2022 Oscars: Personal Nominations

*Brief spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.*

My other annual pre-Oscar post: who I would’ve nominated in each of my top categories. A number of shakeups this time around. There are some categories whose real-life nominations I’m not super enthusiastic about, while others, even with a strong starting set, had to get rearranged to fit some of my favorites in.

Best Picture – My picks are typically more genre-focused than the Academy’s, but this year, most of my genre filmls weren’t superhero, sci-fi, or fantasy—they were musicals. There were some stellar movie musicals that came out this year, and as much as I love West Side Story, I wish some of the others had gotten more love in the nominations.

Belfast

CODA

Drive My Car

Encanto – So much love. A beautiful film that deserved more awards love.

The Harder They Fall – This was a great film, super stylish with great acting and a fantastic soundtrack. Not nearly enough people are talking about it.

King Richard

Spider-Man: No Way Home – I liked all the Marvel movies that came out this past year, but of the four, I’d say this was the most consistent from start to finish.

tick, tick…BOOM! – How did this film get nominated for so little? It was incredible!

West Side Story

The Worst Person in the World

 

Best Leading Actor – This category surprised me a little. I quickly picked out a couple that I didn’t think needed to be on the list, but I didn’t have immediate alternatives at the ready; I had to think about it for a bit.

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)

Andrew Garfield (tick, tick…BOOM!)

Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car) – I wound up swapping out an American man doing Shakespeare for a Japanese man doing Chekhov, would about that? Nishijima’s performance in this film is subtle but rewarding.

Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) – Even though I did like In the Heights quite a bit, it doesn’t show up in my nominations as much as some of the other musicals this year. But Ramos is a great Usnavi and leads the film with aplomb.

Will Smith (King Richard)

 

Best Leading Actress – This one’s mostly the same. Only one big change, reflective of my pro-movie-musical agenda.

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)

Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)

Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) – Zegler did really lovely work in this film, and it would’ve been nice to see her get more recognition.

 

Best Supporting Actor – Whereas this one, I threw out everyone except Troy Kotsur and I still didn’t have room for everyone I wanted to nominate. So many great supporting performances this year that got overlooked for what feels like a lot of uninspired choices.

Robin de Jesús (tick, tick…BOOM!) – Loved de Jesús in this film: gorgeous singing, and such deft handling of the changes in tone.

Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man: No Way Home) – Yep, I’m nominating Garfield twice this year (but hey, he was great in The Eyes of Tammy Faye too, so when you think about it, I showed restraint!) But his return to the Spider-verse is just wonderful.

Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) – Okay, this one is a no-brainer, and his is the one superhero-movie performance I was hoping against hope would get nominated for real. Leung was out here turning in work that’s never been seen in a Marvel film before, and if anyone could break into the acting categories for the MCU, I would’ve wanted it to be him.

Lakeith Stanfield (The Harder They Fall) – Admittedly, Stanfield is a bit of a stand-in for all the men in this talented ensemble, but his performance was my favorite.

 

Best Supporting Actress – Only a couple changes here, including switching out one Belfast supporting actress for another.

Caitriona Balfe (Belfast) – I like Judi Dench as much as the next person, but I think Balfe had stronger material to work with and thus gave a more interesting performance.

Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)

Regina King (The Harder They Fall) – Much like Lakeith Stanfield, King is holding it down in this category representing all the women in her film. I’d have liked to fit in more than one if I could, but I didn’t have the space for it, and King edged out her very talented castmates by a hair.

 

Best Director – This was a crowded category this year. With only five slots, I had to leave off some masterfully directed films.

CODA – I really wish Sian Heder had been nominated for this film. Her work is stellar here, not least of which because she knows how to properly capture signed performances on film.

The Harder They Fall – Jeymes Samuel’s direction here is just dripping with cool, so good!

The Power of the Dog – The Power of the Dog wasn’t quite for me, but I can’t deny Jane Campion’s excellent work here.

tick, tick…BOOM! – Lin-Manuel Miranda bias aside, this is a legitimately stunning directorial debut, and it’s still wild to me that Miranda wasn’t recognized in this category.

West Side Story

 

Best Original Screenplay – Encanto and The Harder They Fall really didn’t get enough love this Oscar season. I’d have liked to see both represented here, especially over the nominations I removed to fit them in.

Belfast

Encanto – My heart!! In amid lots of fun and magic, Disney goes for the emotional jugular, and it pays off so well.

The Harder They Fall – I debated between this film and a few others, but I ultimately went with The Harder They Fall. It nicely manages a large cast of characters with a lot of interconnection, and it strikes a good balance between action and drama.

King Richard

The Worst Person in the World

 

Best Adapted Screenplay – Lots of changes on this one. There were some fantastic adapted screenplays that I think were overlooked this year.

CODA

The Lost Daughter – I debated between this one and Drive My Car, but I do love what The Lost Daughter does in conveying this story so much through mood and memory.

Spider-Man: No Way Home – The Tobey Maguire franchise gave us a cautionary tale in trying to juggle too many characters in one movie, but this film pulls it off magnificently. Exciting, emotional, and nostalgic without relying on easy geekbaiting.

tick, tick…BOOM! – So well done. This is an exquisite adaptation.

West Side Story – Tony Kushner not getting nominated for this film was such an oversight. He brought this story to life in such fresh, nuanced ways. Every character is so alive onscreen.

 

Best Cinematography – A few changes here. It was a good year for people who know how to shoot movie musicals, and the camera work in The Harder They Fall is absurdly stylish.

Dune

The Harder They Fall – So damn cool. The cinematography takes you on a journey in this movie.

The Power of the Dog

tick, tick…BOOM! – I raved about West Side Story’s ability to shoot musical numbers yesterday. tick, tick…BOOM! is just as impressive on that front, but in an almost completely different way.

West Side Story