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However this being the Academy Awards, there were still a few bombshells along the way.
After all, how do you account for there being no space in the acting nominations for Margot Robbie, Leonardo DiCaprio or Willem Dafoe while their cast mates thrived?
There was no love at all for Andrew Haigh's highly regarded 'All of Us Strangers' or Emerald Fennell's 'Saltburn'.
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What happened to Blitz Bazawule's much hyped musical version of 'The Color Purple' which picked up only one nomination?
Many people's dark horse, Celine Song's 'Past Lives' got Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay nods but no acting or directing nominations.
The early awards season buzz for Todd Haynes' 'May December' evaporated with only a Best Original Screenplay nod and no acting nominations for Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman or Charles Melton.
2023's biggest box office hit 'Barbie' picked up Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress recognition but why was there was no shortlisting of its director Greta Gerwig?
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© Neon, Lionsgate UK & Le PacteAnd in a year that gave us at least five awards contenders directed by women, why has only Justine Triet made the shortlist for 'Anatomy of A Fall'?
In the end, Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' racked up an impressive 13 nominations followed by Yorgos Lanthimos' typically quirky 'Poor Things' on 11 and Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' on 10.
But can Nolan's movie translate that success into a mushroom cloud of statuettes?
Let's crunch through the major categories.
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© Amazon MGM Studiod
BEST PICTURE
Following its success at the Golden Globes and the recent SAG and BAFTA nominations 'Oppenheimer' has to be in poll position.
However it would be wrong to assume winning this category is a done deal.
'Poor Things,' 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' Alexander Payne's 'The Holdovers: and Cord Jefferson's Toronto Film Festival favourite 'American Fiction' will all have their advocates.
Or could there be a swell of sentiment behind 'Barbie' or 'Past Lives' among those who feel both movies have been wronged in other major categories?
'Anatomy of A Fall' and Jonathan Glazer's Holocaust drama 'The Zone of Interest' have done well to make the list of contenders, while the presence of Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein biopic 'Maestro' was never really in doubt.
However those films feel like also rans.
The top prizes at the SAG Awards and BAFTAs will ultimately indicate if 'Oppenheimer' really is the lock that everyone thinks it is.
© Apple TV+BEST DIRECTOR
Leaving aside Gerwig and Song's omission from the shortlist along with Emerald Fennell and Sofia Coppola for 'Priscilla,' there was no space either for Cord Jefferson, Andrew Haigh or Alexander Payne.
Nevertheless it's a pretty solid field with Christopher Nolan probably in poll position and Martin Scorsese, Justine Trier and Yorgos Lanthimos in contention.
Jonathan Glazer has done well to capture a first Academy Award nomination for the very highly regarded 'Zone of Interest' which won the Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Film Festival.
Nevertheless this feels like Nolan's to lose.
Keep a close eye on the BAFTAs and Directors Guild Awards to see if there is any prospect of that happening.
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Let's be honest.
Annette Bening's late surge for Oscar recognition for 'Nyad' has been the big surprise in this category which looks like a straight fight between Emma Stone for 'Poor Things' and Lily Gladstone for 'Killers of the Flower Moon'.
Stone probably has the edge at this stage for her performance as a woman with a child's brain implanted in her.
However should she lose to Lily Gladstone at the Screen Actors Guild, their Oscars battle could get really spicy with the 'Killers of the Flower Moon' actress vying to be the first Native American to win in this category.
Carey Mulligan feels more of a longshot now for 'Maestro' for her classy performance as Felicia Montealegre Bernstein in Bradley Cooper's biopic.
Sandra Hiller's inclusion for 'Anatomy of A Fall' is an achievement but neither she nor Bening will be expected to win.
Both secured their places at the expense of Margot Robbie, Natalie Portman or Greta Lee in 'Past Lives'.
Callie Spaeny should also feel a little hard done by not to have made it after her impressive lead performance in 'Priscilla'.
While Stone is making the early running, this is one contest that could go to the wire.
© Universal PicturesBEST ACTOR
A lot of Irish hopes were pinned on either Barry Keoghan or Andrew Scott joining Cillian Murphy in this category but neither realised their dream of nominations for much admired performances in 'Saltburn' and 'All of Us Strangers'.
Ireland's hopes, therefore, rest solely on the shoulders of Corkman, Murphy whose march to victory is far from assured even if 'Oppenheimer' does well on the big night.
Murphy's biggest threat appears to be fellow Golden Globe winner Paul Giamatti for his performance as a grouchy boarding school teacher in Alexander Payne's comedy 'The Holdovers'.
Whoever wins the SAG race will emerge the favourite on Oscar night but this contest could still be on tenterhooks right up to when the winner is announced.
As for the rest of the field, Bradley Cooper and Jeffrey Wright were always locks as nominees for 'Maestro' and 'American Fiction'.
The former's performance as Leonard Bernstein seems to have faded as an Oscar favourite unless he pulls off a miracle win at the SAGs.
Colman Domingo has done very well to land a nomination for his spirited performance as the overlooked civil rights champion Bayard Rustin in the otherwise stodgy biopic 'Rustin'.
However that seems to have come at the expense of Scott, Keoghan, his fellow BAFTA nominee Teo Yoo for 'Past Lives' or remarkably, Leonardo DiCaprio for 'Killers of The Flower Moon'.
In hindsight, Matt Damon was always a longshot in this category for the Nike shoe caper 'Air,' along with Zac Efron for the wrestling drama 'The Iron Claw,' Michael Fassbender for 'The Killer' and Christian Friedel for 'The Zone of Interest'.
It's up to Murphy and Giamatti now to sway voters over the next few weeks.
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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert de Niro is back with a ninth Oscar nomination of his career.
But it could be another Robert who denies him a third statuette.
After his Golden Globe and Critics Choice wins, Robert Downey Jr is the clear favourite for his performance as Robert Oppenheimer's nemesis, Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan's atomic bomb epic.
But if De Niro were to pull off wins at the SAGs and BAFTAs for his performance as a cunning racist Oklahoma politician in 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' that would throw the cat among the pigeons.
If Downey Jr were to win those, he would be regarded as a dead cert.
After receiving SAG nods in this category, Ryan Gosling and Sterling K Brown looked like decent bets for Oscar recognition for 'Barbie' and 'American Fiction' but neither are really in the hunt for the big prize.
Mark Ruffalo bagged a fourth Supporting Actor nomination of his career for his performance as a lawyer who embarks on an affair with Emma Stone's Bella in 'Poor Things' but he seems to have picked this up at the expense of fellow cast member Willem Dafoe who had been more fancied.
After his BAFTA nomination Paul Mescal might have felt he had a decent case for inclusion for his performance as the lover of Andrew Scott's lead character in 'All of Us Strangers'.
Charles Melton, Dominic Sessa and Matt Damon may also have felt they had strong claims for inclusion for their performances in 'May December,' 'The Holdovers' and 'Oppenheimer' while Jacob Elordi was probably always a stretch for 'Saltburn,' along with Jesse Plemons for 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and John Magaro for 'Past Lives'.
C'est la vie.
© Warner Bros PicturesBEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Arguably the clearest favourite of any acting nominee this year is Da'Vine Joy Randolph for playing a grieving head cook in 'The Holdovers'.
She seems an even stronger favourite than Robert Downey Jr and will cement that runaway status if she romps home at the SAGs and the BAFTAs.
If you're looking for an upset, though, America Ferrera's surprise nomination for 'Barbie' could be the dark horse if her cause is powered by a recent well received speech at the Critics Choice Awards.
Emily Blunt thoroughly deserves her nomination for 'Oppenheimer,' while Danielle Brooks and Jodie Foster seem to be making up the numbers in this category for their turns in 'The Color Purple' and 'Nyad'.
Ferrera, Brooks and Foster's nominations undoubtedly edged Julianne Moore, Rosamund Pike and Penelope Cruz out of consideration for 'May December,' 'Saltburn' and 'Ferrari,' while Cara Jade Myers, Rachel McAdams and Viola Davis always felt like distant possibilities for 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' and 'Air'.
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OTHER CATEGORIES
The UK secured a nomination for Best International Feature where Jonathan Glazer's German language Second World War drama 'Zone of Interest' faces competition from German director Wim Wenders' Japanese anthology film 'Perfect Days,' Matteo Garrone's Golden Lion Venice Film Festival winning fairytale 'Io Capitano,' JA Bayona's Spanish film 'Society of the Snow' about a Uruguayan air crash and Ilker Catak's German school drama 'The Teacher's Lounge'.
With 'Anatomy of A Fall' not in the running because it was not chosen as France's entry, Glazer's film must be the firm favourite given its nomination in the Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Sound categories.
Watch it gain even more momentum if it triumphs at the BAFTAs.
In the Best Animated Feature category, could Hayao Miyazaki's 'The Boy and The Heron' capture a statuette for Japan's Studio Ghibli at the expense of Sony Pictures' 'Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse,' Pixar's 'Elemental'?
As expected Netflix's sci-fi adventure 'Nimona' landed a nomination with Neon's Spanish French tragicomedy 'Robot Dreams' squeezing out Illumination's hugely popular 'Super Mario Bros Movie,' Paramount's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem' and Netflix's 'Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget'.
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'Barbie' had two reasons to celebrate the Best Original Song nominations, with Billie Eilish and Finneas's 'What Was I Made For?' and Mark Robson and Andrew Wyatt's 'I'm Just Ken' securing nods.
Stephen Colbert's former resident house band leader Jon Batiste also landed a nomination alongside Dan Wilson for 'It Never Went Away' from his Netflix documentary 'American Symphony'.
Scott George made the shortlist for 'Wahzhazhe' from 'Killers of the Flower Moon' which also landed a posthumous nod for The Band's Robbie Robertson in the Best Original Score category.
Diane Warren is also in contention for her song 'The Fire Inside' from 'Flamin' Hot' but that meant Dua Lipa and Mark Robson's 'Dance The Night Away' from 'Barbie,' Wes Anderson and former Pulp bandmates Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley's 'Dear Alien Who Art In Heaven' from 'Asteroid City' and John Carney and Gary Clark's 'High Life' from 'Flora and Son' missed out.
Best Documentary Feature saw Mystylav Chernov's '20 Days In Mariupol,' Nisha Pahuja's 'To Kill A Tiger,' Maite Alberdi's 'The Eternal Memory,' Kaouther Ben Haria's 'Four Daughters' and Moses Bwayo's 'Bobi Wine: The People's President' emerge from a fiercely competitive longlist.
However there was some surprise that 'American Symphony' and Apple TV+'s strongly fancied 'Still: A Michael J Fox Movie' were passed over.
As some celebrate and others lick their wounds, the countdown to Oscars 2024 on March 10 has begun in earnest.
The question now is whether it will be a big bang for 'Oppenheimer' or something more muted?
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