The Oscars Nominated Pretty Much All of the Usual Suspects

Let's unpack some of the exciting noms (Kristen Stewart and Beyoncé are officially Oscar nominees!) and devastating snubs (justice for Zola and Passing!).

By Gabrielle Bruney  |  February 8, 2022 | 4:50pm
EntertainmentMovies
The Oscars Nominated Pretty Much All of the Usual Suspects
Photo:Araya Doheny/FilmMagic; Gareth Cattermole; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic (Getty Images)

The 2022 Oscar nominations are finally here, and because the Golden Globes were practically a non-event this year, the nomination slate for the big prizes felt a bit more like they could be anyone’s guess. Though, even without their formerly-beloved boozy warm-up act, the Academy didn’t exactly throw a lot of shockers our way. Most of the films that felt like your usual Oscars movies were nominated— Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog—and despite the fact that 2021 was a very bad year at the box office, the Academy didn’t feel quite hard up enough to put Spider-Man up for for Best Picture. Here’s a look at a few of the nominations.

Love to See It

Drive My Car: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film made history as the first Japanese movie ever to land a Best Picture nod. It’s great that the Academy is keeping up the momentum when it comes to recognizing non-English language movies. Now, if only we could see some acting nominations…

Lost Daughter: Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley scored Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress noms, respectively, for their performances as the prickly professor Leda. Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal also got a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay, but was shut out of the Best Director contest.

Aunjanue Ellis: Will Smith was truly doing the most as Serena and Venus’s dad in King Richard, which, combined with his superstar status, made his Best Actor nomination seem inevitable. I’m more psyched to see Ellis recognized for her subtler performance in the film.

Kirsten & Kristen: Dunst and Stewart are up for Best Supporting and Best Actress for their performances in The Power of the Dog and Spencer. And because The Power of the Dog was nominated right down to the baseboards (it’s up for 12 trophies, making it the most nominated film of the year), Dunst and her husband/co-star Jesse Plemons will head to the Oscars as partners in both life and accolade-collecting.

Academy Award® Nominee Beyoncé: Let’s be honest, it probably wasn’t going to happen for her acting. But thanks to her song “Be Alive” from the King Richard soundtrack, Queen Bey is an Oscar nominee.

Hate

Don’t Look Up: It was all-but inevitable, and now it’s official. The year’s most insufferable movie is a Best Picture contender.

Zilch for Gaga: All that method acting—and her legitimately great performance—came to nothing, as Lady Gaga didn’t manage to secure a nomination for House of Gucci.

Nada for Ruth Negga: Her highly-praised work in Passing felt like an Oscars shoe-in, but instead she joins the very distinguished ranks of Academy-overlooked black actresses.

Zippo for Zola: The first movie ever to be based on a Twitter thread turns out to be fantastic, and doesn’t even land a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination? Also pouring one out for some of my other favorites of the year, Red Rocket and Titane.

 
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