The Power of the Dog - 12 nominations

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Kodi Smit-McPhee

Best Adapted Screenplay Jane Campion (written by)

Best Achievement in Directing Jane Campion

Best Motion Picture of the Year Jane Campion (producer) Tanya Seghatchian (producer) Emile Sherman (producer) Iain Canning (producer) Roger Frappier (producer)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Jesse Plemons

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Benedict Cumberbatch

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Kirsten Dunst

Best Achievement in Production Design Grant Major (production design) Amber Richards (set decoration)

Best Sound Richard Flynn Robert Mackenzie Tara Webb

Best Achievement in Cinematography Ari Wegner

Best Achievement in Film Editing Peter Sciberras

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) Jonny Greenwood

I don't like Westerns.  I don't generally like slow, "methodical" films that kind of meander to their plot. I don't often like films with sinister, intentionally uncomfortable characters.  So you'd think that I'd hate The Power of the Dog, right?  WRONG.  I loved it.  I loved loved loved it.

Jane Campion's film about two wealthy brothers who own a farm captures everything I love about characters and movies. One brother, Phil, eschews all the trappings of wealth.  He can do every job on the farm and never asks his ranch hands to do anything he wouldn't do himself.  It's a culture of toxic masculinity and he is the head "bro."  But we see some cracks in that veneer, and we begin to learn that Phil's identity is more than what he projects.  On the other hand, his brother George is the opposite; polite and the epitome of a wealthy businessman, and when he meets Rose (and her son) at a restaurant she owns that the crew patronizes, he cares for her in a time of emotional crisis and ultimately marries her.  She comes back to the ranch, now the lady of the house, and Phil torments her so subtly that she begins to melt in front of our very eyes.

Important advisory - GET PAST THE FIRST 15 MINUTES.  I have heard numerous complaints that "I couldn't get past..." - I promise, the payoff is worth it.  This is the rare film that the methodical set up has a giant payoff.  The performances are lessons in acting, no surprise given that married couple Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons have both been working since they were kids.  Benedict Cumberbatch never puts a wrong step and newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee is deliciously meek and totally creepy.

As with most sweeping epic films, cinematography and the original score are absolutely critical to this movie's success.  I simply can't say enough good things.  If you have time for just 3 films this year, make this one of them.

2022 - The Year of Surprises and Snubs

I can't identify the reason that this year's Oscars announcement was more exciting for me than the average year (don't forget, I am an Oscars blogger, it's ALWAYS exciting for me!)  As always, I was up at 5 a.m. ready to take in the big news.

There are several notable nominees, and especially some really fun stuff like:

• Jane Campion is the first woman to be nominated TWICE for Directing
• 2 married couples are both nominated for acting Oscars.  Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos) and Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), and Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog) and Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
• Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) is now the first woman to be nominated for 2 roles in something other than the English language
• Troy Katsur (CODA) is the first deaf actor to be nominated for an Oscar (woo hoo!!!!  CODA all the way!)
• Flee pulled off the first trifecta of one movie being nominated for Animated Feature, Documentary, and Foreign Language film
• Encanto tied three other animated films to receive three Oscar nominations
• Diane Warren scored her 13th Oscars nomination with no wins for Best Song (Four Good Days), and she will likely keep up the no win streak this year
• Several films had nominations from the Director's debut film - Maggie Gyllenhall (The Lost Daughter), Questlove (Summer of Soul: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised), Lin Manuel Miranda (tick tick... Boom)
• No Time To Die becomes the 7th James Bond film to have an Original Song nomination (and I bet it will win)
• Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) is likely the first woman to win an Oscar for the same role which another actress won the Oscar 
• Lin Manuel Miranda could (but likely won't) EGOT, having already won an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony (don't worry, LMM, that time will come)

There are some really surprising snubs:

• Starting with GAGA.  When I saw the preview of House of Gucci, I sincerely thought this was going to be her year.  But the film wasn't great, and her performance was good but it was just too hard a category this year.  She already has an Oscar but will certainly win an acting Oscar in the future.
• Denis Villeneuve (Director) wasn't nominated even though his film got 10 nominations.  I think it's much more likely a nomination and a win after Dune 2.
• I really had my fingers crossed for tick tick... Boom for Best Picture.
• Caitriona Balfe (Belfast) seemed like a lock for the nomination in the category that changed "likely to be nominated" almost daily, Actress in a Leading Role
• Ben Affleck (The Tender Bar) was at his level best and I thought this would be a return to the Oscars for him this year.  Instead, The Tender Bar was snubbed completely with zero nominations.
• Ruth Negga (Passing) was phenomenal, but again, when I complain about snubs, I have to ask who I would knock out of the category, and I'm not sure I can pick one (probably Kristen Stewart for Spencer)

AND, after years of talking about it, the Academy finally combined the Sound Mixing and Sound Editing categories into one, Best Sound.  I guess reducing the categories from 24 to 23 will really shorten that broadcast.  (Cue: eye roll)  Though this means that I don't have to explain the difference in the blog this year, I'm sad that this is another way that the technical categories have their value reduced among Oscars enthusiasts.

Overall, wonderful nominations this year, more diversity among the nominees (which means more diverse stories being told), and not many duds among the nominees.  Look for a lot of "I liked it" in this year's blog.  If you're really excited about listening to me talk, don't forget about my podcast "2 Movie Jews," which I co-host with the best Rabbi ever to have gone to film school, Yechiel Hoffman.  Download wherever you get your podcasts.

Now, let's get watching!