The culmination of the 2022 award season and the glitzy back-patting extravaganza for the film industry will be a spring affair this year, when the great and the good of mainstream and global cinema will gather in Hollywood on the last Sunday of March to award the achievements in cinema over the last difficult twelve months at the 94th edition of the Academy Awards. But first things first, let’s recap all the contenders with this year’s nominations, plus a few of our own personal picks.
Although all award shows are subjective and we can endlessly debate over who should win what or even be nominated, this is a chance for films and their filmmakers to be globally recognised for another great year of work so let’s see who the principal nominees are this year.
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
Our Pick from the Nominees: The Power of the Dog
Our Pick Overall: The Power of the Dog
Directing
Kenneth Branagh for ‘Belfast’
Ryusuke Hamaguchi for ‘Drive My Car’
Paul Thomas Anderson for ‘Licorice Pizza’
Jane Campion for ‘The Power of The Dog’
Steven Spielberg for ‘West Side Story’
Our pick from the nominees: Jane Campion for ‘The Power of The Dog’
Our pick overall: Denis Villeneuve for ‘Dune’
Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in ‘Being the Ricardos’
Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘The Power of the Dog’
Andrew Garfield in ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’
Will Smith in ‘King Richard’
Denzel Washington in ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’
Our pick from the nominees: Denzel Washington in ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’
Our pick overall: Nicolas Cage in ‘The Pig’
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’
Olivia Colman in ‘The Lost Daughter’
Penélope Cruz in ‘Parallel Mothers’
Nicole Kidman in ‘Being the Ricardos’
Kristen Stewart in ‘Spencer’
Our pick from the nominees: Nicole Kidman in ‘Being the Ricardos’
Our pick overall: Nicole Kidman in ‘Being the Ricardos’
Actor in a Supporting Role
Ciarán Hinds in ‘Belfast’
Troy Kotsur in ‘CODA’
Jesse Plemons in ‘The Power of the Dog’
J. K. Simmons in ‘Being the Ricardos’
Kodi Smit-McPhee in ‘The Power of the Dog’
Our pick from the nominees: Kodi Smit-McPhee in ‘The Power of the Dog’
Our pick overall: Kodi Smit-McPhee in ‘The Power of the Dog’
Actress in a Supporting Role
Jessie Buckley in ‘The Lost Daughter’
Ariana DeBose in ‘West Side Story’
Judi Dench in ‘Belfast’
Kirsten Dunst in ‘The Power of The Dog’
Aunjanue Ellis in ‘King Richard’
Our pick from the nominees: Kirsten Dunst in ‘The Power of The Dog’
Our pick overall: Caitriona Balfe in ‘Belfast’
Writing- Original Screenplay
‘Belfast’ by Kenneth Branagh
‘Don’t Look Up’ by Adam McKay and David Sirota
‘King Richard’ by Zach Baylin
‘Licorice Pizza’ by Paul Thomas Anderson
‘The Worst Person in the World’ by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Licorice Pizza’ by Paul Thomas Anderson
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The French Dispatch’ by Wes Anderson
Writing- Adapted Screenplay
‘CODA’ by Sian Heder
‘Drive My Car’ by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe
‘Dune’ by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
‘The Lost Daughter’ by Maggie Gyllenhaal
‘The Power of the Dog’ by Jane Campion
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘The Power of the Dog’ by Jane Campion
Our pick overall: ‘The Power of the Dog’ by Jane Campion
Music- Original Score
‘Don’t Look Up’ by Nicholas Britell
‘Dune’ by Hans Zimmer
‘Encanto’ by Germaine Franco
‘Parallel Mothers‘ by Alberto Iglesias
‘The Power of the Dog’ by Jonny Greenwood
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Power of the Dog’ by Jonny Greenwood
Our pick overall: ‘The Power of the Dog’ by Jonny Greenwood
Music- Original Song
“Be Alive” from ‘King Richard’ by Beyoncé and DIXSON
“Dos Oruguitas” from ‘Encanto’ by Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Down to Joy” from ‘Belfast’ by Van Morrison
“No Time to Die” from ‘No Time to Die’ by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Somehow You Do” from ‘Four Good Days’ by Diane Warren
Our pick from the nominees: “Down to Joy” from ‘Belfast’ by Van Morrison
Our pick overall: “Down to Joy” from ‘Belfast’ by Van Morrison
Animated Feature Film
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Our pick from the nominees: Raya and the Last Dragon
Our pick overall: Raya and the Last Dragon
International Feature Film
‘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)
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Worst Person in the World’ (Norway)
Our pick overall: ‘Playground’ (Belgium)
Cinematography
‘Dune’ by Greig Fraser
‘Nightmare Alley’ by Dan Laustsen
‘The Power of the Dog‘ by Ari Wegner
‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ by Bruno Delbonnel
‘West Side Story‘ by Janusz Kaminski
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘The Power of the Dog’ by Ari Wegner
Our Pick Overall: ‘The Power of the Dog’ by Ari Wegner
Film Editing
‘Don’t Look Up’ by Hank Corwin
‘Dune’ by Joe Walker
‘King Richard’ by Pamela Martin
‘The Power of the Dog’ by Peter Sciberras
‘Tick, Tick… BOOM!’ by Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Dune’ by Joe Walker
Our Pick Overall: ‘Dune’ by Joe Walker
Visual Effects
Dune
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Our Pick from the Nominees: Dune
Our Pick Overall: Dune
Production Design
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Our Pick from the Nominees: Dune
Our Pick Overall: Dune
Costume Design
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story
Our Pick from the Nominees: Dune
Our Pick Overall: Dune
Makeup and Hairstyling
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Our Pick from the Nominees: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Our Pick Overall: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
So there you have it, Jane Campion’s frontier period drama ‘The Power of the Dog’ leads the field with 12 nominations and heads Netflix’s dominant 21 nominations, further underlining the undeniable transformation of the film industry. Meanwhile Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi/fantasy adaptation ‘Dune’ and Steven Spielberg’s take on a musical classic ‘West Side Story’ prove that the big traditional studios will still make their mark, while the Academy’s recent recognition of global cinema and Asian film in particular seems to be more than an anomaly as Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Japanese road drama ‘Drive My Car’ picks up 4 nominations including for best picture and director. Let’s see what happens on the night and let us know what you think of the Oscar nominations and our picks this year by commenting here and on FilmPhonic at Facebook and Twitter.
You Can Watch the official Oscar Nominations 2022 feed below:
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