Finally, the Oscar Nominations for this years 95th Academy Awards were announced earlier today. Let’s go through each category and see who got nominated, who I think will win and if there are any snubs that should’ve snuck in.
BEST PICTURE
The nominees for Best Picture are All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Tar, Top Gun Maverick, Triangle of Sadness and Women Talking.
A relatively predictable list for Best Picture this year, perhaps that’s due to how the award season has been going. The only real surprise being that Triangle of Sadness snuck into the running beating out the likes of The Whale, Aftersun, Glass Onion and RRR which were further ahead in the running in my opinion.
The Oscar win seems to be heading towards Everything Everywhere All At Once and deservedly so! The Fabelmans was an early front runner and contender, but has fallen off in recent weeks and I’d say Top Gun: Maverick would have to be the considered the second favourite if anyone else was to win.
BEST ACTOR
The nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role are Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Paul Mescal (Aftersun) and Bill Nighy (Living).
Brendan Fraser seemed to have this award in the bag heading into award season, but Colin Farrell has been stealing some of that thunder in recent weeks and I think stands a good chance at taking the statue away from him. Austin Butler was the other guaranteed nominee, but shoutout to Paul Mescal who is very much a star on the rise and has a huge future.
BEST ACTRESS
The nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role are Cate Blanchett (Tar), Ana De Armas (Blonde), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
A big shock that Danielle Deadwyler (Till) didn’t pick up a nomination and a shame as she delivered a truly powerful performance. Andrea Riseborough is a surprise, she wasn’t someone on my radar to be watching out for or had even heard talk about, and I thought it was more likely that Viola Davis (The Woman King) or Margot Robbie (Babylon) would get in.
This award is very much Cate Blanchett’s for the taking but Michelle Yeoh certainly isn’t out of the question of picking it up.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
The nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role are Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway), Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once).
I really would’ve liked to have seen The Academy line up a bit more with BAFTA and give a nomination to Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse) who can’t have been far off from sneaking into the 5 along with Paul Dano (The Fabelmans). Dano probably missing out due to people deciding between him and Judd Hirsch.
The award is very much heading to Ke Huy Quan which is fantastic and thoroughly deserved, but shoutout to Gleeson and Keoghan, who were both fantastic.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role are 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).
No big surprises here but this a category that could go anyway. Angela Bassett will be the favourite heading into the show, having become the first person to be nominated for a performance in a Marvel film.
BEST DIRECTOR
The nominees for Best Directing are Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans), Todd Field (Tar) and Ruben Ostlund (Triangle of Sadness).
The Fabelmans was an early front runner for a lot of categories particularly the big ones like Best Picture, however Best Directing feels like the only one it could actually end up walking away with. Spielberg’s love letter to his family about his own life is hard to ignore, especially when it’s made by such an icon of the industry. The Daniels are perfectly capable of causing an upset here though.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Tar and Triangle of Sadness.
Martin McDonagh is known for his scripts and will be a near guarantee to win this one, with it being the award that will recognise the film as it will lose out Best Picture which Everything Everywhere All At Once is likely to win, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if EEAAO took it home especially as the most original screenplay of the year.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are All Quiet on the Western Front, Glass Onion, Living, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking.
Sarah Polley may have not got a directing nomination and I think that works in her favour for taking home this screenplay award instead.
A surprise Top Gun: Maverick managed to sneak into this category especially ahead of the likes of She Said, The Whale and Guilermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The nominees for Best Cinematography are All Quiet on the Western Front, Bardo, Elvis, Empire of Light and Tar.
Some big snubs here. I’m honestly confused as to how The Batman didn’t pick up a nomination here or even Top Gun: Maverick or Nope which all featured my favourite cinematography of the year.
Without those big guns, I think the win is hard not to give to the GOAT of the nominees Roger Deakins for Empire of Light.
BEST EDITING
The nominees for Best Editing are The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Tar and Top Gun: Maverick.
Due to how much the editing has an impact on the film, Everything Everywhere All At Once has to be considered the favourite here.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The nominees for Best Costume Design are Babylon, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Elvis and Mrs Harris goes to Paris.
One I was leaning towards The Woman King before the nominees were announced, but a snub for them opens the door for Elvis and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to sneak in, Elvis probably has the edge.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The nominees for Best Animated Feature are Guilermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Sea Beast and Turning Red.
I love Guilermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, it’s a fantastic telling on a known tale, beautifully told and beautifully animated. It has to be considered the front runner, but it’s hard to ignore the love for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Marcel the Shell with Shoes on who both have a lot of love.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The nominees for Best Production Design are All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, Babylon, Elvis and The Fabelmans.
A tricky category to predict. It could go anyway but I think it’s likely to end up leaning in favour of Babylon. The film seems to have a lot going on and the old Hollywood setting makes it perfect for the type of film that wins this category.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The nominees for Best Visual Effects are All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Top Gun: Maverick.
If Avatar: The Way of Water doesn’t win this award then it’s absolutely pointless doing these awards, the biggest guarentee of the whole thing.
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
The nominees for Best Makeup and Hairstyling are All Quiet on the Western Front, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis and The Whale.
Elvis and The Whale are likely to fight this one out but Elvis will likely take it home due to having a lot more makeup and hairstyling involved, rather than just Brendan Fraser’s prosthetic for The Whale.
BEST SOUND
The nominees for Best Sound are All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick.
Some strong contenders here but I think Top Gun: Maverick takes home this one. If you think back to watching the film particularly in IMAX the sound had such a huge impact which will give it the win.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The nominees for Best Original Score are All Quiet on the Western Front, Babylon, The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Fabelmans.
Justin Hurwitz already has an Oscar in this category for his work on La La Land and I think he is likely to get another one for his work once again with Damian Chazelle for Babylon. Not the strongest years for scores, I honestly can’t think of any that stuck with me more than The Batman.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
The nominees for Best Original Song are Applause by Diane Warren (Tell it Like a Woman), Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga (Top Gun: Maverick), Lift Me Up by Rihanna (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Naatu Naatu by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj (RRR) and This is a Life by Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All At Once).
This is a two horse race between Lady Gaga and RRR. The academy loves Lady Gaga and Top Gun: Maverick, and I do think she has the edge, but the overwhelming love for RRR could give it a win, especially as it isn’t nominated for any other awards.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
The nominees for Best International Feature are All Quiet on the Western Front, Argentina 1985, Close, EO and The Quiet Girl.
No nominations for RRR and Decison to Leave do come as a surprise. All Quiet on the Western Front picked up a nomination in the Best Picture category, something that has happened in the last couple of years which makes it an almost certainty to take home Best International Feature.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The nominees for Best Documentary Feature are All That Breathes, All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, Fire of Love, A House made of Splinters and Navalny.
The only one of these I’ve heard of is Fire of Love because it pops up on Disney+. A little bit of research seems to indicate that Navalny might be the one that takes this home.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
The nominees for Best Live Action Short are An Irish Goodbye, Ivalu, Le Pupille, Night Ride and The Red Suitcase.
Now we’ve got to the short films and the area I know the least about. Le Pupille has the highest score on Letterboxd so let’s say that will win.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The nominees for Best Animated Short are The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, The Flying Sailor, Ice Merchants, My Year of Dicks and An Ostrich told me the World is Fake and I think I Believe it.
I haven’t heard or know anything about any of them once again. A trip to Letterboxd tells me Ice Merchants is much higher rated than the others and I think has the edge.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The nominees for Best Documentary Short are The Elephant Whisperers, Haulout, How Do You Measure a Year, The Martha Mitchell Effect and Stranger at the Gate.
Same as the last 2 categories, I never know anything about the short films, maybe that’s something for me to work on. Letterboxd says Haulout so let’s go with that.
MOST PREDICTED WINS
Everything Everywhere All at Once – 3
Top Gun: Maverick – 3
Babylon – 2
The Banshees of Inisherin – 2
Elvis – 2
All Quiet on the Western Front – 1
Avatar: The Way of Water – 1
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – 1
The Fabelmans – 1
Guilermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – 1
Haulout – 1
Ice Merchants – 1
Le Pupille – 1
Navalny – 1
Tar – 1
Women Talking – 1
A very diverse and mixed set of winners according to my early predictions, there’s little room for change but the you never know how many the likes of Everything Everywhere All at Once and Top Gun: Maverick could win.
And there we have it that’s the nominees for the 95th Academy Awards. Some surprises and snubs, as every year. I’m very excited for the ceremony which takes place on March 12th and I’m sure I’ll do a best covering all the winners and losers and if anyone gets slapped this year.
For more content as we head towards Oscar night, as well as reviews and posts be sure to follow via the buttons below on social media to keep up to date.
Flooders Films 
Leave a comment