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 the Vatican thriller “Conclave.” “The Substance” explores feminism through body horror. “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.''
“Wicked” and “Dune Part 2” filled out this category. The Academy has expanded its Best Picture categories to 10 in 2022 as part of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This category previously had only 5 slots.
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, who just won a Golden Globe for his role in A Real Pain, 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.
In the director category, the Academy named Sean Baker (“Anora''), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist'') and Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Perez'') as favorites. Rounding out the category were James Mangold (The Complete Unknown) and French director Coralie Farget (Substance). Notable abbreviations include Edward Berger (“Conclave”) and Jon M. Chu (“Wicked”).
Original screenplay nominations included 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, which is having a strong week after announcing on Tuesday that it had surpassed 300 million subscribers, ended Thursday morning with 16 nominations, the most of any distributor. With 13 nominations for “Emilia Perez” alone, this irreverent musical is the company’s most nominated film in history.
The film was the company's winning entry from this year's Cannes Film Festival, and has continued to win awards ever since. Prior to “Emilia,” Netflix's most nominated film was 2018's “ROMA,” which received 10 nominations. The company's most awarded film is the 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.” It also won two Best Director awards for Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) and Alfonso Cuaron (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.
