Oscars 2022 Nominations: The Power Of The Dog, Dune Lead Race; Populist Films Like Spider-Man: No Way Home, No Time To Die Snubbed

Spider-Man: No Way Home may have the biggest movie of 2021 (earning over US$1.7 billion or S$2.3 billion worldwide) — amid a pandemic, no less — it failed to impress the Academy voters to land a Best Picture nomination – it only secured a nod for Best Visual Effects.

When the Oscars 2022 nominations were revealed Tuesday, the contenders are mostly skewed towards arthouse choices, with Netflix’s gothic Western drama The Power of the Dog, leading the race with 12 nods, including Best Picture, Best Director for Jane Campion, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst and Best Supporting Actor for Kodi Smith-McPhee and Jesse Plemons.

Campion was last nominated 28 years ago for The Piano, making her the first female auteur nominated twice in the Academy Awards’ 94-year history.

Trailing The Power of the Dog with 10 nominations is sci-fi epic Dune, while Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical family drama Belfast' and Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story earned seven nods apiece.

Spielberg, a Best Director nominee, set a new Oscar record as a producer: he’s now produced 11 films nominated for Best Picture. Ariana DeBose, who plays Anita in the 2021 version of West Side Story, picked up a Best Supporting Actress nod for a role that Rita Moreno originated in the 1961 original version (the Best Picture winner, by the way). Moreno, who was born in Puerto Rico, won an Oscar for her portrayal of Anita, becoming the first Latina to take home an Academy Award. Will history repeat again?

Elsewhere, two couples are nominated in the acting categories: husband and wife Javier Bardem (Best Actor, Being The Ricardos) and Penelope Cruz (Best Actress, Parallel Mothers), while Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst (Best Supporting Actor and Actress, The Power of the Dog,) are engaged.

In terms of Asian representation, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car — an adaptation of a short story by Haruki Murakami about a stage director haunted by his late wife’s memories while prepping a play — received four nominations, Best Picture, Best International Feature and Best Adapted Screenplay. (Like Parasite two years ago, the voters didn’t care about the actors. Sigh.) Japan last won Best International Feature in 2009 with Yojiro Takita’s Departures.

Bhutan earned its first-ever Oscar nomination, in the Best International Feature category with Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. Featuring a cast of mostly non-professional actors, the film tells the story of an aspiring singer who is slacking at work by his supervisor and is transferred to a remote village called Lunana.

Meanwhile, it’s a bad day for Ridley Scott: both the medieval #MeToo drama The Last Duel and the true-crime soap opera House of Gucci are largely ignored. The latter only managed to get a nod for Best Makeup and Styling. Lady Gaga, despite the Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, was locked out of the Best Actress race, which now sees Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Olivia Colman for The Lost Daughter, Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) and Kristen Stewart (Spencer) vying for the prize.

Gaga’s co-star Jared Leto was ignored too: his Critics Choice and SAG Award nominations failed to land him a Best Supporting Actor nod. But on the bright side: he is nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the Razzies. So congrats?

The 94th Annual Academy Awards will be on March 27, 5pm (PT), at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. For the first time since 2018, the in-person ceremony will have a host. At the time of writing, it’s reported that multiple hosts will be involved, but no official names have been revealed yet. (Is Ronny Chieng on that list?)

Here are the nominations in the major categories:

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 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

Best Actor in a Leading Role

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

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter

Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers

Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Best 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

Best Supporting Actress

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Judy Dench, Belfast

Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog

Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

Best Animated Feature Film

Encanto

Flee

Luca

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Raya and the Last Dragon

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)

For the complete list of nominations, click here. Catch the 94th Annual Academy Awards live on meWATCH and Channel 5 on Mar 28 at 6.30am SGT (Red Carpet) and 8am SGT (main show).

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos