Awards Season 2022: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier this afternoon, here are some of the official nominations for the 94th Academy Awards:

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)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) 

Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)

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 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 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 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)

A full list of nominees can be found here. 

So, if I've done my maths right, I make that 26/35 (74%). I've had better years, but it's still a decent showing. 

A couple of big surprises- notably the absence of Lady Gaga in Best Actress (with House Of Gucci only receiving one nod in total [in the Make-up and Hairstyling category, and thankfully ignoring Jared Leto's atrocious supporting turn]). I also wonder if now Kristen Stewart will be giving a shit about Oscar nominations- now she actually has one! I was holding off on watching Spencer because, based on the trailers, it felt like it was going to be a  case of a very good performance in a not-very-good film. I will report back. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see both Jesse Plemons and J.K. Simmons named in Best Supporting Actor, and am also chuffed to see Jessie Buckley get her nod for The Lost Daughter. I'm surprised that it's Judi Dench who's been nominated for Best Supporting Actress, as it's been Caitriona Balfe's name in contention right up til now. 

For those stat nerds amongst you, the 2021 version of West Side Story received fewer overall Oscar nods than the 1961 original (with seven v. 11), but the 2021 version of Dune has considerably more than its 1984 predecessor (10 v. a solitary Best Sound nod). 

The Power Of The Dog leads the pack with 12 nominations, with Dune in second place with 10. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

The 94th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday 27th March 2022, at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center. 

For the first time since 2018, the Oscars will have a host, who has yet to be announced. I've heard a rumour that Steve Martin might be back with his Only Murders In The Building co-stars Martin Short and Selena Gomez. That would be an interesting take.  

You'll be pleased to know there's a good fortnight before there's any more awards nonsense; our next stop will be the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards which will be given out on Tuesday February 22nd.

Awards Season 2022: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

Tomorrow morning, the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards will be announced. This year, they will be announced by Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish, Girlfriends) and Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace, American Horror Story)

Since 2003, I have tried to predict who will be nominated in several of the major categories (Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting awards). It's a sobering thought that I've been at this for nearly two decades. 

Below is my list of who I think will be named tomorrow.

As of this year, the Academy have committed to there being 10 Best Picture nominees. 

BEST PICTURE

Being The Ricardos

Belfast

CODA

Don't Look Up

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

The Power Of The Dog

tick, tick... Boom!

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)

Denis Villeneuve (Dune)

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 ACTRESS 

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes Of Tammy Faye)

Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)

Lady Gaga (House Of Gucci)

Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza)

Nicole Kidman (Being The Ricardos)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Ben Affleck (The Tender Bar)

Jamie Dornan (Belfast)

Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)

Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power Of The Dog)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Caitriona Balfe (Belfast)

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Kirsten Dunst (The Power Of The Dog)

Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Ruth Negga (Passing)

As we now have 10 Best Picture nominees (in addition to the 20 for acting and 5 for directing), I will be happy with any score over 20. Last year, it was 29/33 (88%). 

With Best Picture, I struggled to get 10 nominees (basically padding the list with a couple of entries). We might see Nightmare Alley or House Of Gucci sneak in in place of possibly Being The Ricardos and/or tick, tick... Boom! but I'm fairly confident of at least 7 of the names on there. 

I decided to go with the DGA nominees, although a surprise left-field nomination for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) could be possible, or Maggie Gyllenhaal receiving a nod for The Lost Daughter. 

I feel confident in 4 of the 5 Best Actor nods, although Mahershala Ali (Swan Song), Leonardo DiCaprio (Don't Look Up), or Peter Dinklage (Cyrano) could well take Bardem's place. Similarly, with Best Actress, there's a strong core- Chastain, Colman, Kidman, Gaga- and, whilst I've gone for Alana Haim, it wouldn't be a massive surprise to see either Jennifer Hudson (Respect) or Kristen Stewart (Spencer) in that place.

For me, Best Supporting Actor is the category that's potentially the most open; I feel that Hinds, Kotsur, and Smit-McPhee are locked in, but there's two other slots which have had a variety of different names attached. 

Sadly one of those names is Jared Leto for House Of Gucci which, frankly, is mind-boggling; it's easily one of the worst performances I've seen on film in the last decade, deserving of as much scorn and derision as the Razzies have mustered, rather than Academy consideration.  

Bradley Cooper could sneak in for his turn as Barbra Streisand's boyfriend in Licorice Pizza, or (and I'd be delighted if this did happen) J.K. Simmons gets another nod, for playing William Frawley (the actor who played Fred in I Love Lucy) in Being The Ricardos. 

As for Best Supporting Actress? Potentially you could see Ann Dowd (Mass) or Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), but I feel it's unlikely. 

The nominations will be announced tomorrow afternoon (around 1:20pm GMT) - there'll be a post up as soon as I can afterwards with the official nominations.

Awards Season 2022: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 75th British Academy (BAFTA) Film Awards were announced this afternoon, by Tom Allen (Bake Off: The Professionals, Live At The Apollo) and A.J. Odudu (Big Brother's Bit On The Side, Strictly Come Dancing) at the organisation's newly redeveloped London headquarters, BAFTA195 Piccadilly.

Like last year's announcement, this year's took place at a much more agreeable time of 12:10pm. After a couple of technical issues, and a lot of cringy "banter", nominees in several major categories were announced. 

Here's a selection of the nominees:

BEST FILM

Belfast

Don't Look Up

Dune

Licorice Pizza

The Power of the Dog

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

After Love

Ali & Ava

Belfast

Boiling Point

Cyrano

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

House of Gucci

Last Night in Soho

No Time To Die

Passing

LEADING ACTOR

Adeel Akhtar (Ali & Ava)

Mahershala Ali (Swan Song)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)

Leonardo DiCaprio (Don't Look Up)

Stephen Graham (Boiling Point)

Will Smith (King Richard)

LEADING ACTRESS 

Lady Gaga (House of Gucci)

Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza)

Emilia Jones (CODA)

Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World)

Joanna Scanlan (After Love)

Tessa Thompson (Passing)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mike Faist (West Side Story)

Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)

Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Woody Norman (C’mon C’mon)

Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Caitríona Balfe (Belfast)

Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Ann Dowd (Mass)

Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Ruth Negga (Passing)

DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)

Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Audrey Diwan (Happening)

Julia Ducournau (Titane)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)

Aleem Khan (After Love)

A full list of nominees in all categories can be found here.

As they did last year, BAFTA had previously announced longlists for all categories, so you can see what was in contention for nominations here. 

Dune leads the field with 11 nominations across all categories, with The Power Of The Dog in second with 8.

Some interesting omissions- notably Olivia Colman, Andrew Garfield and Kirsten Dunst in the acting categories, and Kenneth Branagh in Best Director- although I don't think this will affect their Oscar chances too greatly. I was happy to see Aaron Sorkin's script for Being The Ricardos recognised in the Best Original Screenplay category, and Everybody's Talking About Jamie in Outstanding British Film. 

The nominees for the 2022 Rising Star award - the only BAFTA awarded by public vote- have also been announced: this year's nominees are Ariana DeBose, Harris Dickinson, Lashana Lynch, Millicent Simmonds, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Find out more about them, and cast your vote here.

The 75th BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday 13th March 2022 in an in-person ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, with Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids) taking hosting duties. 

[Somewhat awkwardly, this is also the date that the rescheduled Critics Choice Awards will also take place.]

Congratulations to all nominees!

We are getting to the sharp end of the awards nominations now, with the Razzies due to announce theirs on Monday (7th February) and the Oscars on Tuesday (8th February).

I'll be making my Oscar nomination predictions as usual; expect them at some point on Monday. 

Awards Season 2022: Producers Guild Awards (PGA), Directors Guild Awards (DGA) and Writers Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

 

Typical, isn't it? You wait for some awards season news, and then three come along at the same time. Today [Thursday 27th January 2022] saw the three major Guilds- the Producers Guild (PGA), Directors Guild (DGA), and Writers Guild (WGA)- announce their award nominations for this year. 

So here we go...

* * *

PRODUCERS GUILD AWARD (PGA)

Here are the nominations for the 33rd Producers Guild of America Awards

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

Being The Ricardos

Belfast

CODA

Don't Look Up

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

The Power Of The Dog

tick, tick...Boom!

West Side Story

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Encanto

Luca

The Mitchells Vs The Machines

Raya And The Last Dragon

Sing 2

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures 

(previously announced)

Ascension

The First Wave

Flee

In The Same Breath

The Rescue

Simple As Water

Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Writing With Fire

The PGAs will be given out on Saturday 19th March (moved from their original date of Saturday 26th February). 

* * *

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS (DGA)

Here are today's DGA Awards nominations:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)

Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Jane Campion (The Power Of The Dog)

Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)

Denis Villeneuve (Dune)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film

Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)

Rebecca Hall (Passing)

Tatiana Huezo (Prayers For The Stolen)

Lin-Manuel Miranda (tick, tick...Boom!)

Michael Sarnoski (Pig)

Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby)

The winners will be announced at the 74th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday March 12th.

* * *

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (WGA)

And finally, here are the nominees for this year's Writers' Guild Awards (WGA).

Long-time readers of the awards season nonsense on here will know that the screenplay categories are not ones that I try and guess nominees (or winners) for, but as a writer, I'm interested to see what's got the nod.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Being The Ricardos

Don't Look Up

The French Dispatch

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CODA

Dune

Nightmare Alley

tick, tick... Boom!

West Side Story

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Being Cousteau

Exposing Muybridge

Like A Rolling Stone: The Life And Times Of Ben Fong-Torres

Due to how the Writers Guild of America works (where non-members are not permitted to be nominated for a WGA Award), there are several major films that were ineligible (but will be eligible for the Oscars): these include The Power Of The Dog, Belfast, Cyrano, The Lost Daughter, Parallel Mothers, Passing, and A Hero.

The Writers' Guild Awards will be handed out on Sunday 20th March.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Our next awards announcement is a week away, when the BAFTA Film Awards nominations are announced on Thursday February 3rd.