Tuesday, February 8, 2022

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Oscar's Nominees Are In!

OK! The nominations are in! Compare to my predictions yesterday - to help, I've bolded the nominees in each category that I did not predict. 

But first, pour it out for the very deserving films who did not have the votes to make it today. I think especially of Passing, the best film of the year (that qualified for this year's Oscars, I mean); In the Heights, the best musical of the year; and The Green Knight.

 

And the Academy Award nominees are...

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

I wondered if maybe Caitriona Balfe had received enough votes to make it in Lead Actress instead of Supporting, but that was not to be. Still very happy to see Dench's surprise nomination, she is excellent in the film. Everyone else is a first-time nominee. Obviously, I'm rooting for Aunjanue Ellis, who also made the cut for the Hollmann Awards, and I'm happy that we can finally call Kirsten Dunst an Academy Award-nominated actress!

COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story

Still need to see Cyrano...if the studio ever releases it.

SOUND
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story

Rooting for Dune, which I think has a strong chance to sweep the tech categories, unless...well, we'll discuss that further down.

SCORE
Don't Look Up
Dune
Encanto
Parallel Mothers
The Power of the Dog

Parallel Mothers was a long shot for anything, and did quite well! I haven't seen it, either, so now that's two I need to catch up on. Can't root for anything until I see 'em all (though Dune is the only one I nominated in the Hollmann Awards).

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA
Drive My Car
Dune
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog

Perfect score, strong lineup.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast
Don't Look Up
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
The Worst Person in the World

People also weren't sure if The Worst Person in the World would make it - well, it did! And that makes a third film for me to catch up on!

ANIMATED SHORT
"Affairs of the Art"
"Bestia"
"Box Ballet"
"Robin Robin"
"The Windshield Wiper"

LIVE-ACTION SHORT
"Ala Kachuu - Take and Run"
"The Dress"
"The Long Goodbye"
"On My Mind"
"Please Hold"

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

Always believed the J.K. Simmons nomination would happen, glad - for bragging rights purposes - to be right. A very strong lineup overall, not a weak link here. As someone who's been a fan since watching Jane Eyre in English class when I was 14, Ciarán Hinds finally being an Oscar nominee feels like a triumph for me as well as for him!

EDITING
Don't Look Up
Dune
King Richard
The Power of the Dog
tick, tick...BOOM

Wow, tick, tick...BOOM made it in - GOOD! Really liked that movie, well done. No nod for Belfast here, usually means its Best Picture chances are somewhat hobbled, win-wise. Rooting for Dune.

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci

ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon

ORIGINAL SONG
Belfast - "Down to Joy"
Encanto - "Dos Oruguitas"
Four Good Days - "Somehow You Do"
King Richard - "Be Alive"
No Time to Die - "No Time to Die"

I knew I should have fired up Four Good Days on Kanopy back in December...add another to the watch list! Oh, and yes, Oscar nominee Beyoncé.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
"Audible"
"Lead Me Home"
"The Queen of Basketball"
"Three Songs for Benazir"
"When We Were Bullies"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul (or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Writing with Fire

VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Free Guy I need to see as well. I hear it's fun. I am very shocked, though, that The Matrix Resurrections did not make it.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story

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

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

I took a chance and predicted Washington would be out. Dumb of me, really, he made it in at the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, the Critics Choice Awards, people love his performances. Not a bad group overall. Rooting for Cumberbatch, by the way.

ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Well, naturally, the big surprise is that Golden Globe/BAFTA Award/SAG Award nominee/New York Film Critics Circle winner Lady Gaga is out. She was the only actress all season to hit every major "precursor" along the way - too much of a good thing? I was pessimistic and thought Chastain wouldn't make it, very happy to be wrong. Cruz getting in was a real squeaker - now I just have to see her movie!

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

I honestly thought if anyone from my predicted five was vulnerable, it would be Spielberg, not Dune's Denis Villeneuve. And I also honestly thought Drive My Car was only a real contender for Best Adapted Screenplay, so I am just...over the moon! Hamaguchi made my own Director ballot, if you recall. 

PICTURE

Belfast - 7 nominations total
CODA - 3 nominations total
Don’t Look Up - 4 nominations total
Drive My Car - 4 nominations total
Dune - 10 nominations total
King Richard - 6 nominations total
Licorice Pizza - 3 nominations total
Nightmare Alley - 4 nominations total
The Power of the Dog - 12 nominations total
West Side Story - 7 nominations total

And here we see Drive My Car make it all the way! Amazing! Tip of the cap to the critics, honestly, who helped put the film on everyone's radar, and a triumphant moment for distributor Janus Films, which, let's be real, as an independent outfit focused on arthouse releases, doesn't really have the same awards campaign and publicity budget the bigger guys possess. This is a great moment! And if you look back at my Top Eleven Films of 2021 post, you'll see that five of them were nominated here. It's so nice when others share your good taste! 




And it looks like...yes, I think The Power of the Dog may be the one to beat. We'll find out when the 94th Annual Academy Awards air on March 27th.


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