Borrowing a page from Siskel and Ebert from back in the day, we here at Movie Dearest are once again presenting our own version of "If We Picked the Oscars"! These aren't predictions, but what movies, actors, directors, et al that we would vote for if we were members of the Academy. We also chime in with our picks for the "egregiously overlooked" non-nominees in each category as well as what we deem are the "Worst Nominations of the Year".
So without further ado, the envelope please...
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| Belfast |
The nominees for Best Picture are: Belfast, CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog and West Side Story
CC: One would be forgiven for questioning (as I do) whether the Academy
needed ten nominees this year per their more recent regulations.
Nevertheless, this is a strong list with the possible exceptions of the
fairly familiar Dune and Nightmare Alley, not to mention West Side Story. But I would be remiss if I didn't vote for my #1 film of last year, The Power of the Dog.
KH: Sixty years after the classic story of the Sharks vs. the Jets first hit the silver screen, Spielberg's West Side Story proved you can catch lightning in a bottle twice, and it deserves to catch Oscar gold for a second time as well.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: There were three spectacular movie musicals released in 2021 that I hold in equal esteem: Cyrano, In the Heights and Tick, Tick...Boom! They are all stronger accomplishments in my opinion than the dated, unnecessary West Side Story remake.
KH: In a year with so many great movie musicals, it's disappointing to see only one in Oscar's top 10. Two other New York-based musicals, In the Heights and Tick, Tick... Boom!, should of been contenders too.
For their final voting, Academy members are asked to rank the Best Picture nominees from #1 to #10, so here are our rankings:
CC: 1. The Power of the Dog, 2. Belfast, 3. Drive My Car, 4. Don't Look Up, 5. Licorice
Pizza, 6. King Richard, 7. Nightmare Alley, 8. West Side Story, 9. Dune (Sorry to say I haven't been able to watch CODA yet.)
KH: 1. West Side Story, 2. Belfast, 3. The Power of the Dog, 4. Drive My Car, 5. King Richard, 6. Dune, 7. Nightmare Alley, 8. CODA, 9. Don't Look Up, 10. Licorice Pizza
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| CODA |
The nominees for Best Actor are: 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 and Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth
CC: I am a "Cumberbitch" and feel he is past due for Oscar recognition (he should have won for The Imitation Game), but I was truly blown away by singing and dancing Andrew Garfield in Tick, Tick...Boom!
KH: As Phil Burbank in The Power of the Dog, Benedict Cumberbatch created an indelible portrait of a despicable man drowning in self-loathing and unrequited lust that you still somehow feel sorry for in the end.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Similar to Andrew Garfield above, I was very impressed by singing and dancing Peter Dinklage's affecting performance in Cyrano.
KH: Udo Kier gave the performance of his career as a has-been hairdresser on a mission in Todd Stephens' Swan Song.
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| Cruella |
The nominees for Best Actress are: 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 and Kristen Stewart in Spencer
CC: This is the most difficult category for me out of all of them this
year. Colman was great as usual but I found her film lacking. Chastain
and Kidman were superb emotional/dramatic doppelgangers but their
prosthetic makeup was distracting. Cruz was excellent but she has won
previously. Therefore, I would vote for Kristen Stewart's lovely, understated
turn (pearl-eating dinner scene aside) in Spencer as the gone-too-soon Princess
Diana.
KH: After eliminating the leading ladies of three of my least favorite movies of 2021, that leaves Chastain and Cruz. They both gave amazing performances, but I like to spread the wealth around and Penélope already has her Oscar, so my Eyes are on the the prize for the overdue Jessica Chastain.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: While Paul Thomas Anderson's nostalgic Licorice Pizza is
overrated in many ways, musician Alana Haim proves herself the real deal
cinematically and should have been recognized here.
KH: Talk about overdue... Tessa Thompson was breathtaking, brilliant in Passing.
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| Don't Look Up |
The nominees for Best Supporting Actor are: Ciarán Hinds in Belfast, Troy Kotsur in CODA, Jesse Plemons in The Power of the Dog, J.K. Simmons in Being the Ricardos and Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Power of the Dog
CC: Kodi Smit-McPhee blew me away with his gay-positive performance in The Power of the Dog, even if his
character could be a budding psychopath... work that anthrax, girlfriend!
KH: With a subtle defiance lurking under a naive countenance, Kodi Smit-McPhee delivered a surprising, subtle turn as the hero ... or was he the villain? ... of The Power of the Dog.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Mark Rylance was deliciously bonkers as the Steve Jobs/Elon Musk-esque genius in Don't Look Up.
KH: In Belfast, Jamie Dornan was a devoted father and a dreamboat of a husband... how could anyone resist him crooning "Everlasting Love"?
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| Drive My Car |
The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are: Jessie Buckley in The Lost Daughter, Ariana DeBose in West Side Story, Judi Dench in Belfast, Kirsten Dunst in The Power of the Dog and Aunjanue Ellis in King Richard
CC: Although she's no Rita Moreno (who is?), Ariana DeBose does make a terrific Anita in West Side Story.
KH: A star was born last year and she wore a banana yellow dress with a burst of crimson petticoats when she did it: Ariana DeBose, an Anita for a new millennium in West Side Story.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: What?!? Perennial nominee Meryl Streep was overlooked for her Trump-lampooning president in Don't Look Up??? There had to have been a conspiracy against her... recount!
KH: With not one but two delicious femme fatale performances (both in Best Picture nominees), Cate Blanchett should have been nominated for either Don't Look Up or Nightmare Alley (my pick would be for the latter).
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| Dune |
The nominees for Best Directing are: Paul Thomas Anderson for Licorice Pizza, Kenneth Branagh for Belfast, Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi for Drive My Car and Steven Spielberg for West Side Story
CC: Jane Campion, with her anti-toxic masculinity powers at full throttle in The Power of the Dog.
KH: Fuck Sam Elliott: Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Broadway wunderkind Lin-Manuel Miranda made a truly impressive film directorial debut with Tick, Tick...Boom!
KH: Almodóvar. Parallel Mothers. Viva Pedro!
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| Encanto |
The nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are: CODA, Drive My Car, Dune, The Lost Daughter and The Power of the Dog
CC: The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion's faithful yet somewhat deeper adaptation of Thomas Savage's 1967 semi-autobiographical novel.
KH: Jane Campion, again, for The Power of the Dog.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: How could West Side Story rack up so many nominations while neglecting Tony Kushner's critically updated script? I'm calling Officer Krupke!
KH: Tony Kushner took Arthur Laurents' original 1957 book for West Side Story and made it relevant for today without sacrificing any of its innate innocence or grit.
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| The Eyes of Tammy Faye |
The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are: Belfast, Don’t Look Up, King Richard, Licorice Pizza and The Worst Person in the World
CC: I loved Belfast but found Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical tale somewhat derivative of John Boorman's 1987 classic Hope and Glory. My vote would go to the observant, funny and undeniably timely Don't Look Up by Adam McKay and David Sirota.
KH: With his nominations this year for Belfast, Kenneth Branagh has now been nominated in more categories than any other artist in Academy history, yet he has yet to win... let's fix that here with his autobiographical homage to his homeland.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Fran Kranz's unjustly neglected Mass proved to be a potent exploration of such interwoven topics as grief, guilt, religion and parenthood.
KH: Almodóvar. Parallel Mothers. Viva Pedro!
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| Flee |
The nominees for Best Cinematography are: Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, The Tragedy of Macbeth and West Side Story
CC: This category would nearly represent the one vote I would have gave to Dune, if it weren't for Ari Wegner's gorgeous, more naturalistic work on The Power of the Dog.
KH: With West Side Story, this is Janusz Kamiński's sixth nomination for a Spielberg film and should be his third win.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Seamus McGarvey's lovely, similarly naturalistic work on Cyrano.
KH: There were so many monochromatic movies in 2021 they could have split the category between black and white and color like they did for years back in the day. Regardless, it's a crime that Eduard Grau's phenomenal photography for Passing was overlooked.
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| King Richard |
The nominees for Best Production Design are: Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, The Tragedy of Macbeth and West Side Story
CC: Big sets (I'm looking at you, Dune) aren't necessarily better. I was most impressed by the appropriately nightmarish period carnival sets of Nightmare Alley.
KH: Taking viewers on a journey from ragtag carny tents to the Art Deco realms of the wealthy, Nightmare Alley was vintage Hollywood style done right, courtesy of production designer Tamara Deverell and set decorator Shane Vieau.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Jade Healy's historically accurate yet otherworldly work on David Lowery's excellent Arthurian fantasy The Green Knight.
KH: Last Night in Soho transported you back to swinging mod London and back.
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| Licorice Pizza |
The nominees for Best Costume Design are: Cruella, Cyrano, Dune, Nightmare Alley and West Side Story
CC: Cruella had my vote upon my first glimpse of her garbage truck-delivered gown!
KH: Paul Tazewell reinvented the iconic looks of West Side Story; he should win for costuming the "America" number alone.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: It's a little gay indie sadly overlooked in all Academy categories, but Todd Stephens' delightful Swan Song
(not to be confused with last year's sci-fi mortality flick of the same
name starring Mahershala Ali) attires star Udo Kier in an assortment of
increasingly iconic looks.
KH: One thing that House of Gucci got right was its 70s fashions: shoulder pads, wide collars and all.
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| Luca |
The nominees for Best Original Score are: Don’t Look Up, Dune, Encanto, Parallel Mothers and The Power of the Dog
CC: Even without memorable songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Germaine Franco's sensitive score for Encanto would make it a winner. (Btw, Franco is somewhat surprisingly the first woman to score a Disney animated feature film.)
KH: I was thrilled when Alberto Iglesias' Herrmann-esque score for Parallel Mothers was nominated and would love to see it win.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Hans Zimmer's score for the James Bond thriller No Time To Die may have referenced too many previous Bond themes to be eligible, but it does so masterfully.
KH: His Dune tunes did get nominated, but Hans Zimmer's No Time To Die score should have been too.
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| The Mitchells vs. the Machines |
The nominees for Best Original Song are: "Be Alive" from King Richard, "Dos Orugitas" from Encanto, "Down To Joy" from Belfast, "No Time To Die" from No Time To Die and "Somehow You Do" from Four Good Days
CC: I hated "No Time To Die" when I first heard it a full year before the
film's COVID-delayed release. However, Billie Eilish's understated
vocals grew on me, and the song ultimately turned out to suit the film
pretty perfectly.
KH: At least this year they threw in some opening credit songs along with the end credit ones, but that just makes it easier for the songs that are actually a part of the story to stand out more, and that applies to just one this go round, Encanto's "Dos Orugitas" (turn on the subtitles, you'll cry), which will make 2021 MVP Lin-Manuel Miranda an EGOT winner as well.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: We don't talk about Disney and the Academy absentmindedly neglecting "We Don't Talk About Bruno". No, no, no.
KH: I don't get Disney's recent strategy to just submit one song for its animated musicals, but Encanto surely deserved more than one tune in the mix, from "The Family Madrigal" to "Surface Pressure" to, yeah, even that one "About Bruno".
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| Nightmare Alley |
The nominees for Best Film Editing are: Don’t Look Up, Dune, King Richard, The Power of the Dog and Tick, Tick… Boom!
CC: I go with the musical razzle-dazzle of Tick, Tick...Boom!
KH: Sports films usually do well in this category, so I'll go with King Richard for the win.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: The dance numbers in West Side Story are equally razzle-dazzling yet strangely omitted here, especially given that it is a Best Picture nominee.
KH: The absence of the choreographed action of No Time To Die and the choreographed dances of West Side Story here is baffling.
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| No Time To Die |
The nominees for Best Sound are: Belfast, Dune, No Time To Die, The Power of the Dog and West Side Story
CC: I bought a D-Box herky-jerky theater seat for the first time in which to view No Time To Die. I still have the bruises to prove the effectiveness of this Bond film's explosive sound.
KH: I'd go with the Bond film here too, No Time To Die.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Either Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings or Spider-Man: No Way Home. I'd also be happy with a nomination for the completely neglected Eternals, which I enjoyed sonically and visually more than either of those other Marvel flicks.
KH: Let's throw some award love Marvel's way for either Black Widow or Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
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| Parallel Mothers |
The nominees for Best Visual Effects are: Dune, Free Guy, No Time To Die, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Spider-Man: No Way Home
CC: The effects in likely winner Dune are more realistic but I'm partial to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' more fantastical dragons and soul-sucking vampire bat thingys. (And shirtless Simu Liu is also a deserving "special effect.")
KH: Dune did have some spectacular effects, but my vote goes to the crazy comic book action of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Eternals, per my Best Sound note above.
KH: A giant lizard and big ape fight it out on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean... and they nominate Free Guy instead of Godzilla vs. Kong?
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| The Power of the Dog |
The nominees for Best Makeup and Hairstyling are: Coming 2 America, Cruella, Dune, The Eyes of Tammy Faye and House of Gucci
CC: Cruella's black and white hair design plus Emma Thompson's tight buns (ahem) get my vote.
KH: The cosmetic magicians behind The Eyes of Tammy Faye transformed Jessica Chastain into the infamous Mrs. Baker, tear-smudged mascara and all.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: While their Lucy and Desi makeup are also distracting at times, how did Tammy Faye get nominated here but not Being the Ricardos?
KH: The Benedict Cumberbatch movie where he didn't wear a cowboy hat or a cape, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, had some truly excellent prosthetics work.
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| Raya and the Last Dragon |
The nominees for Best Animated Feature are: Encanto, Flee, Luca, The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Raya and the Last Dragon
CC: This is a toughie as I liked all these nominees to greater or lesser extent. Flee may be the more socially significant, yet I'd lean toward The Mitchells vs. the Machines.
KH: If only I could vote for both of the Disney movies in their 2021 Girl Power Double Feature, Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon, but when push comes to shove my pick would be the former.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Vivo, which also features fun tunes by Lin-Manuel Miranda à la Encanto, could have been nominated over Luca and I wouldn't have complained.
KH: Wow, it looks like I only saw five animated movies last year, and these are them.
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| Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings |
The nominees for Best International Feature Film are: Drive My Car (Japan), Flee (Denmark), The Hand of God (Italy), Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) and The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
CC: Despite its excessive three hour running time, Drive My Car is the clear and deserved winner here.
KH: Although I too think that that run time was a tad overindulgent, I've got to give it to Drive My Car for taking me along on its unexpectedly fascinating journey.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Parallel Mothers, one of the few Almodóvar films to not be nominated in this category. (Spain didn't even submit it!)
KH: Almodóvar. Parallel Mothers. Viva Pedro!
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| Spider-Man: No Way Home |
The nominees for Best Documentary Feature are: Ascension, Attica, Flee, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) and Writing With Fire
CC: Flee gets my vote here rather than in the Animated Feature
category. I do hope it wins at least one of the three categories in which it
is nominated!
KH: My knowledge of the 1971 uprising at a certain New York state prison didn't go much farther than that famous Al Pacino quote from Doy Day Afternoon, so I found Attica enthralling and, ultimately, nightmarishly bone chilling.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Procession presented a uniquely personal, healing perspective on the sad history of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
KH: The Academy's stuffy documentary branch rarely recognizes artist biographies like the delight- and insight-filled Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided To Go for It.
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| Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) |
The nominees for Best Documentary Short Subject are: Audible, Lead Me Home, The Queen of Basketball, Three Songs for Benazir and When We Were Bullies
CC: In our current US political climate where bullies reign supreme, When We Were Bullies serves as a potent antidote.
KH: It's a tough choice for me between the inspiring The Queen of Basketball and the heartrending Lead Me Home, with my vote eventually going to the latter, a shocking, eye-opening exposé on the reality of homelessness in America today.
Egregiously Overlooked:
CC: Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker... see my interview with its director, Ryan White!
KH: Although I found its framing device unnecessary and a bit too pandering to modern sensibilities, Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker was an illuminating profile of the iconic artist.
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| Tick, Tick... Boom! |
The nominees for Best Animated Short Film are: Affairs of the Art, Bestia, Boxballet, Robin Robin and The Windshield Wiper
CC: Sorry to say I haven't yet seen any of these, so must defer.
KH: I found Affairs of the Art to be hysterical and I loved the old school pencil-drawn animation.
Egregiously Overlooked:
KH: It was a bit surprising that Disney's Us Again was left out of the running here.
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| The Tragedy of Macbeth |
The nominees for Best Live Action Short Film are: Ala Kachuu – Take and Run, The Dress, The Long Goodbye, On My Mind and Please Hold
CC: The only one of these I've seen is The Dress. It features a strong story and lead performance; I only wish it had a happier ending.
KH: This year's batch was mostly underwhelming, but the heartbreaking performance of Anna Dzieduszycka in The Dress gets it my vote.
Egregiously Overlooked:
KH: The powerful When the Sun Sets is better than most of the final nominees combined.
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| West Side Story |
And now for our own special category of dishonorable mention, the Worst Nomination of the Year:
CC: Fanboys will hate me but I found Dune plodding, lifeless and no
more comprehensible than David Lynch's much-maligned 1984 adaptation of
Frank Herbert's truly great novel. It is incomprehensible to me that it
landed among the Academy's nominees for Best Picture. Some members
have clearly been ingesting too much spice.
KH: From the first trailer for Being the Ricardos it was obvious (at least to me): Javier Bardem looked too old to play Desi Arnaz during the production of I Love Lucy (there's around a 15 year age gap between the two). That fact could probably be overlooked if his performance was anything more than the proverbial "hotblooded Latin Lothario" (admittedly part of the blame for that must go to Aaron Sorkin for writing and directing him that way). And yet, here Javier is, a Best Actor nominee. Honestly, I could have included Bardem's two nominated co-stars, Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball and J.K. Simmons as William Frawley, along with him for this ignominious honor, but at least they acted their age in this woefully misguided project. Watch Amy Poehler's documentary Lucy and Desi (also streaming on Amazon Prime) instead.
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| Being the Ricardos |
And so the final march to Oscar glory begins. Tune in to the Big Show this Sunday to see who wins, as well as which nominees are rocking the best (and worst) gowns, hottest escorts and most heartfelt acceptance speeches.
By Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine, and Kirby Holt, creator, editor and head writer of Movie Dearest.
