2022 Oscar Nominations & Predictions

 The 94th Academy Awards Nominations & Predictions:  

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)

Andrew Garfield (tick, tick...BOOM!)

Will Smith (King Richard)

Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)

Prediction:  Will Smith.  Smith's third nomination in a flashy role will be enough to hold off Benedict Cumberbatch.  

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

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)

Prediction:  Kodi Smit-McPhee.  The idea of two actors "cancelling each other out" is baloney.  Smit-McPhee is the favorite here and has won the Golden Globe, for that's worth these days.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)

Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)

Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)

Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

Prediction:  Nicole Kidman.  A tough category with Olivia Colman and Kristen Stewart gaining steam, but Kidman will receive the award for playing a showbiz legend and playing her well.  

Best Actress in a 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)

Prediction:  Ariana Debose.  Will win for the same role for which Rita Moreno won sixty years ago.   

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)

Prediction:  Jane Campion.  The first two-time female nominee in this category previously won in 1993 for Original Screenplay for The Piano.   A third Best Director win for Steven Spielberg will elude him once again.

Best Original Screenplay

Belfast 

Don't Look Up

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

The Worst Person in the World

Prediction:  Belfast by Kenneth Branagh.  This will be the first win for the multiple nominee in a record seven different Oscar categories over his vast career.   It's between Belfast and Licorice Pizza, with the nod going to Branagh.

Best Adapted Screenplay

CODA 

Drive My Car

Dune

The Lost Daughter

The Power of the Dog

Prediction:  Drive My Car.  I haven't seen the film yet, but I sense this category will follow the Parasite tradition from two years ago and award to an international feature film.  

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

Prediction:  The Power of the Dog.  It's a toss-up between Belfast and The Power of the Dog.  This is the first year in quite some time in which I still have to see four of the nominees.   Since this is a prediction of which film the Academy will vote for and not a pick based on preference, The Power of the Dog wins.   My preference would be Belfast.