Film News: Ranking the 2022 Oscar Nominees in Six Categories

CHICAGO – The nominees for the 94th Academy Awards … taking place on March 27th, 2022 … were announced on February 8th. 23 categories will be up for Oscar, and the favorites will be will be debated as the Awards season plays out. The 94th Academy Awards will be broadcast on ABC-TV.

For the Top Six categories – Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress – I will rank by preference, and will provide a link in the Best Picture category to the original on-air and audio reviews (if available).This is preference only, not a predictor of who will win.The rest of the nominations are listed below the rankings.

12 Noms for ‘The Power of the Dog’ at the 94th Oscars
Photo credit: Netflix

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

The supporting categories are often introductory or outlier nominations, and three actresses are nominated for the first time. All the categories ranked in ascending order … Judi Dench for “Belfast” (the hook hits for the Oscar bait, her role was barely there); Aunjanue Ellis (first time) for “King Richard” (her role overshadowed by Will Smith as the title character); Jessie Buckley (first) for “The Lost Daughter” (aptly portrayed the difficulties of motherhood); Kirsten Dunst for “The Power of the Dog” (a great performance in an underwritten role); and Ariana DeBose (first) for “West Side Story” (the triple threat … singing, dancing and performing … is impossible to ignore).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Two actor nominees in this category from “The Power of the Dog, always frustrating for those nominated. In ascending order, J.K. Simmons for “Being the Ricardos” (as old timey character actor William Frawley he just didn’t seem right); Clarán Hinds for “Belfast” (a bit more developed than co-star Dench, but another hook of Oscar bait); Jesse Plemons for “The Power of the Dog” (subtle and understated, but ultimately disappears); Troy Kotsur for “CODA” (first deaf actor to be nominated, was great in his frustration); and Kodi Smit-McPhee for “The Power of the Dog” (had to do a range of feeling to gain his power).

BEST ACTRESS

The strongest category, with each of the performances stellar. This is hard to rank. But, in ascending order, Penélope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers” (she was marvelous within her perplexed and frustrated nature); Olivia Coleman for “The Lost Daughter” (she’s amazing as a guilty Mom, just disagreed with the story direction for her); Kristen Stewart for “Spencer” (her Princess Diana is sublime, again just story issues); Nicole Kidman for “Being the Ricardos” (the pre-film buzz was that she couldn’t pull off Lucille Ball. She killed it.); and Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (created an infamous lifetime that had several different lifetimes).

BEST ACTOR

Another strong category, with each performance fairly equal, Andrew Garfield for “Tick, Tick…Boom” (singing and acting with equal aplomb); Denzel Washington for “The Tragedy of Macbeth” (a classical performance, tossing aside his usual Denzel-ness); Javier Bardem for “Being the Ricardos” (he never got in his own way in performing a too well known Desi Arnaz); Will Smith for “King Richard” (as the tennis Dad mentor of the Williams sisters, Smith turns in his best performance on film); and Benedict Cumberbatch for “The Power of the Dog” (it’s difficult to find a balancing act in portray a sympathetic a-hole, but Cumberbatch turns it up and in).

BEST DIRECTOR

Another strong category, with bold-faced legends and one sensational newcomer. In ascending order, Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast” (this Oscar baited film was personal for KB … too personal); Ryûsuke Hamaguchi for “Drive My Car” (occasionally a visionary comes along, here he is); Paul Thomas Anderson for “Licorice Pizza” (an episodic madness that ultimately is perfectly rendered); Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog” (the New Zealand legend is nominated for a second time, a record for women directors); and Steven Spielberg for “West Side Story” (Mr. S imbued a glorious life back into an old chestnut).

BEST PICTURE

Always difficult, but based more on the experience of the film … five of these films were in my 10 Best. Click on the link for full review (where applicable), NIGHTMARE ALLEY [25] (an indulgent film, handicapped by those indulgences), BELFAST [26] (as noted above, a too personal Oscar bait memoir), DON’T LOOK UP [27] (a chilling shooting-fish-in-a-barrel film, but effective); KING RICHARD (Will Smith carries this surprisingly cogent film on his back); DRIVE MY CAR (multi-layered, multi-textured, transcends culture); CODA [28] (emotionally soaring, with a terrific heart rending conclusion); THE POWER OF THE DOG [29] (remarkably out-broke-backed “Brokeback Mountain”); LICORICE PIZZA [30] (a love story, a romantic look back to a time that didn’t exist, etc.); DUNE [31] (the unfilmable book is corralled by director Denis Villeneuve. Epic!); WEST SIDE STORY [32] (Fantastic, emotional and those songs! … Spielberg for the win).

The rest of the nominees are on PAGE TWO …

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Encanto”

“Flee”

“Luca”

“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”

“Raya and the Last Dragon”

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

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

10 Noms for ‘Dune’ at 94th Oscars
Photo credit: Warner Bros

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

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)

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

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

ANIMATED SHORT
“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

LIVE ACTION SHORT
“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

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“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

FILM EDITING
“Don’t Look Up”

“Dune”
“King Richard”

“The Power of the Dog”

“Tick, Tick…Boom!”

SOUND
“Belfast”

“Dune”

“No Time to Die”

“The Power of the Dog”

“West Side Story”

PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Dune”

“Nightmare Alley”

“The Power of the Dog”

“The Tragedy of Macbeth”

“West Side Story”

VISUAL EFFECTS
“Dune”

“Free Guy”

“No Time to Die”

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”

“Spider-Man: No Way Home”

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

MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING
“Coming 2 America”

“Cruella”

“Dune”

“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”

“House of Gucci”

COSTUME DESIGN
“Cruella”

“Cyrano”
“Dune”

“Nightmare Alley”
“West Side Story”

[33]	By PATRICK McDONALD [34] Editor, Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [33]