By Ale Saurio
The Oscar Nominations have just arrived. People have made several assumptions regarding this year’s nominees. Dune and Tick, Tick… Boom was amongst the most popular ones, however The Power of the Dog has taken a lead on this year’s Nominations.
This years Best Picture nominees are:
Belfast, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Belfast is a film based on Branagh’s life growing up in the town in northern Ireland in the late sixties. This film is the sixth collaboration between Branagh and Judy Dentch. Belfast has five nominations including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Actor in Supporting Role (Ciarán Hinds), Original Song (Down to Joy by Van Morrison) and Directing.
CODA, written and directed by Sian Heder is the story about Ruby, the only hearing person in a family of deaf people. This coming of age has two nominations including best Actor in a Supporting Role (Troy Kutsor) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Don’t Look Up, written and directed by Adam McKay. Described as “based on truly possible events”, this film is about two astronomists who try to warn the government about an asteroid that will destroy the Earth but, much like global warming, no one listens to them. It is also nominated for Best Film Editing (Hank Corwin), Best Original Screenplay and Original Score (Nicholas Britell).
Drive My Car, Co-written and directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, loosely based on the short story by Haruki Murakami. The story is about Yusuke Kafuku, an actor and director who lost his wife and gets an offer to direct a version of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima. The film is also nominated for Best Director, International Film Feature and Adapted Screenplay (Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe).
The long awaited Dune, Directed by Dennis Villenueve, written by Villenueve, Jon Spaiths and Eric Roth. The two-part, newest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel is Paul Atreides’s hero’s journey to protect the spice, the universe’s most valuable asset. The film has also been nominated for Production Design (Patrice Vermette and Zsuzsanna Sipos), Cinematography (Greig Fraser), Visual Effects (Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer), Makeup and Hairstyling (Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva Von Bahr), film Editing (Joe Walker), Adapted Screenplay and Original Score (Hans Zimmer).
Richard Williams has two daughters Venus and Serena, who he wants to coach into becoming the greatest tennis players in King Richard. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and Written Zach Baylin, this film has six nominations including Actor in a Leading Role (Will Smith), Actress in a Supporting Role (Aunjanue Ellis), Film Editing (Pamela Martin), Original Screenplay (Zach Baylin) and Original Song (Dixon and Beyonce Knowles-Carter)
Paul Thomas Anderson is the producer, director, writer and cinematographer of his latest film, Licorice Pizza is also nominated for Best Achievement in Directing and Original Screenplay. This film is the story about fifteen year old Gary Valentine who meets and falls for Alana Kane during the 1970’s.
Guillermo Del Toro’s newest film is an adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham’s novel with the same name, Nightmare Alley, about an ambitious carny with a troubled past. Written and Directed by Del Toro, this film is in the run for four Oscar’s, including Best Film, Production Design (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau), Costume Design (Luis Sequeira) and Cinematography (Dan Laustsen)
The Power of the Dog is written and directed by Jane Campion, the first woman to have two Oscar nominations. Phil Burbank is a tough rancher, until he is introduced to the possibility of love when his brother brings home a new wife and her son. With twelve nominations, The Power of the Dog is the most nominated film in this years award ceremony, including best Director, Actor in a Leading Role (Benedict Cumberbach), Production Design (Grant Major and Amber Richards), Cinematography (Ari Wegner), Film Editing (Peter Sciberras), Actor in a supporting Role (Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smith-McPhee), Actress in a Supporting Role (Kristen Dunst) and Adapted Screenplay
Steven Speilberg’s remake of the 1957 musical, West Side Story about forbidden love and teenage gangs is also in the run for Best Film as well as Actress in a Supporting Role (Ariana DeBose), Production Design (Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo), Best Sound (Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy), Costume Design (Paul Tazewell), Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski) and Directing (Steven Speilberg).