94th Annual Oscar Nominations Roundup
On Tuesday, 8 February, the 94th Annual Academy Awards nominations were announced. There weren’t too many surprises if you’ve been following awards season, which isn’t a bad thing when different categories so clearly centered on a wide variety of film. Missing Best Picture did not mean your film got no high profile nominations. The big six categories: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress feature 18 separate films. Best Actress, for example, has no crossover with Best Picture or Best Director.
The nominees include international films in categories other than Best International Film, science fiction, musicals, westerns, dramas, and the first film ever nominated in Animated Feature, Documentary, and International film.
Oh, and Licorice Pizza still makes the cut somehow, so you can’t win them all.
I’m going to break down Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Adapted Screenplay against my own nominees. You can explore all the Oscar nominations at the official Oscars website.
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
There is zero crossover between my own ballot and the final nominees. Of the Oscar nominated films, I can confidently say The Power of the Dog and Drive My Car were close to my own Top 10.
We also know the Academy did nominate The Tragedy of Macbeth and tick, tick…BOOM! in some key categories, so they were likely close to making the final ballot.
The only film I do not agree with at all is Licorice Pizza, which just feels gross to me. I can’t get past the concept.
This is The Power of the Dog’s trophy to lose. The Academy does love an Adam McKay film, so you can’t count out Don’t Look Up. King Richard is also a crowd pleaser and a fine film in its own right. I’d be surprised by anything else winning, though I wouldn’t be mad if CODA snuck in for the win.
Best Directing
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
Two of my nominees made it on the Oscar ballot: Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog and Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Drive My Car. I’m glad to see Kenneth Branagh here, too. I’m a fan of his directorial work. I understand why Stephen Spielberg is here.
Both Lin-Manuel Miranda for tick, tick…BOOM! and Emma Seligman for Shiva Baby made it to the First-Time Feature Director nomination for the DGAs. Directors are the only Oscar voters to vote for Best Director, so these two nominees from my own list had to be pretty close.
The only nominee I can’t get behind is Paul Thomas Anderson for Licorice Pizza.
I will be shocked if Jane Campion doesn’t win for The Power of the Dog.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart, Spencer
Two of my nominees for Leading Performance made the Oscar ballot for Lead Actress: Penélope Cruz in Parallel Mothers and Kristen Stewart in Spencer. Jessica Chastain in Eyes of Tammy Faye just missed my list. Nicole Kidman in Being the Ricardos and Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter give great performances, too.
My other nominees were largely wishful thinking. Tessa Thompson in Passing probably came the closest, though it was Ruth Negga who grabbed the lion’s share of awards attention for that film.
It’s hard to say who will win this. My gut says Kristen Stewart. It’s a true star turn and she’s been in the conversation but never quite nominated a few times in recent years. Penélope Cruz also feels like a real possibility with arguably her best performance yet.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
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
Only one of my nominees made the final Oscar list: Andrew Garfield in tick, tick…BOOM! I took Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth off my list at the last moment. If I did the traditional gender divide, Will Smith for King Richard and Denzel Washington would definitely make my own ballot.
Of my own nominees, Nicolas Cage in Pig definitely came the closest. There was a strong push from critics group to get this tiny film recognized for Nicolas Cage and writer/director Michael Sarnoski, but it came up short.
Will Smith has been the favorite the entire awards season and the Best Picture nomination for King Richard is going to put more eyes on his performance. I think Andrew Garfield has a good chance, and you should never count out Denzel Washington for an Oscar win.
Best Supporting Actress
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Judi Dench, Belfast
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Aunjanue Ellie, King Richard
There is zero crossover between my ballot and the Oscar nominees. There were a solid seven or eight strong candidates circling the nominations, including my own nominees Ann Dowd in Mass and Ruth Negga in Passing. Kirsten Dunst was one of the last names I took off my own ballot.
Ruth Negga came the closest of my nominees. She won a ton of critical prizes and still feels like a likely winner for the SAG award in this category. Ann Dowd picked up quite a few prizes, as well, but Mass really didn’t have the budget to campaign as hard as it needed to for a film that small.
The Academy went hard for The Power of the Dog so I think Kirsten Dunst has the best shot of winning. Aunjanue Ellis is strong in King Richard and that film also showed up a lot in the nominations. Ariana DeBose is a sensational Anita in West Side Story and that role is a magnet for awards.
Best 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
Only one of my nominees made the final Oscar list: Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Power of the Dog. If I did the traditional gender split, both Troy Kotsur for CODA and Jesse Plemons for The Power of the Dog would’ve made my ballot.
Realistically, my other nominees were nowhere near making the ballot. All the critical attention for tick, tick…BOOM! focused on Andrew Garfield and Lin-Manuel Miranda, so Robin de Jesus never really stood a chance. I was hoping for a surprise supporting nomination like Marina de Tavira coming out of nowhere with the Best Supporting Actress nomination in Roma.
I think this is Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Oscar to lose. Troy Kotsur taking the prize would be a lovely surprise.
Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up, story by Adam McKay and David Sirota
Zach Baylin, King Richard
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World
There is zero crossover between my ballot and the Oscar nominees. I’m happy that Worst Person in the World snuck in for Original Screenplay.
I’m not happy that Licorice Pizza held on.
Let’s be clear. I only nominated two likely Oscar films and neither Encanto or Parallel Mothers was a real threat here. Writing, especially Original Screenplay, is a category where I will always boost horror because I’m the most versed in it as a medium and can truly appreciate when a film does something new and great.
I feel like Adam McKay is going to get his big win here for Don’t Look Up. Kenneth Branagh could finally get his victory lap with Belfast, which was popular among so many voting branches.
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Siân Heder, CODA
Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, Drive My Car
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth, Dune
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Two of my nominees made the final Oscar list: Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog and Siân Heder for CODA. That’s pretty good for me at this pace. I really liked Maggie Gyllenhaal’s screenplay for The Lost Daughter and it was one of the last screenplays I cut from this list.
tick, tick…BOOM! came the closest of my nominees to making it. It landed in the WGA nominations for Adapted Screenplay, though that’s hardly where the focus was for the film. Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby had a lot of critical support in this category. David Lowery’s The Green Knight had a lot of support, too, but the acclaimed critical adaptation of the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was submitted as an Original Screenplay for…I don’t know why. It may have actually been nominated in Adapted since it’s Adapted and was loved for how well it Adapted this classic Arthurian legend. Sigh.
I don’t really have a pulse on this category. Jane Campion could take it for The Power of the Dog. Siân Heder for Coda or Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe for Drive My Car could take it if those more surprising Best Picture nominees have a lot of support. Maggie Gyllenhaal could also take it for The Lost Daughter, as is want to happen when a beloved actress crafts a fantastic screenplay. Dune seems the least likely because it is a sci-fi/epic and those don’t typically win for writing, but never say never.
The 94th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will air on 27 March 2022 on ABC.
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