Here it is – the big one. After last week’s BAFTA nominations, the Oscars have followed suit, with the Academy unveiling its picks for the best films of the last 12 months and bestowing recognition on them in all kinds of categories. And while there’s considerable crossover with the British film body, the Academy Awards is its own beast – more Best Picture picks, different sweet-spots, and always a few surprises up those sleeves. Most notably, that among the 10 nominations for Best Picture, you’ll find Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water. While you never bet against James Cameron, and there’s been significant love for Tom Cruise’s box office behemoth blockbuster, neither of them have been particularly central to the awards conversation – but seeing them in the mix here reflects an Oscars that blends mainstream major movies with international crossover fare, quiet dramas, searing satires and more.
Leading the way with 11 nominations is Everything Everywhere All At Once – receiving recognition in Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay, Editing, Original Score, and more. Most notably, the Daniels’ film excelled in the acting categories – with Michelle Yeoh nominated for Actress In A Leading Role, Ke Huy Quan up for Actor In A Supporting Role, Jamie Lee Curtis listed for Actress In A Supporting Role, and (praise be!) Stephanie Hsu also in the Supporting category. Hsu has largely missed out among the awards love for Everything Everywhere thus far, so it’s heartening to see her bag an Oscar nom. Not a bad showing for a film with a dildo fight and sensual hotdog-finger scenes.
Just behind Everything Everywhere, The Banshees Of Inisherin and All Quiet On The Western Front received nine nominations each – meaning that, overall, the top three-nominated movies at the Oscars are the same as at this year’s BAFTAs. Banshees is up for awards including Best Picture, both Directing and Original Screeplay for Martin McDonagh, with Colin Farrell up for Actor In A Leading Role, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan up for Actor In A Supporting Role, and Kerry Condon up for Actress In A Supporting Role. All Quiet has also been recognised for Best Picture, Directing, International Feature Film, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Sound, Cinematography and more.
As with the BAFTAs, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis remains heavily in the awards conversation with eight nominations, including Best Picture and Actor In A Leading Role for Austin Butler, while there’s more love from the American awards body for Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. Largely overlooked at the BAFTAs, here his auto-biopic is up for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and more besides, with Michelle Williams up for Actress In A Leading Role. Beyond that, there was a strong showing for TÁR – up for Best Picture, Directing for Todd Field, Original Screenplay, and Actress In A Leading Role for Cate Blanchett – and some major nods for Triangle Of Sadness, including Best Picture, Directing for Ruben Östlund, and Original Screenplay.
There’s plenty to enjoy in the nominations, overall. Women Talking finally got some love after being shut out entirely by BAFTA; Angela Bassett is up for Actress In A Supporting Role for her powerhouse turn in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; word-of-mouth hit To Leslie earned an Actress In A Leading Role nomination for Andrea Riseborough; and, Paul Mescal is already an Oscar nominee this early in his career for his Leading Role in Aftersun. Brendan Fraser, too, continues his ascent back up the Hollywood ranks with a nomination for The Whale. Donkey drama EO is up for International Feature Film, as is Irish favourite The Quiet Girl, while the Animated Feature Film category is a stacked list of bangers: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, The Sea Beast, and Turning Red. What a selection!
It does feel notable this year that the more usual Oscar fare is sharing space with less typically-awardsy films. Not only is EEAAO a more gonzo work than the Academy might typically reward, but the appearance of Avatar: The Way Of Water and the beloved Top Gun: Maverick, reflects a meeting of minds between audiences and the Academy. Sure, the first Avatar was in the Oscars mix 13 years ago, but the second has felt less like an awards juggernaut and still managed to bag Best Picture and Visual Effects nominations – while Top Gun: Maverick saw more love for Eddie Hamilton in Film Editing, a nod for Adapted Screenplay (‘adapted’, presumably, given that it’s a sequel – the same applies to not-really-adapted, not-really-a-sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), plus a nod for Lady Gaga’s wind-tunnel-assisted ballad ‘Hold My Hand’. If there’s another thing the Oscars love, it’s a financial success story – so those two box office behemoths do make sense appearing here.
There are, as ever, snubs. There’s nothing for Park Chan-wook’s excellent Decision To Leave, very little for RRR, and nothing for Till and its leading star Danielle Deadwyler, nor Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Woman King. Plus, the Directing selection here is an all-male affair, sure to be a topic of conversation once more. But for the most part, it’s an interesting selection – in some ways surprising, in others very much the Academy doing its thing. The real takeaway? There are animated short films in the mix titled My Year Of Dicks, and An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It. Both have immediately leapt to the top of our to-watch list.
We’ll find out who gets the gongs when the 2023 Oscars take place on the night of Sunday 12 March (and early hours of Monday 13) – for now, read the full list of nominees here:
BEST PICTURE
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
TÁR
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle Of Sadness
Women Talking
DIRECTING
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Schienert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Todd Field – TÁR
Ruben Östlund – Triangle Of Sadness
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Austin Butler – Elvis
Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett – TÁR
Ana de Armas – Blonde
Andrea Riseborough – To Leslie
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Bryan Tyree Henry – Causeway
Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau – The Whale
Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
All Quiet On The Western Front
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Living
Top Gun: Maverick
Women Talking
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
TÁR
Triangle Of Sadness
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
All Quiet On The Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Close
EO
The Quiet Girl
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
All That Breathes
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Fire Of Love
A House Made Of Splinters
Navalny
COSTUME DESIGN
Babylon
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris
SOUND
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Batman
Elvis
Top Gun: Maverick
ORIGINAL SCORE
All Quiet On The Western Front
Babylon
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
ORIGINAL SONG
Woman Talking: ‘Applause’ – Diane Warren
Top Gun: Maverick: ‘Hold My Hand’ – Lady Gaga
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: ‘Lift Me Up’ – Rihanna
RRR: ‘Naatu Naatu’
Everything Everywhere All At Once: This Is A Life’ – Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
All Quiet On The Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
The Whale
PRODUCTION DESIGN
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
Babylon
Elvis
The Fabelmans
FILM EDITING
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
TÁR
Top Gun: Maverick
CINEMATOGRAPHY
All Quiet On The Western Front
Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths
Elvis
Empire Of Light
TÁR
VISUAL EFFECTS
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The Elephant Whisperers
Haulout
How Do You Measure A Year?
The Martha Mitchell Effect
Stranger At The Gate
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
An Irish Goodbye
Ivalu
Le Pupille
Night Ride
The Red Suitcase
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse
The Flying Sailor
Ice Merchants
My Year Of Dicks
An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It