Some years, the Oscar nominations come as a surprise, and sometimes they seem inevitable. This is one of the latter—though as ever there are snubs, disappointments, and moments that call for a fist-pump. In that latter category we have Karla Sofía Gascón as the first trans woman nominated for best actress (for Emilia Pérez) and Coralie Fargeat with a best director (and best original screenplay) nomination for The Substance.
SFF films make a pretty decent showing, with Wicked, The Substance, and Dune: Part Two nominated for best picture—though of their directors, only Fargeat got a nod. (This is where we make the jokes about how Dune and Wicked must have directed themselves.)
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were, of course, nominated for their Wicked work: Erivo for best actress and Grande for best supporting actress. Demi Moore, who gave an excellent speech when she won a Golden Globe, is nominated for best actress for The Substance. If Erivo wins, she will be the latest person to score the rare EGOT—all she needs is an Oscar to go with her previous Emmy, Grammy, and Tony wins.
As usual, the animated feature film nominees include a lot of SFF-leaning films, including The Wild Robot, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, and Flow, which earned Latvia’s first-ever Oscar nominations—it was also nominated for best international feature film. (ed note: JUSTICE FOR KNEECAP]
Dune: Part Two was also nominated for cinematography, production design, achievement in sound, and achievement in visual effects. Nosferatu picked up a quartet of nominations, for cinematography, costume design, makeup and hairstyling, and production design. Wicked’s 10 nominations—which ties it with Conclave and The Brutalist—include costume design, editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, achievement in sound, and achievement in visual effects.
The Wild Robot also picked up nominations for original score and achievement in sound; The Substance is also nominated for makeup and hairstyling. And in the visual effects category we have two SF films that do not otherwise appear: Alien: Romulus and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
You can find the full list of nominees here. The Oscars will air March 2nd on ABC and Hulu.
