Jane Campion’s Western drama The Power of the Dog showed its might bright and early Tuesday morning as the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards were announced by Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. The film scored a leading 12 nods, including Best Picture (which could score Netflix its first top prize), Best Director (making Campion the first woman in Oscars history with two nominations in the category) and four acting nominations (Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee).
Other top contenders include Dune with 10 nominations, and Belfast, West Side Story and King Richard each with seven.
As always, there were major snubs and surprises at every turn, including the year’s biggest blockbuster (once again) failing to make a dent in the Oscar race, one of the world’s most popular actresses edging out one of the world’s most popular pop stars-turned-actresses, and an acting power couple getting to celebrate together this morning.
Video: See the 2022 Academy Awards nominees
Read on for our full list…
SNUBBED: Lady Gaga, Jared Leto and House of Gucci in general
Ridley Scott’s prestige drama House of Gucci arrived last fall with some of the biggest hype of the year. Then it screened for critics, and reactions were all over the map, much like the film itself. Still, star Lady Gaga (who earned an Oscar nom for her debut lead role A Star Is Born three years ago) and scene-stealer Jared Leto (disappearing under heavy prosthetics and a heavier Italian accent) were thought likely to represent the film on Oscars night. Both were left off the ballot, though, and Gaga’s fans, especially, are not happy.
Me to the Oscars after they snubbed Lady Gaga pic.twitter.com/5nEgXhUuR1
— Joey Nolfi (@joeynolfi) February 8, 2022
So Lady Gaga got nominated in all the MAJOR awards but didn’t get an Oscar one? . This scene is OSCAR WORTHY and Gaga was ROBBED pic.twitter.com/GYVaqvcAiN
— 𝕁𝕦 • 💚 ✥ 〄 (@MotherGerm) February 8, 2022
That left Gucci with just one nomination: Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling. At least they recognized just how unrecognizable Leto was.
SURPRISE: Kristen Stewart
Meet the reason Lady Gaga missed out on a second Oscar nomination, you’ve probably heard of her. Though the Twilight alum was considered an early favorite to win Best Actress for her transformative and tragic portrayal of Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín’s critical darling Spencer, she was snubbed by both SAG and BAFTA and even the staunchest K. Stew fans worried the 31-year-old wouldn’t make the Academy Awards cut. In dramatic fashion (because noms are announced in alphabetical order), Stewart’s name was called last in Best Actress. Stewart and Best Supporting Actress nominee Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) became the first openly LGBTQ performers nominated in the acting races since Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) in 2002.
SNUBBED: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Oscar voters didn’t need another (super) hero… or three of them for that matter. Despite an aggressive awards push for Spider-Man’s latest — and most financially lucrative — adventure, No Way Home swung away with a sole nomination in the Visual Effects category. That leaves Black Panther and Joker as the only two blockbuster comic-book movies to score Best Picture nominations. Fortunately, some of Spider-Man’s amazing friends had reasons to celebrate: J.K. Simmons, aka J. Jonah Jameson, scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Being the Ricardos, while Benedict “Dr. Strange” Cumberbatch and Andrew “Peter 3” Garfield are facing off in the Best Actor category for The Power of the Dog and Tick Tick Boom, respectively.
SNUBBED: Being the Ricardos, everywhere but acting
While Spider-Man was a long shot, there was other drama in the Best Picture race, as films like Being the Ricardos, Drive My Car, Nightmare Alley and Tick, Tick… Boom! all sought slots behind surefire noms like The Power of the Dog and Belfast. While Japan’s Drive My Car and Nightmare Alley squeezed in, that left the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz biopic Ricardos as the biggest Best Picture snub. But even more surprising was the Academy’s dis of Aaron Sorkin for Best Original Screenplay; The Social Network winner, who also. directed, was widely favored to score his fifth nomination. Ricardos still fared well in the acting races, where surprise nominees Javier Bardem (Best Actor) and Simmons (Best Supporting Actor) joined shoo-in Nicole Kidman (Best Actress).
SNUBBED: Denis Villeneuve
While Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi masterpiece clearly impressed the Academy, earning 10 nominations including Best Picture, somehow the French-Canadian filmmaker was left off the ballot, likely losing his spot to international fave Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car). Nothing went right for Villeneuve this morning. As he noted in a statement:
“Here is a trick for all filmmakers on Oscars nomination morning. At the very last minute before announcements, make pancakes. It helps with the stress. Now that it’s over, I can say two things: First, I could not be more proud of my whole team who got 10 nominations… Second, make sure you put enough eggs in the preparation, our pancakes were a disaster.”
It’s going to take us a minute to figure out why the director’s branch snubbed Villeneuve’s eye-popping spectacle, but to quote Frank Herbert, the author he adapted: “Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense.”
SURPRISE: Drive My Car
Can we get a “Beep beep, beep beep, yeah?” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s masterful drama Drive My Car steered its way from long shot to major Oscar contender with nominations in four categories, including Best International Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. It’s the first Japanese film in Oscar history to score a Best Picture nod, and Hamaguchi is only the third Japanese filmmaker to be in the running for Best Director, behind Hiroshi Teshigahara for 1965’s Women of the Dunes and Akira Kurosawa for 1985’s Ran. After today, he’s got a license to do pretty much whatever he wants for his next film.
SNUBBED: Bradley Cooper (twice)
Bradley Cooper had a stellar 2021, headlining Guillermo del Toro’s star-studded film noir Nightmare Alley and chewing up the scenery as unhinged movie producer Jon Peters in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. But Cooper failed to score his fifth acting nomination for either; while a supporting nod in Pizza was likelier, he may just not have been in the film long enough. All’s not lost for Coops, though: He is nominated as a producer for Best Picture nominee Nightmare Alley, the fourth time in eight years he has contended for the top prize (previously: Joker, A Star Is Born and American Sniper).
SNUBBED: Jennifer Hudson, and Black women in Best Actress
Though her Aretha Franklin biopic Respect received middling reviews from critics (and was released in theaters in August, not an optimal window for true contenders), Dreamgirls Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson was considered a potential nominee for her impressive acting and even more impressive singing, especially after a nod from the Screen Actors Guild. Hudson, though, got no R-E-S-P-E-C-T from the Academy on a ballot that included no Black women (nor people of color) in her category. Other notable snubs included Passing co-stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga; the latter, especially, was considered a very possible nominee for Best Supporting Actress.
SNUBBED: Leonardo DiCaprio
Adam McKay’s divisive apocalypse comedy Don’t Look Up looked pretty good Tuesday, landing four nods, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. But left out of the fray was Leonardo DiCaprio, who couldn’t crack a competitive Best Actor race for his Fauci-esque performance as a frustrated astronomer whose doomsday warnings go unheeded. While Leo was hardly considered a lock, his snub is surprising given just how often the Academy recognizes him: At 47, he already has six acting nominations and one win, taking home Best Actor for The Revenant in 2016.
SNUBBED: Nicolas Cage
Looks like a Best Actor nomination just wasn’t on the menu for Nicolas Cage. Despite earning some of the best reviews of his career for the offbeat indie drama Pig, the famously eccentric actor — who previously won for 1995’s Leaving Las Vegas and was in contention for 2002’s Adaptation — missed out on his third nod in that category. That’ll be an order of KFC and Champagne for one.
SNUBBED: Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan
Kenneth Branagh had plenty to smile about as his semi-autobiographical drama, Belfastscored seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. But his “parents” — played by Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan — will have to be content with watching their “son” from the sidelines. While both performers were heavily favored in the Supporting Actor categories, voters instead decided to recognize Branagh’s grandparents, played by much-loved screen veterans Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds. We hope this doesn’t make the Oscar night family reunion too awkward.
SURPRISE: Jessie Buckley
Given that she’s already a “favourite” of Oscar voters, it wasn’t a shock to see returning Best Actress champ Olivia Colman pick up her third nomination for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter. But few expected that Jessie Buckley — who plays the younger version of Colman’s character in the film — would be recognized in the Best Supporting Actress category. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal picked up a surprise Best Adapted Screenplay nod, beating out high-profile contenders like West Side Story’s Tony Kushner and The Last Duel trio of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener.
SURPRISE: Jesse Plemons, J.K. Simmons and Troy Kotsur
The Best Supporting Actor race had to be the most difficult acting category to predict. Beyond The Power of the Dog favorite Kodi Smit-McPhee, there were hardly any shoo-ins, especially with Belfast co-stars Hinds and Dornan threatening to cancel each other out. McPhee and Hinds made it in, but the other three are all relative surprises: Troy Kotsur (CODA) has been trending upward and became the first deaf male actor ever nominated for an Academy Award (his Oscar-winning co-star Marlee Matlin, however, was snubbed); Jesse Plemons joined Power of the Dog co-star and real-life partner Kirsten Dunst in making it a special day for that household (Dunst said it was “beyond their wildest dreams” in a reaction); and Whiplash winner Simmons scored his second nom for Being the Ricardos.
SURPRISE: Diane Warren, once again
Diane Warren can’t stop, won’t stop… being nominated for Oscars, that is. Thirty-five years after earning her first Best Original Song nod for the immortal Mannequin anthem “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” the songwriter scored her 13th (!) nomination for “Somehow You Do,” featured in the little-seen Mila Kunis/Glenn Close collab, Four Good Days. To date, Warren has yet to actually win a statue in this category— and it will be a challenge considering the category includes presumptive favorites Lin-Manuel Miranda going for his EGOT with the Encanto tune “Dos Oruguitas” and Billie Eilish nominated for her Bond theme “No Time to Die” — but there’s always a first, or 13th, time.
SURPRISE: Flee’s three big nominations
Straight outta Denmark, Jonas Power Rasmussen’s acclaimed nonfiction animated feature Flee — which chronicles an Afghan refugee’s perilous passage to Europe — scored a first-time Oscar hat trick. The film received nominations for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature, giving it a one-in-three shot in taking home a statue. It also means that last year’s Best Actor nominee, Riz Ahmed, will return for this year’s Oscars as the Sound of Metal star is one of Flee’s executive producers.
SURPRISE: The Worst Person in the World
Along with Drive My Car and Flee, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World brought an international flavor to some of the more typically homegrown categories. The Norwegian film edged out Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and Mike Mills’s C’mon C’mon. Worst Person is also in the running for Best International Feature with fellow multi-nominees Drive My Car and Flee.
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