The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently announced their nominations for the Academy Awards for the films of 2022. Nicknamed the Oscar, this is a prestigious award given to what the jury of Academy voters deem the best in artistic and technical merit in the film industry.
This list of nominations has made the rounds on the internet for being more surprising and diverse than some years in the past. There are a total of twenty-three categories and of those the most notable are Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Actor.
In the category for Best Actor, are actors Austin Butler (Elvis), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Paul Mescal (Aftersun), and Bill Nighy (Living). The biggest surprise of the nominees was Irish actor Paul Mescal, acknowledged for his work as a single dad struggling with mental health on a vacation with his daughter in Turkey.
However, the frontrunners to win the award are Austin Butler and Brendan Fraser. Butler portrays the “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley, while Fraser portrays Charlie, a 600-pound English professor dealing with the recent death of his boyfriend.
For Best Actress, Cate Blanchett (Tar), Ana De Armas (Blonde), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Michelle Williams (The Fablemans) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) were all nominated. Actress Andrea Riseborough who portrays a single parent in Texas plagued by her past was the biggest surprise causing an outcry, leading to an investigation of her nomination being rescinded, according to Variety.
Ana De Armas, who plays pop culture icon Marilyn Monroe, was also a surprise to many. However, the favored to win is actor Michelle Yeoh who plays a middle-aged Chinese immigrant going through a sci-fi adventure. Having been in the industry for decades, it is only Yeohs’ first Oscar nomination.
Nominated for Best Supporting Actor are Brendan Glesson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway), Judd Hirsh (The Fablemans), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), and Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once). Just like Mescal, Brian Tyree Henry was a surprise at the awards, playing an amputee mechanic who creates a special bond with a female soldier who returns home. Another surprise was Judd Hirsh, playing an eccentric uncle in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fablemans.” Notably, Hirsh only has a few minutes of screen time in the entire two hour plus film. However, many presume just like Yeoh, Key Huy Quan to win the award, who stars alongside Yeoh as her silly but optimistic husband in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
In the category for Best Supporting Actress, Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Hong Chau (The Whale), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once) are all nominated. Being one of the most diverse nominations, the actress predicted to win is Angela Bassett for her role as the grieving mother of King T’Challa, Queen Ramonda in the sequel to Black Panther.
The biggest award of the night is the coveted Best Picture nomination. The films nominated ranged from “All Quiet on The Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fablemans,” “Tar,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness,” and “Women Talking.”
The predicted to win are either “All Quiet on The Western Front” or “Everything Everywhere All at Once” who lead the awards with the most nominations.
The 95th Academy Awards will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday, March 12 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles and will also be aired live on ABC.
H. Catching Marginot is a contributor and may be reached at [email protected]
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