My Unfiltered Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations 2022

A still from Nine Days, my favorite film of the year 

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Javier Bardem in "Being the Ricardos"
Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Power of the Dog"
Andrew Garfield in "tick, tick...BOOM!"
Will Smith in "King Richard"
Denzel Washington in "The Tragedy of Macbeth"

I've seen all of these. The only one that made my nomination list was Benedict Cumberbatch. He dominates that movie. I don't agree that Will Smith belongs in this category. What do people see in King Richard? It's the kind of movie you could take your grandfather to, I guess. Denzel Washington did entrance me in Macbeth. I didn't see that until after my nomination ballot was cast. As far as Andrew Garfield goes, wasn't he better in The Eyes of Tammy Faye? This is another one of those movies that eludes me. It was a movie about a 30 year old guy who is worried that because he isn't famous yet for writing plays. Honey, you have time. I didn't get a job I liked until I was in my 40s. 

Who do I wish was nominated? Winston Duke for Nine Days, Dev Patel for The Green Knight, Jason Isaacs for Mass, Nicolas Cage for Pig. 

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Ciarán Hinds in "Belfast"
Troy Kotsur in "CODA"
Jesse Plemons in "The Power of the Dog"
J.K. Simmons in "Being the Ricardos"
Kodi Smit-McPhee in "The Power of the Dog"

I feel satisfied that Troy Kotsur nominated in this category. He made me cry. Solid nomination for Kodi Smit-McPhee. Who can argue with J.K. Simmons in anything? And don't get me started on Belfast. 

Who do I wish was nominated? Woody Norman for C'Mon C'Mon, Alex Wolff for Pig

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Jessica Chastain in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"
Olivia Colman in "The Lost Daughter"
Penélope Cruz in "Parallel Mothers"
Nicole Kidman in "Being the Ricardos"
Kristen Stewart in "Spencer"

No surprises here. Jessica Chastain transformed for her role. My second favorite on here is Kristen Stewart. Haven't seen Parallel Mothers yet. 

Who do I wish was nominated? Ann Dowd for Mass (unless you put her in supporting). 

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Jessie Buckley in "The Lost Daughter"
Ariana DeBose in "West Side Story"
Judi Dench in "Belfast"
Kirsten Dunst in "The Power of the Dog"
Aunjanue Ellis in "King Richard"

Alicia Vikander played two roles in one movie. These are all great actresses but I don't know that I was wowed by any of them. 

Who do I wish was nominated? Alicia Vikander, Zazie Beetz for Nine Days

Best animated feature film of the year
"Encanto" Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer
"Flee" Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
"Luca" Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
"The Mitchells vs. the Machines" Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht
"Raya and the Last Dragon" Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

Solid category all around. I can't think of anything else I would have nominated. Then again: I don't see that many animated films. 

Achievement in cinematography
"Dune" Greig Fraser
"Nightmare Alley" Dan Laustsen
"The Power of the Dog" Ari Wegner
"The Tragedy of Macbeth" Bruno Delbonnel
"West Side Story" Janusz Kaminski

No arguments here, except The Green Knight should have been a contender. 

Achievement in costume design
"Cruella" Jenny Beavan
"Cyrano" Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
"Dune" Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
"Nightmare Alley" Luis Sequeira
"West Side Story" Paul Tazewell

All of these have fabulous costumes, but I would have nominate Eyes of Tammy Faye, since they needed to dress Tammy and Jim through four decades, I believe. 

Achievement in directing
"Belfast" Kenneth Branagh
"Drive My Car" Ryusuke Hamaguchi
"Licorice Pizza" Paul Thomas Anderson
"The Power of the Dog" Jane Campion
"West Side Story" Steven Spielberg

There's Belfast again. I might as well say my Belfast peace and have it done with. It was a fine film. But it was a coming of age story that took place during a war. I don't see that adds to our canon of films or interjects anything new into the film sphere. I value movies that push the boundaries of storytelling. If you are going to do a tried and true formula add something different to the mix. Like 1917 and telling a story in one shot. 

What do I wish was nominated? No surprise, David Lowery for The Green Knight; Michael Sarnoski for Pig. 

Best documentary feature
"Ascension" Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell
"Attica" Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry
"Flee" Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
"Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)" Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein
"Writing with Fire" Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

This is a weak category for me. I have only seen one of these films, Flee. So I have some documentaries to watch. 

What do I wish was nominated? Procession. 

Best international feature film of the year

"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

I've seen Drive My Car, Flee, and The Worst Person in the World. I figured Drive My Car and Flee would be nominated. I'm not a fan of Worst Person in the World. I could not relate to anyone except the sick boyfriend at the end. 

What do I wish was nominated? Riders of Justice. But that's not really an academy movie. 

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
"Coming 2 America" Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer
"Cruella" Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon
"Dune" Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
"The Eyes of Tammy Faye" Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh
"House of Gucci" Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

I'm just glad House of Gucci got nominated here instead of other categories. I have nothing to add here. 

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (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

As much as I love the Spencer score, I do agree that The Power of the Dog score is Jonny's better work. Nicholas Britell? I love him. Brilliant work on Underground Railroad and Moonlight. The score for Don't Look Up is the same song over and over again, with little to no variation in arrangement. Dune, of course. I still need to watch Parallel Mothers. 

What do I wish was nominated? Antonio Pinto for Nine Days, Ben Lovett for The Night House, Daniel Hart for The Green Knight

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Be Alive" from "King Richard"
Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
"Dos Oruguitas" from "Encanto"
Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
"Down To Joy" from "Belfast"
Music and Lyric by Van Morrison
"No Time To Die" from "No Time to Die"
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell
"Somehow You Do" from "Four Good Days"
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

Oh yeah? "Be Alive", that song I got all those angry tweets about when the people of Brazil thought I was going to violate copyright laws. "We Don't Talk About Bruno" isn't on here? That's scandalous. 

Adapted screenplay
"CODA" Screenplay by Siân Heder
"Drive My Car" Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
"Dune" Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
"The Lost Daughter" Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal
"The Power of the Dog" Written by Jane Campion

Original screenplay
"Belfast" Written by Kenneth Branagh
"Don't Look Up" Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
"King Richard" Written by Zach Baylin
"Licorice Pizza" Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
"The Worst Person in the World" Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

What ... about ... Mass? Or Nine Days? I know I sound like a broken record by now. Licorice Pizza had more non sequiturs than Groucho Marx.  

Best motion picture of the year
"Belfast" Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers
"CODA" Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers
"Don't Look Up" Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers
"Drive My Car" Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer
"Dune" Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers
"King Richard" Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers
"Licorice Pizza" Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
"Nightmare Alley" Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers
"The Power of the Dog" Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers
"West Side Story" Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Nine Days and Mass should have been on this list. Also Pig. 

The rest of these I have no comments and no real opinions or haven't seen enough films to say. 

Best documentary short subject
"Audible" Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean
"Lead Me Home" Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk
"The Queen of Basketball" Ben Proudfoot
"Three Songs for Benazir" Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei
"When We Were Bullies" Jay Rosenblatt

Achievement in 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

Achievement in production design
"Dune" Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos
"Nightmare Alley" Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
"The Power of the Dog" Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
"The Tragedy of Macbeth" Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
"West Side Story" Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Best animated short film
"Affairs of the Art" Joanna Quinn and Les Mills
"Bestia" Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz
"Boxballet" Anton Dyakov
"Robin Robin" Dan Ojari and Mikey Please
"The Windshield Wiper" Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

Best live action short film
"Ala Kachuu - Take and Run" Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger
"The Dress" Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki
"The Long Goodbye" Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed
"On My Mind" Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson
"Please Hold" K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

Achievement in sound
"Belfast" Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri
"Dune" Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett
"No Time to Die" Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor
"The Power of the Dog" Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb
"West Side Story" Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

Achievement in visual effects
"Dune" Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer
"Free Guy" Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
"No Time to Die" Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick