Jane Campion makes history as first woman to be nominated twice for Best Director; her DP on "Power of the Dog," Ari Wegner, becomes 2nd woman ever to receive Best Cinematography nod
By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --After a pandemic year that hobbled movie theaters and saw streaming services make new inroads into Hollywood, the Academy Awards put its strongest support Tuesday behind two films made with big-screen grandeur that were also streamed into homes: Jane Campion's gothic western "The Power of the Dog" and Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic "Dune."
Netflix's "The Power of the Dog" led nominations to the 94th Academy Awards with 12 nods, including best picture, best director and recognition for all of its top actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Campion, a nominee for 1993's "The Piano," became the first woman to ever be nominated twice for best director. Last year, Chloรฉ Zhao became just the second woman to ever win the award. Campion's director of photography, Ari Wegner, also became the second woman ever nominated for best cinematography. The only previous woman to do so was Rachel Morrison for "Mudbound" in 2018.
"Dune" followed closely behind with 10 nominations spread out largely in the technical categories that rewarded the craft of Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel. The Warner Bros. release debuted simultaneously in theaters and — against the strenuous objections of its director — on HBO Max.
The nominees for best picture were: "Belfast"; "CODA"; "Don't Look Up"; "Drive My Car"; "Dune"; "Licorice Pizza"; "King Richard"; "Nightmare Alley"; "The Power of the Dog" and "West Side Story."
No streaming service has ever won best picture, but half of the 10 nominees came from streaming services. This year, the odds may be better than ever that a streamer will finally barrel through one of the last walls of Hollywood tradition.
Apple notched its first best-picture nomination with the deaf drama "CODA," which also made history as supporting-actor nominee Troy Kotsur became only the second deaf actor ever nominated. (His "CODA" co-star Marlee Matlin was the first.) Netflix backed "The Power of the Dog" and Adam McKay's apocalyptic comedy "Don't Look Up." And both "King Richard" and "Dune" launched on HBO Max. Even the academy for the first time ruled out hard-copy DVD screeners for its members, who instead could watch submissions on the academy's streaming platform.
In pulling from films released in myriad ways, the Oscar nominations reflected the tumult of a movie year that began with many theaters shuttered and ended with Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home" smashing box-office records. While some had urged the Oscars to embrace its most popular blockbusters and return some populism to the awards, Spidey ultimately landed only a single nomination, for visual effects.
A largely virtual awards season added some unpredictability to this year's nominations, which were announced by actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. This year's Oscars will be delayed to make way for the Olympics, the Oscars will be held March 27 and will return to their usual venue, the Dolby Theatre.
And there were surprises all around. Lady Gaga, star of "House of Gucci," was overlooked in the uber-competitive best actress category. Nominated instead were Jessica Chastain, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"; Olivia Colman, "The Lost Daughter"; Penรฉlope Cruz, "Parallel Mothers"; Nicole Kidman, "Being the Ricardos"; and Kristen Stewart for "Spencer" — whose hopes for her first Oscar nomination had seemed dashed after she was snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild.
"Drive My Car," Ryusuke Hamaguchi's masterful three-hour Japanese drama, scored major nominations including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay. The academy, which in 2020 made Bong Joon Ho's Korean thriller "Parasite" the best picture winner, has drifted overseas in recent years, as more international members have been added to help diversify the organization.
Other underdogs could celebrate Tuesday, too. The small, remote Himalayan country Bhutan celebrated its first Oscar nomination in its first-ever submission, "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom," for best international film.
In many ways, the nominations kept one foot in Hollywood's past and one in its future. Steven Spielberg, whose "West Side Story" landed seven nominations, became the first filmmaker nominated for best director in six different decades. His 11 best picture nominations are the most ever. Another remake that harkened back to another era of the movie industry, Guillermo del Toro's carnival noir "Nightmare Alley," also fared better than expected, scoring a best picture nomination over streaming titles like Netflix's "Tick, Tick … Boom!" and Amazon's "Being the Ricardos."
Will Smith, who plays the father of Venus and Serena Williams in "King Richard," notched his third Oscar nomination. Also up for best actor are Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield ("Tick, Tick … Boom!") Javier Bardem ("Being the Ricardos") and Denzel Washington, who was nominated in the category for his seventh time for his performance in "The Tragedy of Macbeth." Washington remains the most-nominated Black man ever.
Dunst and Plemons, who have two children together, both landed their first nominations for "The Power of the Dog."
"I knew I'd have so much more joy if we were both nominated," Dunst said by phone Tuesday with the sounds of their children in the background. "It's like a storybook, like a fairytale. It feels very special. I thought, it would be really cute if they did that. I felt like a grandma about it.
The other couple celebrating Tuesday was Bardem and Cruz, whom Dunst granted are "definitely the sexier couple."
"We're pretty fun, though," she added.
Along with Dunst, the nominees for best supporting actress were a trio of first-timers — Jessie Buckley ("The Lost Daughter"), Ariana DeBose ("West Side Story") and Aunjanue Ellis ("King Richard") — and one veteran: Judi Dench, who earned her eighth Oscar nod for her performance in Kenneth Branagh's black-and-white family drama "Belfast."
"Belfast," which Branagh based on his own childhood, came away with seven nominations, including best director for Branagh and best supporting actor for Dench's "Belfast" husband, Ciarรกn Hinds. The film was one of the first shot in Britain after lockdown in 2021.
"When we did it, we were just coming out of the first lockdown, we spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on COVID protection, we relished the opportunity to do this so much, nobody knew then if there was even going to be a film industry when we were done," said Branagh.
"Ricardos" co-star J.K. Simmons rounded out the best supporting actor category that saw Kotsur make history.
"I feel a bit lighter. This chip is off my shoulder," Kotsur said Tuesday through an interpreter. "It's like a step forward for everyone."
With $400 million in worldwide ticket sales, "Dune" is the biggest box-office hit in the best picture race, but McKay's "Don't Look Up" could make the case for being the most-watched nominee. Netflix counts it as its second-most popular movie ever with some 359,790,000 hours watched, according to the company.
"No Time to Die," one of the most successful blockbusters of the pandemic but still a possible money-loser for MGM, came away with three nominations including the sixth Bond theme nominated for best song. The Billie Eilish title-track will have to best Lin-Manuel Miranda's blockbuster "Encanto" soundtrack and its best-song nominee "Dos Oruguitas."
"Encanto" also landed in the best animated feature category which is especially competitive this year. The other nominees are Pixar's "Luca," Netflix's "The Mitchells vs. the Machines," Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon" and "Flee," the first documentary ever nominated in the category. The Danish animated documentary by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, about an Afghan migrant sharing his story for the first time, was also nominated for best documentary and best international film.
Also nominated for best documentary were "Attica," "Ascension," "Writing With Fire" and the category favorite, "Summer of Soul (Or… When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)." Questlove's documentary chronicles the 1969 Harlem Culture Festival and its long-buried legacy.
"My only intention with this film was to restore history," said Questlove.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will hope Tuesday's nominees can help lift its ABC telecast, which last year featured a socially distanced ceremony at Los Angeles' Union Station. Ratings plummeted to an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers.
This year, the academy has yet to map out plans for its show, except that it will include a host for the first time since 2018.
Associated Press writers Andrew Dalton, Jonathan Landrum Jr. and Jocelyn Noveck contributed to this report.
Nominations for the 94th Academy Awards
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Javier Bardem in “Being the Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield in “tick, tick…BOOM!”
Will Smith in “King Richard”
Denzel Washington in “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Ciarรกn Hinds in “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur in “CODA”
Jesse Plemons in “The Power of the Dog”
J.K. Simmons in “Being the Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee in “The Power of the Dog”
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Jessica Chastain in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
Olivia Colman in “The Lost Daughter”
Penรฉlope Cruz in “Parallel Mothers”
Nicole Kidman in “Being the Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart in “Spencer”
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Jessie Buckley in “The Lost Daughter”
Ariana DeBose in “West Side Story”
Judi Dench in “Belfast”
Kirsten Dunst in “The Power of the Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis in “King Richard”
Best animated feature film of the year
“Encanto” Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer
“Flee” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellstrรถm, Signe Byrge Sรธrensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Luca” Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht
“Raya and the Last Dragon” Don Hall, Carlos Lรณpez Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho
Achievement in cinematography
“Dune” Greig Fraser
“Nightmare Alley” Dan Laustsen
“The Power of the Dog” Ari Wegner
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” Bruno Delbonnel
“West Side Story” Janusz Kaminski
Achievement in costume design
“Cruella” Jenny Beavan
“Cyrano” Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
“Dune” Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
“Nightmare Alley” Luis Sequeira
“West Side Story” Paul Tazewell
Achievement in directing
“Belfast” Kenneth Branagh
“Drive My Car” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Licorice Pizza” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Power of the Dog” Jane Campion
“West Side Story” Steven Spielberg
Best documentary feature
“Ascension” Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell
“Attica” Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry
“Flee” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellstrรถm, Signe Byrge Sรธrensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein
“Writing with Fire” Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh
Best documentary short subject
“Audible” Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean
“Lead Me Home” Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk
“The Queen of Basketball” Ben Proudfoot
“Three Songs for Benazir” Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei
“When We Were Bullies” Jay Rosenblatt
Achievement in film editing
“Don’t Look Up” Hank Corwin
“Dune” Joe Walker
“King Richard” Pamela Martin
“The Power of the Dog” Peter Sciberras
“tick, tick…BOOM!” Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum
Best international feature film of the year
“Drive My Car” Japan
“Flee” Denmark
“The Hand of God” Italy
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” Bhutan
“The Worst Person in the World” Norway
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Coming 2 America” Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer
“Cruella” Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon
“Dune” Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh
“House of Gucci” Gรถran Lundstrรถm, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Don’t Look Up” Nicholas Britell
“Dune” Hans Zimmer
“Encanto” Germaine Franco
“Parallel Mothers” Alberto Iglesias
“The Power of the Dog” Jonny Greenwood
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Be Alive” from “King Richard”
Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncรฉ Knowles-Carter
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto”
Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Down To Joy” from “Belfast”
Music and Lyric by Van Morrison
“No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die”
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
Best motion picture of the year
“Belfast” Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers
“CODA” Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers
“Don’t Look Up” Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers
“Drive My Car” Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer
“Dune” Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers
“King Richard” Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers
“Licorice Pizza” Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
“Nightmare Alley” Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers
“The Power of the Dog” Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers
“West Side Story” Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
Achievement in production design
“Dune” Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos
“Nightmare Alley” Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
“The Power of the Dog” Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
“West Side Story” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo
Best animated short film
“Affairs of the Art” Joanna Quinn and Les Mills
“Bestia” Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Dรญaz
“Boxballet” Anton Dyakov
“Robin Robin” Dan Ojari and Mikey Please
“The Windshield Wiper” Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez
Best live action short film
“Ala Kachuu – Take and Run” Maria Brendle and Nadine Lรผchinger
“The Dress” Tadeusz ลysiak and Maciej ลlesicki
“The Long Goodbye” Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed
“On My Mind” Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson
“Please Hold” K.D. Dรกvila and Levin Menekse
Achievement in sound
“Belfast” Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri
“Dune” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett
“No Time to Die” Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor
“The Power of the Dog” Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb
“West Side Story” Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy
Achievement in visual effects
“Dune” Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer
“Free Guy” Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
“No Time to Die” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick
Adapted screenplay
“CODA” Screenplay by Siรขn Heder
“Drive My Car” Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
“Dune” Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
“The Lost Daughter” Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal
“The Power of the Dog” Written by Jane Campion
Original screenplay
“Belfast” Written by Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up” Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
“King Richard” Written by Zach Baylin
“Licorice Pizza” Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Worst Person in the World” Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie โ a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More