This morning's Oscar nominations capped a year marked by a stunning run of critical and commercial success for one of Hollywood's biggest'and most discussed'studios. Warner Bros. dominated proceedings with big hauls for One Battle After Another and Sinners. The latter, a vampire story set in 1930s Mississippi, made Academy history by becoming the most nominated film of all time: It earned 16 nods, two higher than the previous record holders, Titanic, La La Land, and All About Eve. The Academy Awards are commonly defined these days by a struggle for relevance, making the fact that such high-quality, non-franchise movies from a major studio connected with audiences a considerable boon'especially after last year's show, which celebrated a swath of more inscrutable indie pictures. That success still came with familiar existential baggage for the film industry. Warner Bros., while making creative bets that paid off, has been embroiled in high-stakes merger drama for several months....
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