The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday nominated a lesser-known film rooted in progressive politics for its 97th Oscar Awards.
Emilia Perez, a musical exploration of transgender identity, and The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half hour exploration of immigrant trauma and anti-Semitism, secured nominations in most major categories; It emerged as a movie to beat. Including Best Picture and Best Director. Netflix's entry “Emilia Perez” received a total of 13 nominations, the most of any film.
A24's low-budget film “The Brutalist,” which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, received 10 nominations. The blockbuster hit “Wicked,'' with its message about the dangers of authoritarianism and the power of resistance, also attracted support from voters. It received 10 nominations, but failed to break through in the important director and screenplay categories.
While the acting competition has become more defined over the past month, the Best Picture contest remains unusually broad. Unlike last year, when Oppenheimer almost immediately cemented itself as a front-runner and never looked back, this time there are still multiple films in the running for Hollywood's top prize.
Nominees for best picture included “Conclave,” a Vatican thriller that explores identity politics. “The Substance” is a feminist manifesto in the form of a body horror film. “Nickel Boys” is a historical drama set in a segregated correctional school in Florida in the 1960s. “Anora'' is a Cinderella story about a sex worker who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch. “I'm Still Here” is a Brazilian drama about family life and political oppression. and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.''
Big-budget studio films Wicked and Dune Part 2 filled out this category. The Academy has expanded the Best Picture category to 10 in 2022. Previously, there were slide numbers with only five slots. The Academy positioned this change as part of its expanded focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
As expected, Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Timothée Chalamet (Completely Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), and Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) were nominated for Best Actor. Ta. Sebastian Stan earned a wild card slot for playing the unpleasant early-career Donald Trump on The Apprentice.
Demi Moore (“Substance'') has become a front-runner for Best Actress ever since she delivered a scathing acceptance speech about Hollywood stereotypes at this month's Golden Globe Awards. Academy voters supported her advancement to the nomination stage, along with Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Mikey Madison (Anora), Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here), Carla Sofia Gascón (“Emilia”) was also nominated for Best Actress. Perez”). Gascón became the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Oscar.
Kieran Culkin just won a Golden Globe Award for his role in the drama “A Real Pain” and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The winners in this category are Yura Borisov (“Anora”), Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”), Edward Norton (“Completely Unknown”), and Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”) ) was.
In the supporting actress category, Oscar voters handed nominations to favorites Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Perez”) and Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), both of whom played leading roles, but are running as second-runners. I decided. Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”), Monica Barbaro (“Completely Unknown”) and Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”) also participated.
The majority of acting nominees (13 out of 20) were first-time Academy winners, perhaps confirming the organization's efforts over the past decade to ensure that the voting ranks are not dominated by older white men. Probably. The Academy currently has approximately 10,000 eligible members, up from approximately 6,700 in 2017.
In the director category, the Academy nominated favorites Sean Baker (“Anora''), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist'') and Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Perez''). Rounding out the category were James Mangold (The Complete Unknown) and French filmmaker Coralie Farget (Substance). Notable abbreviations include Edward Berger (“Conclave”) and Jon M. Chu (“Wicked”).
Farjeet becomes the 10th woman nominated in the Best Director category in the Academy's 97-year history. The winners were Jane Campion (“Power of the Dog”) in 2022, Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”) in 2021, and Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) in 2009. Only people.
Original screenplay nominations include favorites “Anora,” “The Brutalist” and “A Real Pain.” The remaining two slots went to “The Substance'' and “September 5.''
Adapted screenplays were adapted into Conclave, Emilia Perez, Completely Unknown, The Nickel Boys, and Sing Sing.
Netflix is having a great week, announcing on Tuesday that it had surpassed 300 million subscribers and ending Thursday morning with 16 nominations, the most of any streamer. “Emilia Perez” alone received 13 nominations, making the irreverent musical the streaming service’s most nominated film in history. (The Spanish-language musical “Emilia Perez'' also became the most nominated non-English film in Oscar history. Previous record holders were “Roma'' and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.'' There were 10 divisions in each).
“Emilia Perez” was a Netflix acquisition from last year's Cannes Film Festival and has been winning awards ever since. Netflix's most nominated film to date was 2018's “ROMA,'' which received 10 nominations. The company's most awarded film was Berger's 2022 drama “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which won four Oscars, including Best International Feature Film and Best Cinematography.
The streaming giant has won 23 trophies since its first win in 2016 for the short documentary “The White Helmets.” He also won two Best Director awards, Campion for The Power of the Dog and Alfonso Cuaron for Roma. It has yet to win the coveted Best Picture award.
The nominees were announced at an early morning ceremony hosted by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott at the academy's headquarters in Beverly Hills, California. The ceremony will be held on March 2nd.
Academy Awards organizers swapped a current late-night comedian (Jimmy Kimmel) for a former comedian, Conan O'Brien, to find a host who would generate buzz but not blow up in his face. O'Brien has never hosted the Oscars before, so he will bring freshness to a show that can be seen as outdated at best and outdated at worst. At the same time, he is a safe choice. He is a seasoned professional whose comedic style has been honed over the decades and has successfully hosted other awards shows, including the Emmys.
The academy had postponed announcing nominees because of recent wildfires in Los Angeles County that destroyed at least 10,000 homes. Amid the tragedy, questions abounded in Hollywood about the ceremony. Should we turn it into a fundraising telethon? Or was it completely scrapped?
Academy officials deny both of these ideas, saying in a letter to members on Wednesday that “honoring the collegial spirit and creative synergy of filmmaking” remains the main focus of the ceremony. said. Still, the program will “pay tribute to those who bravely fought the bushfires.” Perhaps to add to the sense of solemnity, the nominated songs will be “away from live performances.''
The toned-down Oscars would mark a reversal from recent years, when the Academy tried to increase its glamor as part of a desperate effort to attract a wider audience. The latest ceremony, broadcast by ABC, drew about 20 million viewers, the highest number in four years. But in 2014, twice that number was watched.
In an effort to make the Oscars more meaningful to young people, the Academy agreed in December to stream the ceremony online for the first time on Hulu. ABC, which like Hulu is owned by Disney, remains the Academy's broadcast partner.
