The Oscar Buzz

The Oscar Buzz

Synopsis

From Belfast to The Power of the Dog, here are all the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards!

The Oscar Buzz
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With two Academy Award bellwethers either postponed (as was the case with the Critics Choice Awards) or diminished (the Golden Globes happened in January but were tweeted, not televised), nominations for this year’s Oscars arrived on Tuesday honouring the movie industry’s finest from the past 12 months during which Covid-weary audiences slowly headed back into movie theatres.

This year’s film festival coincides with a period of considerable turmoil and transformation in the film industry. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the top Oscar contenders lost money — a lot of money — during their theatrical performances. Among the many films that failed to translate critical acclaim into ticket sales include West Side Story, Belfast, and Nightmare Alley. At the same time, the health problem has hastened big media corporations’ shift from theatres to streaming. From Disney to WarnerMedia, ViacomCBS to Comcast, practically every media behemoth has developed its own in-house Netflix competitor, which is fundamentally altering how firms make and release films. WarnerMedia debuted all of its new films, including Dune and King Richard, on HBO Max in 2021 at the same time they hit theatres. It was not alone in responding to significant changes in customer behaviour. Other new Hollywood players received Best Picture nods, including CODA producer Apple, and The Power of the Dog and Don’t Look Up backer Netflix. Even as theatres reopened in 2021, crowds have only flocked in pre-pandemic numbers to the megaplexes for franchise hits like Spider-Man: No Way Home and James Bond outing No Time To Die. But the show must go on and here’s everyone who’s been nominated this year:

Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, a revisionist Western that examines toxic masculinity through a tired genre, dominated the Academy Awards on Tuesday with 12 nominations, the most of any film. It was quickly followed by Dune, a massive adaptation of a popular sci-fi novel that was originally thought to be unfilmable yet defied critics to receive ten Oscar nods.

Belfast, Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age narrative, and West Side Story, Steven Spielberg’s gorgeous take on a cherished musical, each garnered seven nods. All four of these films are nominated for Best Picture, joining CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, and Nightmare Alley in the contest.

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Branagh became the first individual to receive seven Oscar nominations in seven distinct categories with Belfast. He was nominated for directing, producing, and composing the film’s original screenplay. Branagh has previously been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director for Henry V, Best Live-Action short film for Swan Song, Best-Supporting Actor for My Week With Marilyn, and Best-Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet.

Following in the footsteps of his co-star, Marlee Matlin, who won an Oscar for her major performance in Children of a Lesser God, CODA star Troy Kotsur became only the second deaf actor to be nominated for playing a deaf character.

Javier Bardem of Being the Ricardos and Penélope Cruz of Parallel Mother became the sixth married couple to be nominated for acting in the same year. Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, who co-star in The Power of the Dog, were also nominated for supporting acting.

Many nominees were probably surprised to see their names on the final list of contenders, while other well predicted players were left out. Lady Gaga, who received critical acclaim for her performance in House of Gucci, did not receive a nomination for Best Actress. Caitriona Balfe, who was missed for her compassionate portrayal of a working-class mother in Belfast, and Denis Villeneuve, the filmmaker of the sci-fi epic Dune were also omitted. Villeneuve’s snub is surprising given how well the picture did in other categories, and he was widely recognised for turning Frank Herbert’s future opus into a fascinating piece of cinema. Look no farther than David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of the same source material, one of the most renowned disasters in film history, for an illustration of how such things may go spectacularly off the tracks.

More populist options were overwhelmingly avoided by Oscar voters. In the best picture category, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which has become one of the few post-pandemic blockbusters, was missed. Its absence is bad news for Oscar producers because when a popular picture is nominated for a major prize, the telecast normally receives a rating lift, as it did when Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Titanic dominated the race.

However, it was a joyous morning for several other actors and artists who had hoped to sleep in without being overwhelmed with congratulatory phone calls. Jessie Buckley of The Lost Daughter received a Best-Supporting Actress nod, while J.K. Simmons received his second Best-Supporting Actor nomination for playing I Love Lucy star William Frawley in Being the Ricardos. Drive My Car, a three-hour exploration of loss and creativity had an extremely strong reception. It was nominated not just for the Best Foreign Film, but also for Best Picture, and adapted screenplay, whilst Ryusuke Hamaguchi was also nominated for the directorial feat.

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Paul Thomas Anderson who directed Licorice Pizza and Steven Spielberg, who received his seventh nomination, join Hamaguchi, Campion, and Branagh in the battle for Best Director. Spielberg currently places alongside Billy Wilder in the category, trailing Martin Scorsese’s nine nominations and William Wyler’s twelve.

Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth and Will Smith for King Richard are competing for Best Actor, as are acclaimed stalwarts such as Bardem, Andrew Garfield for Tick, Tick… Boom! and Benedict Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog. Cruz, Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Olivia Colman for The Lost Daughter, Nicole Kidman for Being the Ricardos, and Kristen Stewart for Spencer will compete for Best Actress.

The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The live ceremony will be broadcasted on ABC. The Oscars will have a host for the first time in three years in 2022. According to reports, many hosts will be sharing the stage, although no official names have yet been disclosed.

 

 

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