The 94th Academy Awards – Reviews Of Nominated Films & List Of All Nominees

The Oscars are on tonight so I’m finally doing a post with links to the reviews I’ve done of some of the nominated films.

I can’t believe I used to stay up all night long to watch the Oscars live when I first moved to the U.K. Ugh. I don’t anymore because 1) I don’t always have access to the live ceremony because that service is too expensive and 2) I’m too old & tired to stay up all night (and then go to work! how did I do that?!) but most importantly 3) Screw the Oscars! They’ve become a joke in the past several years & this year’s ceremony sounds ridiculous. I had a rant during my Mass review but I’ll just say again that I don’t have time for a movie awards ceremony that doesn’t see the Best Original Score & all the others not being presented as important enough to make the live show.

But I’m sure I’ll still watch the shorter recap show tomorrow night & bitch about the ceremony the whole time…

Well, there seem to be better Best Picture nominees than some years but I’ve only seen six of the ten. Of those I’ve not seen, I really do want to see Drive My Car. I’m sure I’ll check out King Richard, Licorice Pizza & Belfast when available too but I’m in no rush. I think The Power Of The Dog will probably win anyway, which was my least favorite of those I’ve seen. I loved Dune & CODA. Actually not sure which of the two I preferred. Dune is more “me” but CODA was so lovely & thoroughly enjoyable to watch. They’re maybe tied.

Here are my reviews of those I’ve seen of all the nominees (from my favorite to least favorite):

TIE: Dune & CODA
The Lost Daughter
Don’t Look Up
West Side Story
Tick, Tick… Boom!
The Mitchells Vs The Machines
Raya And The Last Dragon
Encanto
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
Free Guy
The Power Of The Dog
Cruella
Nightmare Alley
Coming 2 America
Luca
Being the Ricardos
Spencer (hated this)

There were also some strong documentaries & shorts that were luckily available on U.K. services. Summer Of Soul was great with fantastic music so I really enjoyed that. And Please Hold was a good Black-Mirror-Inspired story.

Nominated Documentaries & Shorts I’ve Seen (not ranked):

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Please Hold
The Long Goodbye
Three Songs For Benazir
Boxballet
The Windshield Wiper
Robin Robin

Here are all the Oscar nominees:

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”

Best Actress:
Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mother”
Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”

Best Actor:
Will Smith, “King Richard”
Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick… Boom!”

Best Supporting Actress:
Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story
”Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog
”Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”
Judi Dench, “Belfast”

Best Supporting Actor:
Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
J.K. Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”
Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
Ciaran Hinds, “Belfast”

Best Director:
Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”

Best Original Screenplay:
“Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up” Adam McKay, David Sirota
“King Richard,” Zach Baylin
“Licorice Pizza,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Worst Person in the World,” Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt

Best Adapted Screenplay:
“CODA,” Siân Heder
“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion
“Drive My Car,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
“Dune,” Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
“The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal

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)

Best Documentary Feature:
“Ascension”
“Attica”
“Flee”
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”
“Writing With Fire”

Best Animated Feature Film:
“Encanto”
“Flee”
“Luca”
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
“Raya and the Last Dragon”

Best Animated Short:
“Affairs of the Art”
“Bestia”
“Boxballet”
“Robin Robin”
“The Windshield Wiper”

Best Documentary Short Subject:
“Audible”
“Lead Me Home”
“The Queen of Basketball”
“Three Songs for Benazir”
“When We Were Bullies”

Best Live Action Short:
“Ala Kachuu ― Take and Run”
“The Dress”
“The Long Goodbye”
“On My Mind”
“Please Hold”

Best Cinematography:
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
“West Side Story”

Best Film Editing:
“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“The Power of the Dog”
“Tick, Tick … Boom!”

Best Production Design:
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
“West Side Story”
“The Power of the Dog”

Best Original Song:
“Be Alive” (“King Richard”), Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Dixson
“Dos Oruguitas” (“Encanto”), Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Down to Joy” (“Belfast”), Van Morrison
“No Time to Die” (“No Time to Die”), Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell
“Somehow You Do” (“Four Good Days”), Diane Warren

Best 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

Best Sound:
“Belfast”
“Dune”
“No Time to Die”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”

Best Costume Design:
“Cruella”
“Cyrano”
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“West Side Story”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
“Coming 2 America”
“Cruella”
“Dune”
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
“House of Gucci”

Best Visual Effects:
“Dune”
“Free Guy”
“No Time to Die”
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
“Spider-Man: No Way Home”