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With Oscar nominations announced, here’s what you need to catch up on the nominees

How to have the best Oscar nominations viewing experience

Yesterday, the 2023 Oscar nominations were unveiled. The 23 categories cover everything from Best Picture and Best Original Song to Best Cinematography and Best Sound.

However, even if you're part of AMC Stubs' A-Listers program, chances are, there are more than a few nominees you've never even heard of, let alone seen. That's why, between now and March 12, you may need to play a little catch-up to watch everything you missed. And if you're going to watch the movies that have the year's best picture and sound, you'll want to have the best entertainment gear to see and hear those movies the way the directors intended.

What is the nomination process for the Oscars?

Most of the films that are nominated for an Oscar are nominated by the members of the corresponding branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For example, film editors nominate pictures for Best Film Editing and actors nominate individuals for the Best Actor categories. Some categories, however, have a slightly different process. All voting members can select Best Picture nominees. For transparency, the rules and eligibility for each category are detailed on the organization's website.

What is the final balloting process for the Oscars?

During the final voting, all the Oscar categories are on the ballot. This means all voting members (over 9,500) can cast their vote on the final ballot, no matter which branch a member belongs to. Voting is performed online and tabulated. Until the envelopes are opened on stage during the telecast, only two partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers know the results.

2023 Oscar nominee highlights

This year, the nominees spanned a wide range of genres. There were the expected films, such as "The Whale," "The Banshees of Inisherin," "The Fabelmans" and "All Quiet on the Western Front." But there were also blockbusters, such as "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water," and superhero movies, including "The Batman'' and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" that made the cut. Possibly the biggest surprise was the sci-fi indie movie "Everything Everywhere All at Once," which received the most nominations of all the contenders. Additionally, with films such as "Elvis," "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris," "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," "Babylon," "Tar," "RRR" and "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" also all receiving nominations, no matter what your tastes, this year at the 95th Academy Awards, you'll have a favorite to root for.

What you need to catch up on the Oscar nominees

If you missed any of this year's Oscar-nominated pictures and you want to watch them before the ceremony, here are a few items to consider purchasing, such as an Ultra HD TV and a soundbar, so you can have the best at-home viewing experience.

Samsung 75-Inch Class The Frame QLED 4K Smart Tizen TV

When you aren't using this TV to watch the 2023 Oscar nominees, it can be put into art mode and display artwork, photos and more. The QLED technology gives you 100% color volume, the way Hollywood intended the picture to be seen. Sold by Amazon 

Samsung 75-Inch Class Q70A Series QLED 4K UHD Smart Tizen TV

Even if you're not watching an HD stream, the machine learning on this TV enhances the picture, turning it into 4K, ensuring you always have a high-quality viewing experience. The dynamic tone mapping produces deeper blacks to create more vibrant images than standard HD. Sold by Amazon 

LG B2 Series 65-Inch Class OLED Smart TV

With self-lit OLED pixels, you get sharper contrast, perfect black and over a billion colors. The AI processor adjusts the picture and sound so you always have optimum quality, no matter what you're watching. Sold by Amazon and Target

Hisense 43-Inch Class R6G Series LED 4K UHD Smart Roku TV

If you're looking for value, this feature-packed TV has an ultra HD picture, built-in Roku and Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10, the image technology from cinemas. Sold by Amazon 

Bose Smart Soundbar 900 With Dolby Atmos and Voice Assistant

A great picture doesn't mean quality sound. This Bose soundbar has Dolby Atmos to reproduce that cinematic total immersion you feel when watching a film in the theater. This unit also analyzes and upmixes to create content that isn't encoded in Dolby Atmos to create a premiere listening experience. Sold by Amazon and Target

JBL Bar All-in-One Soundbar with Dolby Digital

The JBL is an entry-level soundbar that gives you a deep bass with a built-in Dolby Digital system to create an immersive listening experience. The 800 watts of power provide sufficient volume for your Oscar nominee viewing party. Sold by Amazon 

Roku Ultra 4K/HDR/Dolby Vision Streaming Device and Roku Voice Remote Pro

If you need to upgrade your TV to make it stream-ready, you do that by purchasing a streaming device. This Roku bundle gives you everything you need to have a cinematic experience at home: 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound. The hands-free voice control makes it effortless to locate your content. Just ask for it. Sold by Amazon, Kohl's and Target

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote

The Fire TV Stick 4K is the value-packed offering from Amazon. It has all the required features to have a cinematic movie-watching experience at home, is intuitive and also can be used as your smart home hub, if desired. Sold by Amazon,  Kohl's and Target

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Allen Foster writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. 

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