Which movie should win the best picture Oscar? Our movie experts battle it out

Who cares if it's the most predictable Oscar lineup in forever? We're still going to fight about it.

Out of the 10 pretty great films vying to join the best picture canon at this Sunday's 96th Academy Awards (ABC, 7 p.m. EDT/4 PDT), "Oppenheimer" arrives with the most momentum as a clear front-runner. It not winning would be an upset akin to "How Green Was My Valley" beating "Citizen Kane" at the 1942 ceremony. (Never heard of the former? Our point exactly.) But Oscar voters ranking their favorites via preferential ballot at least allows for the possibility of a surprise.

And speaking of preferences, USA TODAY's movie experts have their own when it comes to this year's Oscar crop. Sure, "Oppenheimer" looms large in the mix, but the members of this film-loving fight club are here to explain why each nominee is worthy of a best picture win:

'American Fiction'

As a curmudgeonly, flame-throwing literature professor, Jeffrey Wright is at the height of his considerable powers in Cord Jefferson’s refreshingly sharp meta satire exploring race and modern culture. Wright’s Monk Ellison has had it with publishers wanting “Black books” so he decides to write one himself, offensive stereotypes and all, and finds unexpected success. Sterling K. Brown is also amazing as Monk’s gay brother amid the movie’s relatable secret sauce: a dysfunctional family unit that’s there for you, even when your life goes somewhat off the rails. – Brian Truitt

'Anatomy of a Fall'

The hip pick of this year’s Oscar crop, “Anatomy” is “Law & Order” by way of the French Alps. Sit anyone down to watch Justine Triet’s ambiguous courtroom drama, and they’ll quickly be hooked by its hot lawyer, scene-stealing canine and unspeakably catchy steel-drum cover of 50 Cent. Sandra Hüller gives an acting masterclass as an inscrutable writer accused of murdering her husband, while the brilliant script sparks infinite debate over whether she did it. Fifteen-year-old Milo Machado-Graner, as her skeptical son, is also an undeniable star in the making. – Patrick Ryan

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'Barbie'

On paper, making a movie about a plastic doll seems like a sure way to get drummed out of Hollywood, where the only bets made are on sure bets. But you take the creative genius of Greta Gerwig, the arch loveliness of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the incisive songwriting of Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell and one fiery monologue by America Ferrera, and suddenly “Barbie” blossoms into a pop culture phenomenon that may well be unrepeatable (please, no “Ken’s Adventure” sequel, folks). Barbie may not be one of a kind, but “Barbie” is. – Marco della Cava

'The Holdovers'

Like a bountiful holiday stocking, Alexander Payne’s wise and world-weary film is the gift that keeps on giving. What starts like a retread of “Dead Poets Society” soon becomes something far more interesting (and for our money, better), as Paul Giamatti’s tetchy teacher gets stuck over Christmas with a boarding school reprobate (newcomer Dominic Sessa). The movie sneaks up on you with its crushing meditations on unrealized dreams and not being defined by your past. And Da’Vine Joy Randolph gives one of the decade’s best performances as a mom stifled by grief. – Ryan

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'Killers of the Flower Moon'

In the last decade, Martin Scorsese has made some of the most vital films of his nearly 60-year career, although “Silence” and “The Irishman” both went home empty-handed on Oscar night. In a just world, “Flower Moon” will buck that trend: Scorsese unmasks the worst of humanity over three harrowing hours, forcing us to reckon with our collective complicity in Native American genocide. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro deliver career-best work, while should-be-best actress winner Lily Gladstone is a bastion of quiet resolve in the face of unfathomable tragedy. – Ryan

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'Maestro'

You don’t have to be a fan of classical music to enjoy Bradley Cooper conducting an orchestra for six breathtaking minutes – but it helps! Cooper’s directorial follow-up to “A Star Is Born” transforms the best actor nominee into Leonard Bernstein for a biopic that follows the legendary composer from his big break to his later years, through the lens of his marriage to Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). Cooper presents a flawed man responsible for some of our greatest musical works, and through it gives us a new view of the filmmaker’s own artistic soul. – Truitt

'Oppenheimer'

Mass death and destruction are a challenging topic for any medium. Yet filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s childhood preoccupation with a coming nuclear conflagration has been marinating so long that it’s no surprise the result is a tour de force that leads the Oscar pack with 13 nominations. Is it long? Yes, three hours of mostly psychological mayhem. Is it dark? Decidedly, from its world-in-the-balance narrative to its depiction of women. Is it all worth it? No doubt. History this huge should never be forgotten, which is why Nolan has done our future service by starkly reviving the past. – della Cava

'Past Lives'

Without a talking plastic doll or a nuclear blast in sight, “Past Lives” might seem like the most conventional best picture nominee of the bunch. But director Celine Song’s quietly devastating tale of two Korean childhood friends (Greta Lee and Teo Yoo) with an unshakable bond goes right for the gut, uprooting complicated feelings about love, fate and the road not taken. By the time it’s all laid bare in one incredibly uncomfortable bar scene − in which an onlooker wonders, “Who do you think they are to each other?” − you, too, will be left weeping. – Kim Willis

'Poor Things'

Imagine “Frankenstein” but with more Portuguese tarts, zippy one-liners and rampant intercourse. Emma Stone plays the “creature” brought back to life in Yorgos Lanthimos’ darkly comic Victorian-era quirk-fest, as her Bella Baxter matures from infantile episodes to brothel sex. She becomes an independent woman with a second chance at freedom, though Bella gets no help with that from Mark Ruffalo's hilariously dim and despicable lawyer love interest. Watching Stone dance wildly, wolf down desserts and, most importantly, find her way in the world is a delicious delight indeed. – Truitt

'The Zone of Interest'

Director Jonathan Glazer creates an unforgettable Holocaust movie depicting the obscene "dream life" flourishing just beyond the walls of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and their five children block out the unspeakable horrors taking place just over the high wall, hearing only occasional shots and plaintive screams and seeing the crematorium's unmistakable glow at night. Watching their banal existence, including Höss' nonchalant living room discussion of cutting-edge gas chambers, slides under your skin in a chilling way that signals indefinite occupation. – Bryan Alexander