2022 Oscar Nominations: the Hits and Misses
Oscar nominations are out for 2022! Rather than their actual work speaking for them, all of the campaigning and handshaking and baby-kissing these folks have done has led to them being recognized for their work. Are some of them good in their performances? AB-SO-LUTE-LY. Are some of them mediocre? Yes. Were people snubbed for their work? 1000%. There were plenty of both hits and misses. Although it was mostly hits for this year which I am happy about. Let’s talk about them.
Everything Everywhere All At Once and more fun movies getting nominated for Best Picture
Yeah the best movie of the year getting 11 nominations is absolutely a hit. If you told me on January 1st, 2022 that the best movie of the year would be the love child of Rick and Morty and lots of therapy, I would say, “That sounds fun. It’s not gonna win best picture.” Now with just over 6 weeks until the Academy Awards, Everything Everywhere All At Once is not only nominated for the most prestigious award in the business, but it has the most individual nominations for the year! LET’S GOOO!!!! But it’s not the only “fun” movie nominated for BP. Top Gun: Maverick, and Avatar: the Way of Water got nods as well. Three movies that raked it in at the box office that are not incredibly stuffy getting nominated for best picture? Sounds good to me.
Kate Blanchette and Michelle Yeoh and best actress staying a loaded category (except for one person)
For the last decade or so at the Oscars, Best Actress has consistently been the most loaded of the big five categories (picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay). 2021 had Jessica Chastain, Olivia Colman, and Kristen Stewart. 2020 had Frances McDormand, Viola Davis, Andra day, Carey Mulligan, and Vanessa Kirby. 2019 had Renee Zellwegger, Scarlett Johansson, Saorise Ronan, Cynthia Erivo, and Charlize Theron. 2022 was no exception, and we have a tight two-horse race between Kate Blanchette (Tar) and Michelle Yeoh (EEAAO), and there at least one other strong performance from Ana de Armas (Blonde). Personally, I can’t speak to Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie but I will check that one out later, and I have a lot to say about Michelle Williams getting nominated. But with those two at the top, the streak continues.
Best Animated Feature Thriving!
Usually, I have not seen every best-animated feature when award season comes around, but this year I could say with pride that I have seen and loved them all! Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a tremendously-animated, fast-paced, fairy tale adventure with morals on family and fate. Turning Red also dwells on the importance of family and tradition with some hilarious gags. Pinocchio (Guillermo Del Toro’s version, not that Disney crap) was beautiful and honestly deserving of some best cinematography credit. The Sea Beast is the surprise of the entries here, but it is a quality adventure story with some not-so-scary sea beasts tossed in. Finally, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is kick-flipping adorable and adds another angle to a mockumentary-style story. Go watch them all! Seriously! All of them!
Angela Bassett lined up for Best Supporting Actress and the first acting Oscar for the MCU!
Best Supporting Actress is often a low-risk award where one nominee is the head and shoulders favorite above their peers, and Angela Bassett is that favorite this year for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. If she does win it will be the acting Academy Award for a Marvel Studios picture, and I am glad she will be taking home that award as opposed to some other comic book actor. Before anyone jumps down by throat about this, I love RDJ., Chris Evans, Scar-Jo, Chadwick Boseman, Brie Larson, Tom Holland, and many of the other performers in this universe. But every time I heard about a campaign for an acting performance for them it did not sit right with me. None of them are doing by any means, but the performances do not often much deeper than surface level to me. There were exceptions like Michael B. Jordan in the first Black Panther, but even that seemed like a bit of a tacky performance to me. Bassett getting this award feels earned. She delivers crushing dialogue, acts as the emotional heart of this movie, and has to portray the dignity and power the Queen of Wakanda would have. She deserves this.
Misses:
Michelle Williams over Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler…C’mon
Really? C’mon, guys. I like Michelle Williams and think she is a fine actress, but nominating her for playing Steven Speilberg’s mom in The Fabelmans? That’s ridiculous. Her character is a terribly written, narcissistic mess. There is no nuance to her character other than she is selfish and sad that she became a mother. Williams herself does fine but she has two moods to offer: sad and silly. I could do that. What it makes it more upsetting to me is that you had two outstanding performances from Viola Davis in The Woman King and Danielle Deadwyler in Till. Both with much more challenging tasks in front of them. Giving an opportunity to recognize either of them for their work would have been tremendous for the academy. Instead they throw another nomination at William’s feet. It’s just another reminder that the Academy can be bought rather than impressed.
No RRR or No Decision to Leave in Best International Feature
Now full transparency, I do not know which movies South Korea and India submitted to the Best International Feature category, but RRR and Decision to Leave not being nominated here made me sad. Decision to Leave is an incredible story about loss, coincidence, and love that will keep you on the edge of your seat up until the end. RRR is a fantastical retelling of a real-life tale with some amazing musical sequences and combat scenes. Both were high on my personal ranking list for the year.
The definitions of original and adapted screenplays
Okay, this is more of a personal nitpick for me, but I have to ask: who decides the difference between an adapted screenplay versus an original screenplay? Because how does Steven Speilberg’s real life count as an original story? IT’S ALREADY HAPPENED TO HIM! It’s not original! Sure, maybe no one ever wrote a book about his life. Oh wait…I just ran a google search and saw THREE different books that are biographies about his life. I know it is his life and he’s credited as one of the writers on this movie
Elvis and Bardo best cinematography nominations over Top Gun: Maverick
All due respect to the camera work in Bardo and Elvis and the great minds of Alejandro González Iñárritu and Baz Luhrman, but these movies do not look better than Top Gun: Maverick. You have real F-18s flying faster than sound and air combat sequences versus 1960s era concerts and a reporter’s slowly losing his grip on reality. I know comparison is the thief of joy, but I really feel like Maverick got absolutely robbed here.
Me for not seeing more than a few of these great movies.
I saw more than 200 movies that were released last year. And somehow I managed to miss these notable flicks that were nominated for more than a few awards: Women Talking, Aftersun, To Leslie, Living, and The Empire of Light. There were other flicks I missed that did not get nominations like Weird: the Al Yankovich Story and Bones and All. During the next couple of weeks I plan to catch myself up and see all of these flicks.
Until I see another one.