Oscar fever officially began with the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards announced today. This year's slate of nominees is unlikely to be criticised as 'Oscars too White' with a diverse list of names that includes Will Smith and Denzel Washington for Best Actor, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Best Director and more. The Power Of The Dog, directed by Jane Campion, leads the nominations with 12 nods including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, two Best Supporting Actor nods for Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Kirsten Dunst. Dune has 10 nominations while West Side Story and Belfast follow with seven; King Richard, which stars Will Smith, has six nominations. Judi Dench, 87, is now the oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actress - she is nominated for her performance in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast. Ariana DeBose is up for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg's version of West Side Story, a role that won Rita Moreno the Oscar in the 1961 film.
An Indian documentary on women Dalit journalists titled Writing With Fire has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
The Oscar nominations were announced by Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross and actor-comedian Leslie Jordan; some awards were announced by a range of guests from actress Phylicia Rashad, wrestler Titus O'Neil and even a group of firefighters. This year, the Oscars are scheduled to take place on March 27 at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre.
Last year, the ceremony took place a Los Angeles train station with no host. Another highlight of this year's Oscars is that it will have a host for the first time since 2018, reported news agency AFP. In 2019, comedian Kevin Hart pulled out of hosting the Academy Awards after homophobic tweets he made several years earlier reemerged. Since then, the Oscars have been host-less.
Meanwhile, Tamil film Koozhangal, directed by PS Vinothra, was India's official entry for the Academy Awards 2022. It failed to make the shortlist. Suriya's Jai Bhim and Mohanlal's Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham were officially included in the long list of films eligible for the Oscars 2022.
Here are all the nominees:
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
Best Director:
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)
Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)
Best 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 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 Supporting Actress:
Jesse Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Judi Dench (Belfast)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)
Best Supporting Actor:
Ciaran 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 Original Screenplay:
Belfast
Don't Look Up
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
The Worst Person in the World
Best Adapted Screenplay:
CODA (Sian Heder)
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe)
Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
Best International Feature:
Japan, Drive My Car
Denmark, Flee
Italy, The Hand of God
Bhutan, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Norway, The Worst Person in the World
Best Animated Feature:
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
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 Original Song:
Be Alive- Beyonce Darius Scott (King Richard)
Dos Oruguitas - Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)
Down to Joy - Van Morrison (Belfast)
No Time to Die - Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (No Time to Die)
Somehow You Do - Diane Warren (Four Good Days)
Best Documentary Feature:
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul
Writing With Fire
Best Documentary Short
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
Best Live Action Short:
Ala Kachuu - Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
Best Animated Short:
Affairs of the Art
Bestia Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
Best Sound:
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
Best Production Design:
Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos and Patrice Vermette)
Nightmare Alley (Tamara Deverell & Shane Vieau)
The Power of the Dog (Grant Major & Amber Richards)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Stefan Dechant & Nancy Haigh)
West Side Story (Rena DeAngelo and Adam Stockhausen)
Best Cinematography:
Dune (Greig Fraser)
Nightmare Alley (Dan Lausten)
The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)
West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)
Best Makeup And Hair:
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
Best Costume Design:
Cruella (Jenny Beavan)
Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Dune (Jacqueline West)
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)
West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)
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 Visual Effects:
Dune
Free Guy
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
No Time to Die
Spider-Man: No Way Home
The Oscars, this year, are scheduled in March to reportedly avoid clash with February's Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl in Los Angeles, reported news agency AFP.
(With inputs from AFP)