OSCAR Nominations Released And There Are Quite A Few Surprises

The Academy Awards announces the nominations for The Oscars 2022 which will be taking place in March, and this comes after impressive Bafta nominations which were announced just a week ago.

Since the inception of the Oscars, we have never seen a perfect list, all nominations released every single year have been slandered year after year and this year is no different. Snubs and creatives visibly not getting recognized for their works. Should it be a reason to worry and question the credibility of The Academy after 92 years?

This list has started channeling interesting discourse and beginning with Spiderman. A lot of cinephiles especially comic book fans expected the Marvel Cinematic Universe to make an appearance in the Best Picture category with Spiderman: No way Home in addition to other nominations but to the surprise of all, it only made one nomination and it is not the Best Picture. Lady Gaga also got a snub after her impressive performance in House of Gucci. Ruth Negga, The Passing star looked a lock for a Best Supporting Actress category, but the former nominee was distinctly passed over Tuesday. Caitriona Balfe, The Belfast matriarch was considered the closest thing to a sure thing this awards season. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members spurned that conventional wisdom. The same snubs went to Sing 2, Denis Villeneuve, Rita Moreno, Mahershala Ali, Automatic Woman, Frances McDormand, Aaron Sorkin, Jennifer Hudson, and Pedro Almodóvar.

The Oscars 2022 nominations had Power of the Dog’ Leads With 12 Nods, ‘Dune’ Follows With 10, “West Side Story” Steven Spielberg’s ravishing take on a beloved musical, and “Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age story, each received seven nominations. Interesting how all four of those films are up for the best picture, joining a race that includes “CODA,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Drive My Car,” “King Richard,” “Licorice Pizza” and “Nightmare Alley.”

Here is the full list of 2022 Oscar nominations:

Best Picture
“Belfast,” Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik, and Tamar Thomas, producers
“CODA,” Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, producers
“Don’t Look Up,” Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, producers
“Drive My Car,” Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer
“Dune,” Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve, and Cale Boyter, producers
“King Richard,” Tim White, Trevor White, and Will Smith, producers
“Licorice Pizza,” Sara Murphy, Adam Somner, and Paul Thomas Anderson, producers
“Nightmare Alley,” Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, and Bradley Cooper, producers
“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, and Roger Frappier, producers
“West Side Story,” Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, producers

Best Director
Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”)
Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”)
Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”)
Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”)

Best 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”)

Best 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”)

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”)

Best 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”)

Best Adapted Screenplay
“CODA,” screenplay by Siân Heder
“Drive My Car,” screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
“Dune,” screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
“The Lost Daughter,” written by Maggie Gyllenhaal
“The Power of the Dog,” written by Jane Campion

Best Original Screenplay
“Belfast,” written by Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up,” screenplay by Adam McKay; story by Adam McKay and David Sirota
“King Richard,” written by Zach Baylin
“Licorice Pizza,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Worst Person in the World,” written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Best 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

Best Animated Feature Film
“Encanto,” Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino, and Clark Spencer
“Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Luca,” Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht
“Raya and the Last Dragon,” Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

Best Animated Short Film
“Affairs of the Art,” Joanna Quinn and Les Mills
“Bestia,” Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz
“Boxballet,” Anton Dyakov
“Robin Robin,” Dan Ojari and Mikey Please
“The Windshield Wiper,” Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

Best Costume Design
“Cruella,” Jenny Beavan
“Cyrano,” Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
“Dune,” Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
“Nightmare Alley,” Luis Sequeira
“West Side Story,” Paul Tazewell

Best Original Score
“Don’t Look Up,” Nicholas Britell
“Dune,” Hans Zimmer
“Encanto,” Germaine Franco
“Parallel Mothers,” Alberto Iglesias
“The Power of the Dog,” Jonny Greenwood

Best Sound
“Belfast,” Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather, and Niv Adiri
“Dune,” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, and Ron Bartlett
“No Time to Die,” Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey, and Mark Taylor
“The Power of the Dog,” Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie, and Tara Webb
“West Side Story,” Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, and Shawn Murphy

Best Original Song
“Be Alive” from “King Richard,” music and lyric by Dixson and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto,” music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Down To Joy” from “Belfast,” music and lyric by Van Morrison
“No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days,” music and lyric by Diane Warren

Best Documentary Feature
“Ascension,” Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy, and Nathan Truesdell
“Attica,” Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry
“Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein
“Writing With Fire,” Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

Best Documentary Short Subject
“Audible,” Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean
“Lead Me Home,” Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk
“The Queen of Basketball,” Ben Proudfoot
“Three Songs for Benazir,” Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei
“When We Were Bullies,” Jay Rosenblatt

Best Film Editing
“Don’t Look Up,” Hank Corwin
“Dune,” Joe Walker
“King Richard”, Pamela Martin
“The Power of the Dog,” Peter Sciberras
“Tick, Tick…Boom!” Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

Best 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)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Coming 2 America,” Mike Marino, Stacey Morris, and Carla Farmer
“Cruella,” Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne, and Julia Vernon
“Dune,” Donald Mowat, Love Larson, and Eva von Bahr
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, and Justin Raleigh
“House of Gucci,” Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

Best Production Design
“Dune,” production design: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos
“Nightmare Alley,” production design: Tamara Deverell; set decoration: Shane Vieau
“The Power of the Dog,” production design: Grant Major; set decoration: Amber Richards
“The Tragedy of Macbeth,” production design: Stefan Dechant; set decoration: Nancy Haigh
“West Side Story,” production design: Adam Stockhausen; set decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Best Visual Effects
“Dune,” Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer
“Free Guy,” Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
“No Time to Die,” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner, and Chris Corbould
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker, and Dan Oliver
“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

Best Live Action Short Film
“Ala Kachuu – Take and Run,” Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger
“The Dress,” Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki
“The Long Goodbye,” Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed
“On My Mind,” Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson
“Please Hold,” K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

The team will carefully analyze the list and come up with predictions soon.