The Press Release:
Actor–comedian Leslie Jordan and actor, CEO and producer Tracee Ellis Ross announced the 94th Oscars® nominations today (February 8), via a global live stream on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the Academy’s digital platforms, an international satellite feed and broadcast media.

Jordan, Ross and several special guests announced the nominees in all 23 categories at 5:18 a.m. PST, live from Los Angeles, Times Square in New York City, Howard University in Washington, D.C., Beaumont Hospital in Detroit, MI, and Thaddeus M. Bullard Academy in Tampa, FL. For a complete list of nominees, visit the official Oscars website, www.oscar.com.

Academy members from each of the 17 branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and International Feature Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi–branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. This year, the Academy saw its highest ever voter participation in the organization’s history, with members submitting ballots from 82 countries.

Active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in all 23 categories beginning Thursday, March 17, through Tuesday, March 22. The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby® Theatre at Hollywood & Highland® in Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

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:
• Ciarán 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”
• Penélope 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 Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen 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 López 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 Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La G 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” Göran Lundström, 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 Beyoncé 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 Díaz
• “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 Lüchinger
• “The Dress” Tadeusz ?ysiak and Maciej ?lesicki
• “The Long Goodbye” Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed
• “On My Mind” Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson
• “Please Hold” K.D. Dávila 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 Siân 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

ABOUT THE ACADEMY: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a global community of more than 10,000 of the most accomplished artists, filmmakers and executives working in film. In addition to celebrating and recognizing excellence in filmmaking through the Oscars, the Academy supports a wide range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies, including public programming, educational outreach and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

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Piercing Ken Thoughts: With that long a rundown I’m not going to add too much extra to the mix and to be honest I only really ended up seeing a lot of the films that didn’t get nods from The Academy anyway. I saw “Shang-Chi”, “Spider-Man” and “Free Guy” and enjoyed them immensely but missed “Dune” which a number of my Science Fiction friends said was worthwhile. In looking over this list I do see quite a few films that I still must add to my queue or see if friends have the DVD to lend me for a couple of days. Yes some people I know still purchase DVD’s and other stuff along those lines. So wrapping this up I wonder what you in the readership thinks about the nominations for the 94th Annual Academy Awards. You can chime in down below in the comments to let me know what you think and please let’s stick to the topic at hand to make the most sense. I will return with more of their announcements as I see them hitting our mailbox and until next time please stay safe out there.

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