And the Nominees for the 94th Academy Awards Are…

At 5:18am Pacific Time this morning, Tracie Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan announced the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards, which are set to air on ABC on March 27th. There were shocking snubs, surprise inclusions, and new records abound. Below I list the key takeaways and the nominees in the major categories, along with their Oscar history.

Click here to see my review of the 94th Academy Awards

10 Key Headlines from This Morning’s Oscar Nominations

1. Lady Gaga, Denis Villeneuve, Aaron Sorkin, Catriona Balfe, and Tony Kushner are shockingly excluded. Usually, the headlines on Oscar nomination morning are about who got the most nominations. This year, however, it feels like the biggest story is about how many people were snubbed. It must be said that “snubbed” is a horribly overused term. Most journalists and awards enthusiasts use it every time someone they think or hope will get nominated doesn’t. That’s not a snub. In fact, not nominating someone for anything really isn’t really a snub at all. However, it feels like a snub when someone is excluded from the list of nominees despite feeling like a heavy favorite (or “lock”) for a nomination based on industry buzz and their performance during awards season to date. That was the case with not 1, but 5, individuals this year. Lady Gaga and Catriona Balfe showed up on every single major list of Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for their roles in House of Gucci and Belfast, respectively, but both were snubbed this morning. Three-time previous nominee Gaga was nowhere to be found in Best Actress and Balfe was excluded in favor of her costar Judi Dench (who was considered a long-shot). In Best Director, Denis Villeneuve (a prior nominee in the category for Arrival) was excluded for Dune. This is shocking considering he was nominated everywhere else so far, his film is a particularly stunning directorial achievement, and his film was nominated in 10 other categories (including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay). In the screenplay categories, presumed locks Aaron Sorkin (who has 4 prior writing nominations and 1 win) and Tony Kushner (who has 2 prior writing nominations and a Pulitzer Prize) were nowhere to be found, despite the fact their films had strong showings overall (Being the Ricardos got 3 acting nominations and West Side Story was nominated in 7 categories including Best Picture). It was certainly a morning full of shocking exclusions, but there were also some delightfully surprising inclusions — like Kristen Stewart getting nominated for Pablo Lorrain’s Spencer after being excluded by SAG and BAFTA and Penelope Cruz defying the odds by getting nominated for her turn in Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers despite receiving no major precursor nominations.
2. It was a great morning for The Power of the Dog, Belfast, Drive My Car, King Richard, The Lost Daughter, and Nightmare Alley. The other big headline of the morning is how much The Power of the Dog dominated. The Jane Campion-directed Western, which is rife with psychological complexity, got nominated for 12 Oscars (the all-time record is 14 held by Titanic and All About Eve). It showed up everywhere it was expected to and got some unexpected nominations like Best Supporting Actor for Jesse Plemons and Best Sound. Another over-performer was Drive My Car. The critically worshipped Japanese drama was considered a shoo-in for Best International Feature, but it surprised with nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Lost Daughter added a surprise Supporting Actress nomination to its “sure bet” nominations of Best Actress (Olivia Colman) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Nightmare Alley was included in Best Picture despite its uneven awards season run. Belfast and King Richard didn’t over-perform, but they showed up everywhere they were expected to with no exceptions.
3. It was a mixed bag of a morning for Dune, West Side Story, Being the Ricardos, Don’t Look Up, Licorice Pizza, and CODA. Dune scored an impressive 10 nominations, but its omission for Best Director was a baffling disappointment. The same goes for 7-time nominee and its failure to break into Best Adapted Screenplay (Kushner) and Best Supporting Actor (Mike Faist). Being the Ricardos stunned by getting three acting nominations for Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, and JK Simmons, but it was nowhere to be found in Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (Sorkin), or any of the craft categories. And then there’s Don’t Look Up, Licorice Pizza, and CODA, which each showed up in major categories (including Best Picture) but barely anywhere else, scoring a combined 10 nominations. It was a flat-out awful morning for House of Gucci, Cyrano, Passing, and Mass, which failed to score any major nominations despite some significant buzz.
4. It was a solid year for diversity and inclusion. Last year was historic for diversity and inclusion in the main Oscar categories. For the first time ever there were 2 women and 2 people of color nominated in Best Director and 9 out of the 20 acting nominees were people of color. This year is decidedly less diverse, but it’s not #OscarsSoWhite or #OscarsSoMale either. We have one woman in Best Director who is also the first woman ever to be nominated in the category twice (the tally stands at 7 women directors receiving 8 nominations). The category for Best Director also included Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who became just the 8th Asian director to be included in the category. Of the 20 acting nominations, 4 went to people of color — Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Ariana DeBose, and Aunjanue Ellis. Additionally, 2 Hispanic actors were nominated — the husband-and-wife team of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. Also, Troy Kotsur became the first deaf male nominated for an acting award, two openly queer performers were nominated for acting Oscars (Kristen Stewart and Ariana DeBose), and the traditionally male-dominated Best Adapted Screenplay category had a nice mixup with 3 of the 5 slots going to women (Sian Heder, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Campion).
5. Kenneth Brannagh and Flee smash fascinating records. Kenneth Brannagh now has the utterly fascinating distinction of being nominated across 7 categories. This breaks the record held by the unlikely duo of George Clooney and Walt Disney. Brannagh has been nominated 8 times to date — Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Belfast this year; Best Supporting Actor for My Week with Marilyn; Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet; Best Director and Best Actor for Henry V; Best Live Action Short for Swan Song. He has yet to win but this is an astonishing and singular feat. Another astonishing record was set by Flee. The Danish film was nominated in Best International Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature. It is a mind-boggling feat for the wrenching animated documentary about an LGBT refugee from Afghanistan.
6. There was no category fraud. Last year included one of the most egregious cases of “category fraud” in history, when Judas and the Black Messiah’s co-leads were bizarrely nominated together in Best Supporting Actor. This year there are no cases of category fraud. All 10 of the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees are clearly lead and all 10 of the Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress nominees are clearly supporting. It’s a rarity for the Oscars — and a refreshing one.
7. Denzel Washington and Judi Dench inch closer to acting Oscar records. Denzel Washington received his 9th acting nomination for The Tragedy of Macbeth. This puts him at #6 on the list of most acting nominations ever (in a 4-way tie with Spencer Tracy, Paul Newman, and Al Pacino) and #3 on the list of male actors with the most acting nominations. It also puts him behind only Meryl Streep (an astonishing 21 nominations) as the most nominated actor who is currently working and the most nominated male actor who remains active. He is by far the most nominated black actor in history, with Morgan Freeman (5 nominations, 1 win) and Viola Davis (4 nominations, 1 win) far behind. (Note: Washington has an additional nomination for producing Best Picture nominee Fences, bringing his overall tally to 10.) Meanwhile, Judi Dench received her 8th acting nomination for Belfast. That puts her at #10 on the list of most acting nominations ever (in a 6-way tie with Glenn Close, Marlon Brando, Jack Lemmon, Peter O’Toole, and Geraldine Page) and #4 on the list of female actors with the most acting nominations. It puts her behind only Meryl Streep and Denzel Washington as the most nominated performer who remains active. (Note: At 87 years old, her nomination makes her the 2nd oldest acting nominee in history behind only Gloria Stuart for Titanic who was 160 days older at the time of her nomination.)
8. Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, and Steven Spielberg add to their stunning Best Picture records. With Don’t Look Up, Nightmare Alley, and West Side Story’s nominations for Best Picture, several A-listers added to their impressive Best Picture Oscar records. With Don’t Look Up, Leonardo DiCaprio has now appeared in 10 films nominated for Best Picture. He is tied with Jack Nicholson and only behind Robert DeNiro (who has appeared in 11). With Don’t Look Up and Nightmare Alley, Cate Blanchett has now appeared in 9 films nominated for Best Picture. She surpasses Olivia de Havilland for most appearances in a Best Picture nominee by a female actor. Nipping at her heels is Meryl Streep who, with Don’t Look Up, has now appeared in 8 films nominated for Best Picture. Another impressive stat is that with Nightmare Alley and Licorice Pizza, Bradley Cooper has now appeared in 6 Best Picture nominees in the past 10 years alone. He also produced Joker, meaning that he has been involved with a total of 7 Best Picture nominees in the last decade. Similarly, with Dune and Don’t Look Up contending, Timothee Chalamet has now appeared in 5 Best Picture nominees in a 5 year span. Then there’s Steven Spielberg. The legendary director has now directed 13 Best Picture nominees, tying him with William Wyler. His nominated films are Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Letters from Iwo Jima, War Horse, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies, The Post, and West Side Story. He is also now the only director to be nominated for Best Director in 6 separate decades. Overall, it was a big year for A-list legends.
9. With one notable exception, the Academy didn’t markedly deviate from the critics. There was a lot of talk in recent weeks about House of Gucci and Being the Ricardos getting into Best Picture. The two films played well throughout awards season but generally fared poorly with critics. But both were excluded from the top award, leaving Don’t Look Up as the critical disappointment to get included in the top category (it has a pretty awful 49/100 on Metacritic). The other 9 nominees had overall positive critical reviews on Metacritic: Drive My Car (91/100), Licorice Pizza (90/100), The Power of the Dog (89/100), West Side Story (85/100), Belfast (75/100), CODA (75/100), Dune (74/100), and Nightmare Alley (69/100). However, the average Metacritic rating for the 10 nominees was only 77.3, the lowest it has been since the dismal 2011 lineup.
10. Some top races are clarified, while others remain a mystery. It is looking more and more like we will see a dominant showing by The Power of the Dog, with it being the frontrunner to secure Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Smit-McPhee), and Best Adapted Screenplay. However, the other categories remain a question mark. The smart money is on Ariana DeBose for Best Supporting Actress, but with the category including two surprise nominees she is definitely not a lock. Best Original Screenplay looks to be a showdown between Brannagh and Anderson, who now have a combined tally of 19 Oscar nominations but have yet to win. And for the second year in a row the lead acting awards are the biggest nail-biters. Best Actor is a dead heat between Cumberbatch and Smith and Best Actress is honestly anyone’s game (except Lady Gaga’s, sadly).

Note on my predictions: Of the 45 nominees in the top 8 categories (Best Picture, Best Director, the 4 acting categories, and the 2 screenplay categories) I correctly predicted 34 (76%). Of the 11 I missed, all were on my list of potential alternatives. This is decidedly lower than my performance the last three years when I got 81%, 82% and 86% correct. But it’s really a win either way. If my predictions are accurate, I get bragging rights. If they are inaccurate, I get the benefit of a fresh and exciting race.

The Nominees in the Top 8 Categories

Best Picture

• Belfast (7 nominations)
• CODA (3 nominations)
• Don’t Look Up (4 nominations)
• Drive My Car (4 nominations)
• Dune (10 nominations)
• King Richard (6 nominations)
• Licorice Pizza (3 nominations)
• Nightmare Alley (4 nominations)
• The Power of the Dog (12 nominations)
• West Side Story (7 nominations)

Best Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson (Now has 11 nominations across 4 categories — Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay for Licorice Pizza this year; Picture and Director for Phantom Thread; Adapted Screenplay for Inherent Vice; Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay for There Will Be Blood; Original Screenplay for Magnolia; Original Screenplay for Boogie Nights; he has never won)
• Kenneth Brannagh, Belfast (see #5 above)
• Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog (Now has 5 nominations across 3 categories — Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay for The Power of the Dog this year; Director and Adapted Screenplay for The Piano; she won Adapted Screenplay for The Piano)
• Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car (1st nomination; he has an additional nomination this year for Original Screenplay)
• Steven Spielberg, West Side Story (Now has 19 nominations — Picture and Director for West Side Story this year, ET, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, and Lincoln; Picture only for The Color Purple, Letters from Iwo Jima, War Horse, Bridge of Spies, and The Post; Director only for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark; he has 3 Oscar wins — Picture and Director for Schindler’s List and Director for Saving Private Ryan)

Best Leading Actress

• Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2 prior nominations — Actress for Zero Dark Thirty and Supporting Actress for The Help; she has never won)
• Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers (3 prior nominations — Actress for Volver and Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Nine; she won for Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
• Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter (2 prior nominations — Actress for The Favorite and Supporting Actress for The Father; she won for The Favorite)
• Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos (4 prior nominations — Actress for Moulin Rouge!, The Hours, and Rabbit Hole and Supporting Actress for Lion; she won for The Hours)
• Kristen Stewart, Spencer (1st nomination)

Best Leading Actor

• Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos (3 prior nominations — Actor for Before Night Falls and Biutiful and Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men; he won for No Country for Old Men)
• Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog (1 prior nomination for Actor for The Imitation Game; he has never won)
• Andrew Garfield, tick, tick…Boom! (1 prior nomination for Actor for Hacksaw Ridge; he has never won)
• Will Smith, King Richard (2 prior nominations — Actor for Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness; he has an additional nomination this year for Picture for King Richard; he has never won)
• Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth (9 prior nominations — Actor for Roman J. Israel Esq., Fences, Flight, Training Day, The Hurricane, and Malcolm X; Supporting Actor for Glory and Cry Freedom; and Picture for Fences; he won for Training Day and Glory)

Best Supporting Actress

• Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter (1st nomination)
• Ariana DeBose, West Side Story (1st nomination)
• Judi Dench, Belfast (7 prior nominations — Actress for Philomena, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Notes on a Scandal, Iris, and Mrs. Brown; Supporting Actress for Chocolat and Shakespeare in Love; she won for Shakespeare in Love)
• Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog (1st nomination)
• Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard (1st nomination)

Best Supporting Actor

• Ciaran Hinds, Belfast (1st nomination)
• Troy Kotsur, CODA (1st nomination)
• JK Simmons, Being the Ricardos (1 prior nomination and win for Supporting Actor for Whiplash)
• Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog (1st nomination)
• Kodi Smitt-McPhee, The Power of the Dog (1st nomination)

Best Original Screenplay

• Kenneth Brannagh, Belfast (see above)
• Adam McKay and David Sirota, Don’t Look Up (McKay now has 7 nominations: Picture and Original Screenplay for Don’t Look Up this year; Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay for Vice; and Picture and Director for The Big Short; he has never won an Oscar; Sirota: 1st nomination)
• Zach Baylin, King Richard (1st nomination)
• Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza (see above)
• Ekil Vogt and Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World (1st nomination for both)

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Sian Heder, CODA (She now has 2 nominations for Picture and Adapted Screenplay for CODA this year)
• Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car (see above)
• Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth, Dune (Spaihts: 1st nomination; Villeneuve now has 3 nominations: Picture and Adapted Screenplay for Dune this year and Director for Arrival; Roth has 7 prior nominations: Picture for Mank and Adapted Screenplay for A Star is Born, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Munich, The Insider, and Forrest Gump; Roth won the Oscar for Forrest Gump)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter (1 prior nomination for Supporting Actress for Crazy Heart)
• Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog (see above)

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