By Eddie on 28/03/2022
In a mere few hours the biggest awards night on the Hollywood calendar will take place in what is likely to be a fairly predictable ceremony even if right now there are a few possible outcomes in some of the key categories on the night.
With key awards likely to be lead by Netflix’s Power of the Dog and technical awards sure to be dominated by the epic Dune, little films such as Coda, Drive My Car and Licorice Pizza are looking to sneak their way into the envelopes and have their names called out by some of the who’s who of Tinseltown.
Tonight should mark some noteworthy career moments for the likes of Will Smith looking for his first Oscar, deaf actor Troy Kotsur for his role in Apple’s well-liked Coda and perhaps most importantly of all Jane Campion whose looking to become a rare female Best Director winner for her role in bringing Power of the Dog to life.
All in all the 2022 Academy Awards represent a good collation of what made the last 12 months special when it came to the film landscape and with things back to normal now with fewer delays and cinemas once more opened, here’s hoping the rest of 2022 continues to provide a wide range of features for us to all enjoy and see here this time next year.
Happy reading and happy watching!
Best Picture
There would be no one surprised if Power of the Dog wins the “big one” tonight
Actor in a Leading Role
After many years plying his trade, 2022 appears to be the year Will Smith gets that Oscar
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
Actor in a Supporting Role
The fine work of Coda’s ensemble helped ensure it was one of last years most beloved films
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*
Actress in a Leading Role
Battling it out with Nicole Kidman and Jessica Chastain, Olivia Colman has a great chance to add to her Oscar collection
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
Actress in a Supporting Role
Ariana DeBose is the biggest sure thing of the night
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
Animated Feature Film
A huge hit for Disney, Encanto may take home the Best Animated feature award
ENCANTO*
FLEE
LUCA
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
Cinematography
In any other year Nightmare Ally would’ve been a genuine frontrunner here
DUNE
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE POWER OF THE DOG*
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
WEST SIDE STORY
Costume Design
West Side Story was a marvel in a production sense
CRUELLA
CYRANO
DUNE*
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
WEST SIDE STORY
Directing
Benedict Cumberbatch and Jane Campion made for quite the team in Netflix’s heavyhitting drama Power of the Dog
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
Documentary (Feature)
Animated documentary Flee should be the winner here
ASCENSION
ATTICA
FLEE
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)*
WRITING WITH FIRE
Film Editing
Don’t Look Up is making up numbers in many of its categories
DON’T LOOK UP
DUNE*
KING RICHARD
THE POWER OF THE DOG
TICK, TICK…BOOM!
International Feature Film
One of the years biggest surprise hits, Drive My Car is a genuine Oscar chance in all its nominated categories
DRIVE MY CAR
FLEE
THE HAND OF GOD
LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD*
Makeup and Hairstyling
When it comes to the technical side of things, Dune is going to take some beating
COMING 2 AMERICA
CRUELLA
DUNE
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE*
HOUSE OF GUCCI
Music (Original Score)
Hans Zimmer’s unique score for Dune should be a winner on the night
DON’T LOOK UP – Nicholas Britell
DUNE – Hans Zimmer
ENCANTO – Germaine Franco
PARALLEL MOTHERS – Alberto Iglesias
THE POWER OF THE DOG – Jonny Greenwood*
Music (Original Song)
With lots of solid competition this year, can James Bond win an Oscar here?
“Be Alive” from KING RICHARD
“Dos Oruguitas” from ENCANTO
“Down To Joy” from BELFAST
“No Time To Die” from NO TIME TO DIE*
“Somehow You Do” from FOUR GOOD DAYS
Production Design
All films nominated here deserve the award but Tragedy of Macbeth is unlikely to succeed
DUNE
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE POWER OF THE DOG
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
WEST SIDE STORY*
Sound
A one time frontrunner, Belfast may walk away from tonight empty handed
BELFAST
DUNE
NO TIME TO DIE*
THE POWER OF THE DOG
WEST SIDE STORY
Visual Effects
A win the general public would love to see would be for Marvel’s box office breaking web-slinging adventure
DUNE
FREE GUY
NO TIME TO DIE
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME*
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Don’t be surprised if Coda gets a win here against the odds
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
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Here’s hoping Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest outing Licorice Pizza can claim a sole award in this category
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*
Wins Tally
Dune = 6
Power of the Dog = 4
West Side Story = 2
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
Glad you agree with me that Dune might clean up in the technical categories. Our other picks are close too. Check out my predictions if you get a chance. I’m sure we’ll comment again after the awards too.
Be very surprised if Dune doesn’t walk away with a big swag! Mainly hoping Hans Zimmer gets a gong!
E
Well I guess I’ll be glueing myself to the couch in about an hour. Looking forward to the ceremony. Check back with you later on today to see how we went with how predictions.
Well, neither of us predicted Chris Rock getting smacked down on stage!
E
Indeed Eddie, Will Smith giving Chris Rock a smackdown was as unexpected as ‘Coda’ winning Best Picture – beautiful film but a total shock that it won. I feel like I won the lottery or an Oscar for my strike rate predicting the winners this year 😉 Amazingly I got 16/19 in the categories I looked at. Honestly, I’m still freaking out Coda won. I can’t tell you how excited I am for Will Smith and Jessica Chastain, arguably my favourite contemporary actress. Dune did very well. It alone boosted my Oscars success rate this year. I’m not so sure it was as difficult predicting the winners this year say compared to last year.
A month or so ago if felt like a wild thing for someone to say Coda the best picture winner but the hype for it really came at the right time.
Very nice to see Dune do so well.
Shockingly I can’t for the life of my figure out how the film that wins best adapted screenplay and then best picture didn’t have a nomination for its director ha!
E
I don’t think the Academy accomplished their goal of decreasing broadcast airtime.
I liked that most of the downstairs seats were less auditorium seating and more booths (with end tables? and hotel lobby furniture aesthetic), but I kept thinking I was watching a music awards show without all the musicians. I’ve never been so happy to see Sir Anthony Hopkins presenting an award as I did tonight.
I think they will get a lot more media traction now thanks to Smith!
E
I watched it all last night with the kids and made a game out of it. We all had to call out who we thought would win each time and if we got it right we got a chocolate. I thought they might be bored but they loved it. I was really happy for Coda. Surprised, but happy. Also really happy Power of the Dog didn’t win.
Love that idea, it’s always a good night when you can create your own game out of it. A month or so ago I would’ve thought someone was crazy if they said Coda for Best Picture but I think the world we are in right now, its come at the right time and certainly would be a hard film to hate even if I didn’t personally think it was a Best Picture material product.
E