The Upsets & Surprises of the 94th Oscar Nominees
Yesterday, The Academy revealed their nominees for the 94th Oscars. Unfortunately, as is the case with awards shows, a ton of people's favorite films received little to no nominations, while other nominations seemed to come out of the blue. So, let's wade into the nominees and look at the takeaways from this year's nominees.
Sorkin Loses Big
Starting with the big surprise, I was genuinely surprised to see the overall lack of Being the Ricardos here. The only love the film received from The Academy was Bardem in Actor in a Leading Role, Simmons in Actor in a Supporting Role, and Actress in a Leading Role. Even though I didn't think it would get nominated all that much, I assumed The Academy would eat up the film. It's a film about old Hollywood, something The Academy routinely loves, even if the film itself is terrible.
tick, tick...BOOM! Sneaks In
This year, my "no guts, no glory" prediction was that the film would receive nominations for Best Sound and Best Picture. Never in a million years would I have thought that Andrew Garfield would receive a nomination for his performance, nor a Film Editing nom. It just didn't feel like a film The Academy would go for, as the film is aimed towards audiences in or around their thirties (or remember what turning thirty felt like).
Parallel Mothers Receives Nominations
After not submitting in Best International Feature, Parallel Mothers' two nominations for Actress in a Leading Role & Original Score were a huge surprise. I assumed that since Spain didn't submit it, it was out of the race entirely. Of course, it's not unheard of, but still, I was floored by the choice.
Nightmare Alley Conjures Up A Best Picture Slot
Somehow, a film almost entirely overshadowed by box office big shots managed not only to receive noms for Cinematography, Costume Design, Production Design but Best Picture as well. Here's hoping Bradley Cooper (who's a producer on the film) can score Oscar gold with this nomination.
The Academy Rewards International Features
As more and more voting members join The Academy, a trend is beginning to emerge: there's a lot of love for international features. Drive My Car, The Worst Person in the World, and Flee blew away the competition, scoring not only Best International Feature noms but also appearing in categories where English language films usually dominate.
Drive My Car drove its way to four nominations, including Best International Feature, Adapted Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture, becoming the first Japanese film nominated in the category. This is an achievement worthy of celebrating, especially given that the film didn't have a wide release and is getting awards love just about everywhere it pops up. Props to Sideshow and Janus Films for promoting this film.
Flee, a Danish animated documentary, also set its own record: the film is the first to be nominated in Best Picture, Best International Feature, Documentary (Feature), and Animated Feature. Of course, it probably won't win in anything, but it's still great to see here.
One of the biggest surprises was The Worst Person in the World, scoring nominations in Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. I assumed that it would appear in International Feature Film, but the Screenplay nom is especially interesting, as the category is usually reserved for heady dramas. I can't wait to see it.
No Denis Villeneuve for Directing
Despite being the second most-nominated film of the 94th Oscars, Dune: Part One director Denis Villeneuve somehow did not land a Directing nom. If I had any theories as to why it missed, I'd assume Drive My Car took the slot that Denis would've occupied. That's the only way I could explain its absence here.
A Weird Case of Documentaries
Documentary Feature is always a weird category to predict, but I thought I had the nominees in the palm of my hand this year. But, strangely, I didn't. Instead of nominating The First Wave or The Rescue, The Academy went with Attica and Writing with Fire in those spots. These films did not show up at any other awards show, so their nominations blew me away—props to Showtime and Music Box Films' PR teams for promoting these films.
Don't Look Up, One of 2021's Worst Films, Gets Nominated
This happens every year. There's always a head-scratcher of a film that gets nominated in several categories. This year, it was Don't Look Up. The film gained noms for Film Editing, Original Score, Original Screenplay, and hilariously, Best Picture. No one can convince me that voters weren't dared to vote for this film because I don't know how someone can watch it and think it deserves four nominations.
We're Safe from House of Gucci
Going into the nominations, it was widely assumed that House of Gucci would be the head-scratcher nominee of the year, and The Academy would nominate Gaga & Leto for their performances, Costume Design, and Makeup & Hairstyling. But, instead, The Academy saved us the pain and only nominated the film for Makeup & Hairstyling.
Shutouts
Despite getting massive critical love, films like Zola, The French Dispatch, Pig, The Green Knight, Mass, Annette, I'm Your Man, In the Heights, The Last Duel, and many more were completely absent from The Academy's nominations.
If I had to guess why these missed noms, films like The Tragedy of Macbeth and Nightmare Alley were the main opponents here for Zola, The French Dispatch, The Green Knight, and The Last Duel. For Mass, its main opponent was The Worst Person in the World. For Annette & In The Heights, "Dos Oruguitas" and "Somehow You Do" took their spots. For I'm Your Man, I think The Worst Person in the World took its spot in International Feature.
Until next time!
Thanks to Thomas Stoneham-Judge from Movies For Reel, Shane Conto, Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, and Matthew Simpson for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!
