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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards, and, as always, the list of contenders is notable for its surprise inclusions and high-profile snubs.
Aussie stars feature prominently in both categories, so let’s dive straight into it.
Aussie superstar Nicole Kidman was among the biggest snubs of this year’s Academy Awards nominations, in what was otherwise a fairly predictable announcement of Oscar contenders.
Kidman’s performance in the erotic drama Babygirl, where she plays a CEO who embarks on an affair with a younger intern, had pundits predicting a sixth career Oscar nomination for the 57-year-old, after she previously won the gong for best actress in 2003 for The Hours.
But voters clearly didn’t agree, also turning their back on highly-fancied turns from Angelina Jolie in the biopic Maria, about famed opera singer Maria Callas, and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations for her performance in The Last Showgirl.
In the best actor category, Daniel Craig’s licence to kill has apparently expired, with the former James Bond star failing to slay Academy voters with his performance as a lovesick drug addict in Queer.
The initial hype surrounding Gladiator II suggested Denzel Washington was in the running for his third Oscar for playing the Machiavellian Macrinus, but, after being largely overlooked during this awards cycle, those hopes have disappeared faster than blood in the Colosseum’s sand.
Extending the best picture field to 10 movies has meant it’s harder to find true snubs in that category, but you could make a case for Sing Sing, a prison drama based on a true story, and A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy drama about cousins on a Holocaust-themed tour through Poland.
However, both films received recognition in other categories, while Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed sports drama starring Zendaya, was iced out of the Oscars altogether (so was his other film in contention this year, the aforementioned Queer).
On the topic of best picture, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 2 was among the nominees, yet he failed to crack a very competitive field for best directing.
Meanwhile, last year’s biggest live-action movie at the box office, Deadpool & Wolverine, was completely ignored by the academy, which marks the first time since 2016 a Marvel movie didn’t at least get recognised for visual effects.
The announcement of nominations for this year’s Academy Awards mostly went to script, with very few genuine, out-of-left-field shocks.
For instance, it was not wholly unexpected to see Guy Pearce recognised in the best supporting actor category for playing industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren in The Brutalist, but it’s still a joy to have this beloved Aussie star earn his first career Oscars nom.
Co-star Adrien Brody, who was also nominated for best actor, told The West Australian he and Pearce “got on famously” while making The Brutalist.
“He’s such a wonderful man and great actor,” Brody said of Pearce. “I’ve always admired him since I first saw Memento in the theatre.
“I thought he had such a wonderful quality as an actor, and he’s done such great work, and he’s amazing in this film.”
Among The Brutalist’s 10 nominations, the nod in the best supporting actress category for Felicity Jones, who plays the wife of Brody’s character, is more surprising though thoroughly deserved.
“It’s a funny one, because, you know, you can’t get too carried away with that stuff, because you have so little control over it,” Jones told The West Australian.
“It was such a demanding piece of artwork that, to have it accepted and to have your peers celebrating it, in this case it means a lot.”
Musical crime comedy Emilia Perez has been a darling of the awards cycle, but it still qualifies as a pleasant surprise to see it lead all films at this year’s Oscars with 13 nominations, including ones for best picture and best actress for Karla Sofia Gascon, the first openly trans performer to be nominated for an Academy Award.
It was far more surprising to see multiple nominations for the unauthorised Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice, with Sebastian Stan earning a best actor nod for portraying the younger years of America’s 47th President, and Jeremy Strong being recognised in the best supporting actor.
The film struggled to find a distributor in the US, and Trump was infuriated with how he was depicted, but Stan and Strong have a puncher’s chance to win Oscars if academy voters see it as a way to protest against the new administration.
It also sets up a fun race between Strong and fellow best supporting actor nominee Keiran Culkin (A Real Pain), who, of course, were duelling siblings Kendall and Roman Roy in the hit TV series Succession.
While the nominations themselves may have produced few upsets, the lack of a clear dominant force this year (see: Oppenheimer last year) sets the stage for big surprises when the winners are announced.
The race for best actress is wide open, although Demi Moore is firming as a favourite to win her first Oscar for The Substance.
Best actor could go down to the wire, with Timothee Chalamet set to give Brody a run for his money now that his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, has earned eight nominations.
The best picture contest is even harder to predict, with half the field having a legitimate shot at going home with silverware.
And there is considerable intrigue around how the big-screen adaptation of hit musical Wicked will fare from its 10 nominations, given the film’s huge fanbase.
The 97th Academy Awards will be held on March 3. The ceremony, hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien, will be broadcast on Channel Seven and be available to stream on 7plus.
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
Anora
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance
I’m Still Here
The Girl With the Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed of a Sacred Fig
Flow
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Brutalist
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Maria
Nosferatu
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
El Mal – Emilia Pérez
The Journey – The Six Triple Eight
Like a Bird – Sing Sing
Mi Camino – Emilia Pérez
Never Too Late – Elton John: Never Too Late
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!
Death By Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards, and, as always, the list of contenders is notable for its surprise inclusions and high-profile snubs.
Aussie stars feature prominently in both categories, so let’s dive straight into it.
Aussie superstar Nicole Kidman was among the biggest snubs of this year’s Academy Awards nominations, in what was otherwise a fairly predictable announcement of Oscar contenders.
Kidman’s performance in the erotic drama Babygirl, where she plays a CEO who embarks on an affair with a younger intern, had pundits predicting a sixth career Oscar nomination for the 57-year-old, after she previously won the gong for best actress in 2003 for The Hours.
But voters clearly didn’t agree, also turning their back on highly-fancied turns from Angelina Jolie in the biopic Maria, about famed opera singer Maria Callas, and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations for her performance in The Last Showgirl.
In the best actor category, Daniel Craig’s licence to kill has apparently expired, with the former James Bond star failing to slay Academy voters with his performance as a lovesick drug addict in Queer.
The initial hype surrounding Gladiator II suggested Denzel Washington was in the running for his third Oscar for playing the Machiavellian Macrinus, but, after being largely overlooked during this awards cycle, those hopes have disappeared faster than blood in the Colosseum’s sand.
Extending the best picture field to 10 movies has meant it’s harder to find true snubs in that category, but you could make a case for Sing Sing, a prison drama based on a true story, and A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy drama about cousins on a Holocaust-themed tour through Poland.
However, both films received recognition in other categories, while Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed sports drama starring Zendaya, was iced out of the Oscars altogether (so was his other film in contention this year, the aforementioned Queer).
On the topic of best picture, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 2 was among the nominees, yet he failed to crack a very competitive field for best directing.
Meanwhile, last year’s biggest live-action movie at the box office, Deadpool & Wolverine, was completely ignored by the academy, which marks the first time since 2016 a Marvel movie didn’t at least get recognised for visual effects.
The announcement of nominations for this year’s Academy Awards mostly went to script, with very few genuine, out-of-left-field shocks.
For instance, it was not wholly unexpected to see Guy Pearce recognised in the best supporting actor category for playing industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren in The Brutalist, but it’s still a joy to have this beloved Aussie star earn his first career Oscars nom.
Co-star Adrien Brody, who was also nominated for best actor, told The West Australian he and Pearce “got on famously” while making The Brutalist.
“He’s such a wonderful man and great actor,” Brody said of Pearce. “I’ve always admired him since I first saw Memento in the theatre.
“I thought he had such a wonderful quality as an actor, and he’s done such great work, and he’s amazing in this film.”
Among The Brutalist’s 10 nominations, the nod in the best supporting actress category for Felicity Jones, who plays the wife of Brody’s character, is more surprising though thoroughly deserved.
“It’s a funny one, because, you know, you can’t get too carried away with that stuff, because you have so little control over it,” Jones told The West Australian.
“It was such a demanding piece of artwork that, to have it accepted and to have your peers celebrating it, in this case it means a lot.”
Musical crime comedy Emilia Perez has been a darling of the awards cycle, but it still qualifies as a pleasant surprise to see it lead all films at this year’s Oscars with 13 nominations, including ones for best picture and best actress for Karla Sofia Gascon, the first openly trans performer to be nominated for an Academy Award.
It was far more surprising to see multiple nominations for the unauthorised Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice, with Sebastian Stan earning a best actor nod for portraying the younger years of America’s 47th President, and Jeremy Strong being recognised in the best supporting actor.
The film struggled to find a distributor in the US, and Trump was infuriated with how he was depicted, but Stan and Strong have a puncher’s chance to win Oscars if academy voters see it as a way to protest against the new administration.
It also sets up a fun race between Strong and fellow best supporting actor nominee Keiran Culkin (A Real Pain), who, of course, were duelling siblings Kendall and Roman Roy in the hit TV series Succession.
While the nominations themselves may have produced few upsets, the lack of a clear dominant force this year (see: Oppenheimer last year) sets the stage for big surprises when the winners are announced.
The race for best actress is wide open, although Demi Moore is firming as a favourite to win her first Oscar for The Substance.
Best actor could go down to the wire, with Timothee Chalamet set to give Brody a run for his money now that his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, has earned eight nominations.
The best picture contest is even harder to predict, with half the field having a legitimate shot at going home with silverware.
And there is considerable intrigue around how the big-screen adaptation of hit musical Wicked will fare from its 10 nominations, given the film’s huge fanbase.
The 97th Academy Awards will be held on March 3. The ceremony, hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien, will be broadcast on Channel Seven and be available to stream on 7plus.
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
Anora
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance
I’m Still Here
The Girl With the Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed of a Sacred Fig
Flow
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Brutalist
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Maria
Nosferatu
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
El Mal – Emilia Pérez
The Journey – The Six Triple Eight
Like a Bird – Sing Sing
Mi Camino – Emilia Pérez
Never Too Late – Elton John: Never Too Late
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!
Death By Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked
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