Oscar Nominations

Oscar nominations for 2022 films have officially come out and of course I am going to stick my two cents in for who I think is going to win and who I think should win. We won’t talk about every category but we will talk about all of the major ones.

So let's start with the leading actor nominations; Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Brenden Fraser, Paul Mescal, and Bill Nighy

Admittedly, I have not seen Living or Aftersun so from my semi-limited experience with all of these movies I think the most likely winner is Brendan Fraser or Bill Nighy based partially on merit and partially on name recognition. Very few times does the academy actually recognize merit of money. That said, of the performances I saw I am pulling for Colin Farrell, his performance was subtle and beautiful and heartbreaking and I want to see him recognized for it.

Next we have actor in a supporting role; Brenden Gleeson, Brian Tyree Henry, Judd Hirsch, Barry Keoghan, and Ke Huy Quan

This category is super difficult in that there are no bad decisions….every single man in this category deserves the win but I really want Ke Huy Quan to get the recognition that he deserves. But truly all of the men in this category are incredible and are all equally deserving.

For actress in a leading role; Cate Blanchett, Ana De Armas, Andrea Riseborough, Michelle Williams, Michelle Yeoh

Okay Ana deserves nothing but shame, Blonde was atrocious and so was her accent. Marilyn deserves better. Cate Blanchett was phenomenal and the only saving grace of TAR. Michelle Williams was as always wonderful but everything about The Fableman’s was incredible. The bar was so high. Michelle Yeoh was the most standout, incredible actress of the year. Michelle Yeoh 100% deserves the win.

Supporting actresses are; Angela Bassett, Hong Chau, Kerry Condon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu

Angela Bassett getting a nomination is huge, Black Panther is the only MCU movie to date to win Oscars and for the second Black Panther film to get nominations as well is huge and also says a lot about the stand out quality of the Black Panther films. Everything Everywhere All At Once is sweeping, as it should and thus another category where anyone that wins deserves it.

For best Direction; Martin McDonagh, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Steven Spielberg, Todd Field and Ruben Ostlund

Now the only real contenders here are McDonagh, Kwan and Scheinert and Spielberg as all of their films were groundbreaking, beautiful, thought provoking and the epitome of what cinema should be. All elements were balanced and flowed together well. That said, I think Kwan and Scheinert should be recognized for the brilliance required to produce something like Everything Everywhere All At Once. It was as close to a perfect movie as it gets and that is largely due to the incredible direction by these two men.

Best Picture; All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: Way of the Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fableman’s, TAR, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, Women Talking

Okay look Avatar is here because James Cameron has name recognition and his ego wouldn’t have been able to handle not getting a nomination, but let's be clear that it has no place on this list. The nomination for visual effects was earned but the idea that that translates into best picture material is arrogant and delusional. Money bought this nomination, nothing more. TAR, Top Gun and Triangle of Sadness are joke nominations compared to the rest of the films on this list, they are nowhere near the quality of literally every other film nominated for anything. With my whole heart I want Everything Everywhere All At Once to win this category, The Fableman’s and Women Talking being a close next choice, followed by Banshees of Inisherin.

And last but not least Writing (Original Screenplay); The Banshees on Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fableman’s, TAR, Triangle of Sadness

Again those last two are a joke and nowhere near the quality of the first three. TAR was an incomplete character study that was saved only by Cate Blanchette's acting, Triangle of Sadness had no idea what its purpose was and felt like an underproduced first draft. The other three films were all brilliant and groundbreaking but the creativity and commentary in Everything Everywhere All At Once deserves this win as well.

We will see as we watch but I really hope merit wins over money this year, the Oscars have lost credibility over the last decade or so and it would be nice if they earned some of that back.