Jane Campion鈥檚 gothic western 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥� led nominations to the 94th Academy Awards, where streaming services more than ever before swept over Hollywood鈥檚 top honors.
Campion鈥檚 Netflix film landed a leading 12 nominations in nominations announced Tuesday, including nods for best picture, best director and all of its top actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Campion, a nominee for 1993鈥瞫 鈥淭he Piano,鈥� became the first woman to ever be nominated twice for best director. Last year, Chlo茅 Zhao became just the second woman to ever win the award. Campion鈥檚 director of photography, Ari Wegner, also became the second woman ever nominated for best cinematography. The only previous woman to do so was Rachel Morrison for 鈥淢udbound鈥� in 2018.
Denis Villeneuve鈥檚 鈥淒une鈥� followed closely behind with 10 nominations spread out largely in the technical categories as the academy gravitated to the craft of Villeneuve鈥檚 science-fiction epic.
The nominees for best picture are: 鈥淏elfast鈥�; 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥�; 鈥淒une鈥�; 鈥淒rive My Car鈥�; 鈥淲est Side Story鈥�; 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up鈥�; 鈥淟icorice Pizza鈥�; 鈥淐ODA鈥�; 鈥淜ing Richard鈥�; 鈥淣ightmare Alley.鈥�
Best picture has never been won by a film from a streaming service, but half of the 10 nominees came from streaming services. This year, the odds may be better than ever that a streamer will finally barrel through one of the last walls of Hollywood tradition.
Apple notched its first best-picture nomination with the deaf drama 鈥淐ODA.鈥� Netflix backed both 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥� and Adam McKay鈥檚 apocalyptic comedy 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up.鈥� And both 鈥淜ing Richard鈥� and 鈥淒une鈥� (despite the protests of its director) debuted simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.
In pulling from films released in myriad ways, the Oscar nominations reflected the tumult of pandemic year for Hollywood that began with many theaters shuttered and ended with Sony Pictures鈥� 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home鈥� smashing box-office records. Spidey, though, landed only a single nomination, for visual effects.
A largely virtual awards season added some unpredictability to this year鈥檚 nominations, which were announced by actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. This year鈥檚 Oscars will be delayed to make way for the Olympics, the Oscars will be held March 27 and will return to their usual venue, the Dolby Theatre.
And there were surprises all around. Lady Gaga, star of 鈥淗ouse of Gucci,鈥� was overlooked in the uber-competitive best actress category. Nominated instead were Jessica Chastain, 鈥淭he Eyes of Tammy Faye鈥�; Olivia Colman, 鈥淭he Lost Daughter鈥�; Pen茅lope Cruz, 鈥淧arallel Mothers鈥�; Nicole Kidman, 鈥淏eing the Ricardos鈥�; and Kristen Stewart for 鈥淪pencer鈥� 鈥� whose hopes for her first Oscar nomination had seemed dashed after she was snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild.
鈥淒rive My Car,鈥� Ryusuke Hamaguchi鈥檚 masterful three-hour Japanese drama, scored major nominations including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay. The academy, which in 2020 made Bong Joon Ho鈥檚 Korean thriller 鈥淧arasite鈥� the best picture winner, has drifted overseas in recent years, as more international members have been added to help diversify the organization.
The nominees for best actor are: Will Smith, 鈥淜ing Richard鈥�; Javier Bardem, 鈥淏eing the Ricardos鈥�; Benedict Cumberbatch, 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥�; Andrew Garfield, 鈥淭ick, Tick 鈥� Boom!鈥� and Denzel Washington, 鈥淭he Tragedy of Macbeth.鈥�
The nominees for best supporting actress are: Jessie Buckley, 鈥淭he Lost Daughter鈥�; Ariana DeBose, 鈥淲est Side Story鈥�; Judi Dench, 鈥淏elfast鈥�; Kirsten Dunst, 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥� and Aunjanue Ellis, 鈥淜ing Richard.鈥�
The nominees for best supporting actor are: Ciar谩n Hinds, 鈥淏elfast鈥�; Troy Kotsur, 鈥淐ODA鈥�; Kodi Smit-McPhee, 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥�; Jesse Plemons, 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥� and J.K. Simmons, 鈥淏eing the Ricardos.鈥�
The nominees for original song are: 鈥淏e Alive鈥� from 鈥淜ing Richard鈥�; 鈥淒os Oruguitas鈥� from 鈥淓ncanto鈥�; 鈥淒own To Joy鈥� from 鈥淏elfast鈥�; 鈥淣o Time To Die鈥� from 鈥淣o Time to Die鈥�; 鈥淪omehow You Do鈥� from 鈥淔our Good Days.鈥�
The nominees for best animated feature are: 鈥淓ncanto鈥�; 鈥淔lee鈥�; 鈥淟uca鈥�; 鈥淭he Mitchells vs. the Machines鈥� and 鈥淩aya and the Last Dragon.鈥�
The nominees for documentary feature are: 鈥淪ummer of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)鈥�; 鈥淔lee鈥�; 鈥淎ttica鈥�; 鈥淎scension鈥� and 鈥淲riting With Fire.鈥�
Nominees for best director are: Paul Thomas Anderson, 鈥淟icorice Pizza鈥�; Kenneth Branagh, 鈥淏elfast鈥�; Jane Campion, 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥�; Steven Spielberg, 鈥淲est Side Story鈥� and Ry没suke Hamaguchi, 鈥淒rive My Car.鈥�
As COVID-19 cases surged in the last two months due to the omicron variant, much of Oscar season also turned virtual. Last year, the pandemic led the academy to host a delayed Oscars in a socially distanced ceremony at Los Angeles鈥� Union Station. Ratings plummeted to an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers.
This year, the academy has yet to map out plans for its show, except that it will include a host for the first time since 2018. For better or worse, the Academy Awards will also be without its usual lead-in. The Golden Globes in January were an untelevised non-event after NBC said it wouldn鈥檛 air them in 2022 while the beleaguered Hollywood Foreign Press reformed itself after ethics and diversity criticism.
Other changes were more subtle but potentially impactful. For the first time, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences ruled out hard-copy DVD screeners for its members, who instead could watch submissions on the academy鈥檚 streaming platform.
