by Conan Simmons – February 9, 2022 – 6:36 am
The nominees have been announced for the 94th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars!
The list includes many obvious choices, such as Jane Campion’s western ‘The Power of the Dog’ which is most likely to take home the gold for Best Picture as it remains the most consistent critic and audience favorite and has been the front runner for the award this past several months. ‘The Power of the Dog’ leads the nominees with a total of 12 nominations. Aside from Picture the film will likely win Best Director for Campion and Lead Actor for star Benedict Cumberbatch. It has a good chance at winning for cinematography but faces stiff competition in that category from Joel Coen’s ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’.
Overall, there is a good amount of competition in all categories and the nominees clearly show that cinema is alive and well, even if theaters continue to be hindered by Covid restrictions.
I’m glad to see Penélope Cruz get the nomination for Lead Actress for her role in director Pedro Almodovar’s latest, ‘Parallel Mothers’. The film is also up for Best Music Score. Somewhat surprisingly, Spain opted not to submit the film for its official entry in the International Feature category, instead going with ‘The Good Boss’ starring Javier Bardem which failed to garner the nomination.
Some, like Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman, may be shocked to see that the phenomenal ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ was not nominated for Best Picture. Others, like me, are probably likewise surprised that Adam McKay’s disaster comedy ‘Don’t Look Up’ is nominated for Best Picture. As far as so-called snubs go, ‘House of Gucci’ might be the most cited as Ridley Scott’s high fashion melodrama failed to get nominations for Lady Gaga or Jared Leto. ‘House of Gucci’ only received one nomination in the category of Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
American actress Kristen Stewart has pulled off a Hollywood comeback much like Ingrid Bergman did in the 1950’s. After being lambasted by tabloids both actresses shunned Hollywood for several years until finally being recognized for their work on screen. Ingrid Bergman won the Oscar for Lead Actress for the 1956 romance ‘Anastasia’. Will Kristen Stewart take home the win for Lead Actress for her role as Princess Diana in ‘Spencer’?
‘The Power of the Dog’ leads all nominees with 12 total and Denis Villeneuve’s science fiction epic ‘Dune’ follows close behind with 10 nominations. Other strong contenders include Kenneth Branagh’s memory piece ‘Belfast’ and Paul Thomas Anderson’s coming-of-age comedy ‘Licorice Pizza’. Spielberg’s musical remake ‘West Side Story’ and Guillermo Del Toro’s film noir remake ‘Nightmare Alley’ also are in the mix to keep viewers of this years ceremony guessing.
While ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ didn’t get nominated for the top award it is in the running for visual effects alongside fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe flick ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ and the James Bond 007 action-adventure ‘No Time to Die’, which garnered a total of three nominations including Best Song and Best Sound.
The Oscars ceremony will honor films released from March 1 thru December 31, 2021. A host for the ceremony has yet to be named. You can watch the Academy Awards March 27, 2022, as it airs on ABC at 8pm EST. The ceremony will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The full list of nominees in all categories follows –
BEST PICTURE
‘Belfast’
‘CODA’
‘Don’t Look Up’
‘Drive My Car’
‘Dune’
‘King Richard’
‘Licorice Pizza’
‘Nightmare Alley’
‘The Power of the Dog’
‘West Side Story’
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – ‘Licorice Pizza’
Kenneth Branagh – ‘Belfast’
Jane Campion – ‘The Power of the Dog’
Ryusuke Hamaguchi – ‘Drive My Car’
Steven Spielberg – ‘West Side Story’
LEAD ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’
Olivia Colman – ‘The Lost Daughter’
Penélope Cruz – ‘Parallel Mothers’
Nicole Kidman – ‘Being the Ricardos’
Kristen Stewart – ‘Spencer’
LEAD ACTOR
Javier Bardem – ‘Being the Ricardos’
Benedict Cumberbatch – ‘The Power of the Dog’
Andrew Garfield – ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’
Will Smith – ‘King Richard’
Denzel Washington – ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley – ‘The Lost Daughter’
Ariana DeBose – ‘West Side Story’
Judi Dench – ‘Belfast’
Kirsten Dunst – ‘The Power of the Dog’
Aunjanue Ellis – ‘King Richard’
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ciarán Hinds – ‘Belfast’
Troy Kotsur – ‘CODA’
Jesse Plemons – ‘The Power of the Dog’
J.K. Simmons – ‘Being the Ricardos’
Kodi Smit-McPhee – ‘The Power of the Dog’
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
‘Belfast’ – Kenneth Branagh
‘Don’t Look Up’ – Adam McKay, David Sirota
‘King Richard’ – Zach Baylin
‘Licorice Pizza’ – Paul Thomas Anderson
‘The Worst Person in the World’ – Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
‘CODA’ – Sian Heder
‘Drive My Car’ – Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
‘Dune’ – Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts
‘The Lost Daughter’ – Maggie Gyllenhaal
‘The Power of the Dog’ – Jane Campion
CINEMATOGRAPHY
‘Dune’ – Greig Fraser
‘Nightmare Alley’ – Dan Laustsen
‘The Power of the Dog’ – Ari Wegner
‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ – Bruno Delbonnel
‘West Side Story’ – Janusz Kaminski
PRODUCTION DESIGN
‘Dune’
‘Nightmare Alley’
‘The Power of the Dog’
‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’
‘West Side Story’
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
‘Drive My Car’ – Japan
‘Flee’ – Denmark
‘The Hand of God’ – Italy
‘Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom’ – Bhutan
‘The Worst Person in the World’ – Norway
VISUAL EFFECTS
‘Dune’
‘Free Guy’
‘No Time to Die’
‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
‘Don’t Look Up’ – Nicholas Britell
‘Dune’ – Hans Zimmer
‘Encanto’ – Germaine Franco
‘Parallel Mothers’ – Alberto Iglesias
‘The Power of the Dog’ – Jonny Greenwood
ORIGINAL SONG
‘Belfast’ – “Down to Joy”, Van Morrison
‘Encanto’ – “Dos Oruguitas”, Lin-Manuel Miranda
‘Four Good Days’ – “Somehow You Do”, Diane Warren
‘King Richard’ – “Be Alive”, Beyonce, Dixson
‘No Time to Die’ – “No Time to Die”, Billie Eilish, Finneas
ANIMATED FEATURE
‘Encanto’
‘Flee’
‘Luca’
‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’
‘Raya and the Last Dragon’
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
‘Ascension’
‘Attica’
‘Flee’
‘Summer of Soul’
‘Writing with Fire’
COSTUME DESIGN
‘Cruella’
‘Cyrano’
‘Dune’
‘Nightmare Alley’
‘West Side Story’
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
‘Coming 2 America’
‘Cruella’
‘Dune’
‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’
‘House of Gucci’
FILM EDITING
‘Don’t Look Up’
‘Dune’
‘King Richard’
‘The Power of the Dog’
‘tick, tick…BOOM!’
SOUND
‘Belfast’
‘Dune’
‘No Time to Die’
‘The Power of the Dog’
‘West Side Story’
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
‘Ala Kachuu (Take and Run)’
‘The Dress’
‘The Long Goodbye’
‘On My Mind’
‘Please Hold’
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
‘Affairs of the Art’
‘Beast’
‘Boxballet’
‘Robin Robin’
‘The Windshield Wiper’
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
‘Audible’
‘Lead Me Home’
‘The Queen of Basketball’
‘Three Songs for Benazir’
‘When We Were Bullies’