The hot takes are in the air and filling our timelines at a more alarming rate than usual, which can only mean one thing—it’s Oscar season again. It feels like only yesterday the Bong Hive was celebrating Parasite’s historic win in the streets—hang on, I’m getting word that was actually TWO years ago?! Remember last year’s Mank? No? Me neither. Time really flies in our current era of straight-to-streaming and battered box office numbers due to the ever present COVID-19 pandemic. Still, going to the movies triumphs, as it always does.
In a historic moment, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has nominated a woman for Best Director for the second year in a row: Jane Campion has been nominated for her The Power of the Dog adaptation and Chloe Zhao took home the gold last year for Nomadland. This also marks New Zealand filmmaker Campion’s second Best Director nomination, the first woman to do so. She was first nominated in 1994 for her masterpiece The Piano, for which she won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
The Power of the Dog leads the pack with 12 nominations. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation follows closely behind with 10 nominations, followed by Steven Spielberg’s take on West Side Story and Kenneth Branagh’s coming-of-age drama Belfast, which each nabbed seven nominations. This marks Spielberg’s eighth Best Director nomination. As director, producer and writer, Branagh became the first person to earn seven Oscar nominations in seven different categories for Belfast.
The 94th Oscars will air March 27 on ABC. It has been announced that there will be a host, but the host has yet to be revealed.
Even if you just need something to talk about with your co-workers around the Zoom water cooler, check out the full list of nominations below:
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
Lead 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
Lead 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
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
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
Director
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
Animated Feature
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Animated Short
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
Adapted Screenplay
CODA
Drive My Car
Dune
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog
Original Screenplay
Belfast
Don’t Look Up
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
The Worst Person in the World
Cinematography
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Best Documentary
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Writing With Fire
Best Documentary Short Subject
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
Best Live Action Short Film
Ala Kachuu – Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
Best International Feature Film
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)
Film Editing
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
The Power of the Dog
Tick, Tick…Boom!
Best Sound
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
Production Design
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Original Score
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Encanto
Parallel Mothers
The Power of the Dog
Original Song
“Be Alive,” King Richard
“Dos Oruguitas,” Encanto
“Down to Joy,” Belfast
“No Time to Die,” No Time to Die
“Somehow You Do,” Four Good Days
Makeup and Hair
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Costume Design
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story
Visual Effects
Dune
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home