The Oscar nominations are here and it could finally be Netflix’s year with The Power of the Dog. Jane Campion’s drama led the pack with 12 nominations for the streamer. It scored a citation in every category in which it was a realistic contender, and even netted two nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category. The noms for Dog‘s Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst mean that the Oscars will have two married couples in the acting race, as Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem both scored nominations, for Parallel Mothers and Being the Ricardos, respectively.
As usual, there are surprises and snubs across the board. Kristen Stewart fans can roll up to the KFC in celebration, for her Oscar bid for Spencer is back on track after missing out at both the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTA nominations. The latter really threw Oscar watchers for a loop when the British Academy’s wonky nomination system (members vote on two acing contenders from a long list, while a secret committee picks four) shut out all the perceived frontrunners in the Best Actress race save for Lady Gaga, who missed the cut with Oscar for her campy turn in House of Gucci. It’s an open race for Best Actress and while pundits give the edge to Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) and Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Stewart fans can hold out hope. Regina King previously won the Oscar (for If Beale Street Could Talk) after missing the cut with both SAG and BAFTA–and that was when BAFTA’s nomination process mirrored the Academy’s.
On the Best Picture side, it was a bittersweet day for Dune as Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic scored nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, while netting technical nominations across the board, yet surprisingly missing the cut for Best Director. Similarly, Belfast earned seven nominations, but missed a nomination for Best Film Editing, which is largely seen as an essential branch to hit–although Birdman most recently proved an exception to that rule. Also bittersweet for Belfast fans were the nominations for Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds over Catriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan…which probably tells you all you need to know about the Academy’s demographics.
History was made, meanwhile, with a robust presence for international films. The animated documentary Flee scored three nominations and marked the first time that a documentary was cited in the categories for Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature, and Best International Feature (for Denmark). Waltz with Bashir previously made a similar bid but netted only a nom in the international category.
On the international front, critical favourite Drive My Car kept on truckin’ and scored a nomination in the international category where it’s widely considered the frontrunner. It also earned nominations for Best Picture, as well as for writing and directing. Norway’s bid The Worst Person in the World also scored a screenplay nomination in addition to Best International Feature. Spain’s Parallel Mothers, meanwhile, earned nominations for Best Actress for Cruz and Best Music (Original Score) despite not being the country’s submission in the international category.
Besides Denis Villeneuve, the Oscar nominations marked a good day for Canadians, especially in the Best Picture race. Toronto’s J. Miles Dale, who previously won for The Shape of Water, is in the hunt again with Nightmare Alley, while Roger Frappier can probably clear some room on his shelf with a nomination for The Power of the Dog.
The full list of Oscar nominations is as follows:
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)
Ryûsuke 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
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 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 COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella (Jenny Beavan)
Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Dune (Jacqueline West)
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)
West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)
BEST SOUND
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
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 ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Sian Heder)
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe)
Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay & David Sirota)
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
King Richard (Zach Baylin)
The Worst Person in the World (Joaquim Trier, Eskil Vogt)
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
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 & Andrew Weisblum)
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
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 ORIGINAL SONG
“Be Alive” — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Darius Scott (King Richard)
“Dos Oruguitas” — Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)
“Down to Joy” — Van Morrison (Belfast)
“No Time to Die” — Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell (No Time to Die)
“Somehow You Do” — Diane Warren (Four Good Days)
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 INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
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 PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos & 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 & Adam Stockhausen)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune
Free Guy
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
No Time to Die
Spider-Man: No Way Home
