The Oscar nominations break down: Surprises and expectations

For movie fans across the country, it was a bright and early morning (especially for those on the West Coast) as the nominations for this year’s Oscars have finally been announced. The nominees were revealed on Feb. 8 at 8:18 a.m. ET, live on YouTube.

Like every year, there were surprises, disappointments, and more! Below, we list the full list of nominees and discuss the biggest surprises and our expectations. Be sure to also share with us if any of your favorite movies and actors made the list.

Fill list of 2022 Oscar nominations

Actress in Supporting Role

• Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
• Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
• Judi Dench – Belfast
• Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog
• Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard

Costume

• Cruella
• Cyrano
• Dune
• Nightmare Alley
• West Side Story

Sound

• Belfast
• Dune
• No Time to Die
• The Power of the Dog
• West Side Story

Music (Original Score)

• Don’t Look Up
• Encanto
• Dune
• Parallel Mothers
• Power of the Dog

Adapted Screenplay

• Coda
• Drive My Car
• Dune
• The Lost Daughter
• The Power of the Dog

Original Screenplay

• Belfast
• Don’t Look Up
• King Richard
• Licorice Pizza
• The Worst Person in the World

Animated Short Film

• Affairs of the Art
• Bestia
• Boxballet
• Robin Robin
• The Windshield Wiper

Live Action Short

• Ala Kachuu – Take and Run
• The Dress
• The long Goodbye
• On My Mind
• Please Hold

Actor Supporting

• Ciaran Hinds – Belfast
• Troy Kotsur – Coda
• Jesse Plemons – The Power of the Dog
• J.K. Simmons – Being the Ricardos
• Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog

Editing

• The Power of the Dog
• Dune
• Don’t Look Up
• Tick Tick Boom
• King Richard

Make-Up / Hair

• Cruella
• Coming 2 America
• Eyes of Tammy Faye
• Dune
• House of Gucci

Animated

• Encanto
• Flee
• Luca
• The Mitchells vs The Machines
• Raya and the Last Dragon

Music (Original Song)

• Be Alive – King Richard
• Dos Oruguitas – Encanto
• Down to Joy – Belfast
• No Time to Die – No Time to Die
• Somehow You Do – Four Good Days

Documentary Short

• Audible
• Lead Me Home
• The Queen of Basketball
• Three Songs for Benazir
• When We Were Bullies

Documentary Feature

• Ascension
• Flee
• Attica
• Writing with Fire
• Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Visual Effects

• Dune
• Free Guy
• Spider-Man: No Way Home
• No Time to Die
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Cinematography

• Dune
• Nightmare Alley
• The Power of the Dog
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
• West Side Story

Production Design

• Dune
• Nightmare Alley
• The Power of the Dog
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
• West Side Story

International

• Drive My Car – Japan
• Flee – Denmark
• The Hand of God – Italy
• Lunana: A Yal in the Classroom – Bhutan
• The Worst Person in the World – Norway

Actor

• Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos
• Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
• Andrew Garfield – Tick Tick … Boom
• Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth
• Will Smith – King Richard

Actress

• Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
• Olivia Coleman – The Lost Daughter
• Penelope Cruz – Parallel Mothers
• Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
• Kirsten Stewart – Spencer

Director

• Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
• Ryusuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
• Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
• Steven Spielberg – West Side Story

Best Picture

• Belfast
• Coda
• Don’t Look Up
• Drive My Car
• Dune
• King Richard
• Licorice Pizza
• Nightmare Alley
• The Power of the Dog
• West Side Story

2022 Oscar nominations breakdown

As with most years at the Oscars, there are a handful of movies that the Academy have centered their focus on, and running down the list it is very easy to see which one is their favorite of the year. At the very top of the pack, the alpha dog if you will, is The Power of the Dog, which is nominated for a stellar 12 out of the 23 total nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay, two Supporting Actors, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture.

Following shortly behind is Dune, the big October blockbuster of 2021, with a total of 10, also in competition for Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, among others.

From there, the drop off in nomination count is steeper, with November sleeper-hit Belfast and the widely successful West Side Story nominated for a tied 7. However, it is worth noting that, in my opinion at least, Belfast is in the running for the more valued titles (Original Song, Original Screenplay). Despite that, the two are also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture, and both directors are long working veterans. Steven Spielberg needs no introduction of course, and Kenneth Branagh has worked on a wide variety of movies, from recent release Death on the Nile to the first Thor movie.

2022 Oscar nominations surprises and Expectations

I’m not that surprised to see a few movies dominate the nominations list. This is par for the course almost any year for the academy, however, there are still a good deal of surprises in here, too. I was rather surprised that Licorice Pizza fell short on its nomination count, though still in the running for the gold prizes. Nightmare Alley, which was an unfortunate flop at the box office despite Guillermo del Toro as director, was also a bit snubbed. The Best Director battle is a tough one this year, but at the very least I thought it could have picked up a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, going to Cate Blanchett or even Toni Collette, who are great highlights in the film.

Something I was pleasantly surprised by was the break out of multiple International Films into other categories. The big one to mention here is Japan’s Drive My Car, receiving a total of 4 nods, including Adapted Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture. Perhaps this should not be too much of a surprise considering recent history, with International films such as Roma and Parasite blazing the competition in their respective years and bursting the Hollywood bubble. Another one this year that managed to escape the confines of International Picture was The Worst Person in the World from Norway, nominated also for Best Original Screenplay.

And then, to no shock to anyone, Disney rakes in their Animated Picture and Original Music Categories with Encanto. Oh, and Raya and The Last Dragon was also there.

That’s it for my list and discussion. What do you think of this year’s nominees? What got snubbed? What should have gotten snubbed?