift, Tony Curtis, Peter Sellers, Richard Burton, Steve McQueen, Natalie Wood, Peter O’Toole, Judy Garland and Cary Grant.

In the contemporary era, actors who have not received a competitive Oscar include Michelle Williams, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Saoirse Ronan, Carey Mulligan, Annette Bening, Glenn Close, Ian McKellen, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett.

Those are just the actors.

Acclaimed directors who never received a competitive Oscar include: Otto Preminger, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Howard Hawks, Sidney Lumet, Robert Altman, Stanley Kramer and Alfred Hitchcock.

This puts into perspective the kerfuffle at the 2024 Academy Awards of Margot Robbie not getting nominated for an actress Oscar and Greta Gerwig not getting nominated for a director Oscar for “Barbie.”

Shall I continue?

You get the picture.

The year 2023 was a great year at the movies.

“Barbie” received critical acclaim and commercial success, grossing $636 million at the domestic North American theatrical box office and $1.45 billion at the worldwide box office.

“Oppenheimer” also received critical acclaim and commercial success, grossing $326 million at the domestic North American theatrical box office and $952 million at the worldwide box office.

The 2024 Oscar nominations tally is:

“Oppenheimer,” 13

“Poor Things,” 11

“Killers Of The Flower Moon,” 10

“Barbie,” 8

“Maestro,” 7

”American Fiction,” 5

“Anatomy Of A Fall,” 5

“The Holdovers, 5

“The Zone Of Interest,” 5

“Napoleon,” 3

“The Creator,” 2

“Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning,” 2

“Nyad,” 2

“Past Lives,” 2

“Society Of The Snow,” 2

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the 96th Academy Awards, which honor 2023 theatrical motion picture releases, 7 p.m. March 10, Dolby Theater, Los Angeles, televised on ABC-TV.

The annual Lehigh Valley Press Focus “Readers Pick the Oscar Winners” contest includes seven of the Oscar categories.

The deadline to enter the contest is March 8. The entry form is on Page 5 of the Lehigh Valley Press Focus section and on the Lehigh Valley Press website Focus page.

Here are my picks for the 2024 Oscars:

Lead Actor: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer.”

The race is between Cillian Murphy in the title role of Robert Oppenheimer in “Oppenheimer,” and Paul Giamatti, as crusty-crabby prep-school teacher Paul Hunham in “Holdovers.” Giamatti was explosive. Still, how can anyone compete against “The Father of the Atomic Bomb”? Also nominated: Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”; Colman Domingo, “Rustin”; Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction.”

Lead Actress: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

This is also a two-hander. It’s a race between polar opposite performances: Gladstone (first Native American nominated for an Oscar), for a Mona Lisa stillness as Mollie Burkhart in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and Emma Stone, flailing about in nearly every frame as Bela Baxter in “Poor Things.” Also nominated: Annette Bening, “Nyad”; Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”; Carey Mulligan, “Maestro.”

Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer.”

Downey was onscreen for 23:50 minutes (13.22 percent) compared to Cillian Murphy, on screen for 1:53:10 minutes (62.75 percent) in the three-hour “Oppenheimer.” Downey will win for his body of work, including his genre-changing role as Tony Stark in “Iron Man” (2008). It’s typical for this category (Think Jack Palance, supporting actor Oscar, “City Slickers,” 1991, and his one-hand pushups on stage when he won). Also nominated: Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”; Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”; Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things.”

Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers.”

She’s the heart and soul of the film. Also nominated: Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”; Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”; America Ferrera, “Barbie”; Jodie Foster, “Nyad.”

Director: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer.”

Nolan’s mind-bending movies (“Tenet,” 2020; “Dunkirk,” 2017; “Interstellar, 2014; “Inception,” 2010; “Memento,” 2000; “Batman” trilogy) chart a trajectory to his first Oscar. Also nominated: Justine Triet, “Anatomy of a Fall”; Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things”; Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest.”

Picture: “Oppenheimer.”

Each is a deserving nominee is and each is worth a look. For sheer gravitas and the zeitgeist of the times, “Oppenheimer” is the bomb, “The Zone of Interest,” which could pull off an upset, notwithstanding. Also nominated: “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things.”

Animated Feature: “The Boy and the Heron.”

The anime of writer-director Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibl is like none other. The Marvel Comics character Miles Morales aka Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” could be an upsetter. Also nominated: “Elemental,” “Nimona,” “Robot Dreams.”

And, remember, if your favorite picks didn’t win at the Oscars, you’re not alone. Many stars and directors, then and now, weren’t favorites either.