A Reel Opinion - Oscar Nominations: The Good, The Bad, & The Glorious

The nominations for the 95th Academy Awards, which will honor the best in 2022 cinema, were announced this morning. Here’s how it all landed in The Good, The Bad, and The Glorious. 

 

THE GOOD

-The nominations were hosted by former Best Actor nominee Raiz Ahmed and GET OUT star turned-producer Allison Williams. Both were excellent. 

 

-The biggest surprise of the day came from the Netflix-produced adaptation of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, which pulled in a total of nine…including Best Picture and Best International Film. 

 

-Right behind ALL QUIET was THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN and ELVIS with eight each, followed by Steven Spielberg’s THE FABELMANS (7), and TAR and TOP GUN MAVERICK with six each. 

 

-Angela Bassett became the first Marvel Cinematic Universe actor/actress to earn an acting nomination, with a Best Supporting Actress nod for her part in BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. 

 

-There were a total of four (4) films in the now-required ten (10) Best Picture nominees that earned more than $100 million at the box office. This is a step away from the last 20 years of smaller films getting all the attention, but it also shows that the Academy is willing to honor popular films (or in other words, movies that people actually see). 

 

THE BAD

-James Cameron did not get a nomination for Best Director, despite his AVATAR sequel’s success with critics and audiences. 

 

-TOP GUN: MAVERICK did not get a nomination for Best Cinematography, despite the film’s outstanding visuals and accomplishments in actually filming inside fighter jets. 

 

-We have to wait until March 12th (47 days from now), for these nominations to become awards. Any excitement earned in the general public and on social media will certainly wane by then. Academy Board: shorten the gap. No more than one month. 

 

THE GLORIOUS

-John Williams earned his 52nd career nomination for his score for Spielberg’s THE FABELMANS. 

 

-Judd Hirsch, who got a Best Supporting Actor nod for THE FABELMANS, has his first nomination in 43 years…with his first being in 1980 for ORDINARY PEOPLE. 

 

-Go Irish! Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson both receiving their first nominations, alongside their BANSHEES director, Martin McDonagh. 

 

-Cate Blanchett joins an elite club of Marlon Brando, Glenn Close, Judi Dench, Jack Lemmon, Peter O'Toole, and Geraldine Page in scoring eight career acting nominations. 

 

-ELVIS cinematographer Mandy Walker becomes the third woman in history to be nominated for Best Cinematography. 

 

-As expected, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE earned the most nominations with 11. The sci-fi fantasy film, which has been in the Best Picture conversation since early in the year, ticked all the right boxes with Best Director (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinart), Screenplay, Editing, and four (!) acting nominations: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis (!!). The right film leads the way, and that’s how it should be. 

 

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The Oscars will be awarded March 12th.