Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan announced the 2022 Oscar nominations Feb. 8—and it turned out to be a good year for the film The Power of the Dog.
The film—which has been described as a queer revenge work—scored 12 nods, including Best Picture, Best Director (making Jane Campion the first woman to score two such nominations), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Kirsten Dunst) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (both Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee).
Some of the other films scoring multiple nominations included West Side Story, Belfast, King Richard, Dune and Being the Ricardos.
Among the snubs, Deadline noted, were Lady Gaga, who many thought was a shoo-in for her role in House of Gucci; Dune director Denis Villeneuve; Passing actress Ruth Negga; Rita Moreno, who some thought would receive another West Side Story nod after her Best Supporting Actress win for the 1961 original; and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Swan Song).
Besides The Power of the Dog, Best Pictures nominations went to Belfast, CODA, Don't Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley and West Side Story.
Best Director nods went to Campion, Kenneth Branagh (Belfast), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car), Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza) and Steven Spielberg (West Side Story).
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) and queer actress Kristen Stewart (Spencer)—who had been snubbed for at least part of the award season—received Best Actress in a Leading Role nods. Their male counterparts include Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos), Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick… Boom!), Will Smith (King Richard) and Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth).
The LGBTQ movie Flee is up for Best Animated Feature Film, along with Encanto, Luca, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, and Raya and the Last Dragon. Flee also received nods for Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature.
This morning, the nominees for the 94th Annual Academy Awards were announced. GLAAD responded to the nominations with a statement from GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis:
GLAAD cited some of this year's nominees but added that there wasn't true diversity regarding the nominations. "This year's Oscar nominations for performances from queer actors including Ariana DeBose and Kristen Stewart, as well for powerful LGBTQ stories in films like West Side Story, Flee, and The Mitchells vs. The Machines, are clear reminders of the opportunities that exist with audiences and critics when Hollywood invests in queer talent and tells diverse stories in bold and original ways," said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in a press statement. "With several worthy LGBTQ stories, actors, and creators absent from this year's list, the industry and Academy should prioritize investing in and recognizing creators and stories from LGBTQ and other marginalized communities that audiences both crave and connect with."
Winners will be announced Sunday, March 27, during ABC's broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards.
