97th Academy Awards Nominations

Yesterday, January 23rd, the Academy announced the nominations and yes, watched them live and yes, I'm excited AMPAS members are honoring the magnificent work by Jacques Audiard as Emilia Pérez got the outstanding number of 13 nominations establishing a new record for a non-English movie (previous one are Roma and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with 10 each) and tying with 11 films, including Gone With The Wind, From Here To Eternity, Who's Afraid of Viginia Wolf and nine more.

Noteworthy, Emilia Pérez almost tied the record for the most nominations ever earned by a single film; and say almost because needed only one more nomination to tie with All About Eve (1950), Titanic (19970, and La La Land (2016) that earned 14 nominations each.

My first impression is that Oscar nominations are not surprising as most nominees were expected. Still, I was not sure Academy Members could recognize progressive politics movies and actors as keep on thinking members are conventional and conservative; but, surprise seems that things are finally changing.

So, continuing with statistics, a majority of acting nominees -13 out of 20- are first-time academy honorees perhaps showing the increasingly changing Academy's membership profile -less white older men- as now has about 10,000 voting members, up from about 6,700 in 2017.  As has by now profusely reported and commented, Karla Sofía Gascón becomes the first ever openly transgender actor nominated for an acting  Oscar; Elliot Page was nominated for Juno in 2008, 12 years before he transitioned.

It took almost 100 years to finally reach the 10th women nominated in the Best Director category as of now, Coraline Fargeat becomes the 10th women to be nominated in the academy's 97-year history. Most notably this year all best director nominees are also nominated in other categories, Jacques Audiard is also nominated for co-writing the script and writing a song; Sean Baker for editing, producing and screenplay writing; the other three also have nominations for script writing.

Some are questioning the omission of actors like Angeline Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Pamela Abderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Margaret Qaulley, Danielle Deadwyler, Seleba Gomez, Daniel Craig, Denzel Washington and in the best movie category, A Real Pain, Sing Sing and September 5. Even if they deserve recognition, there is a limited number of nominations -that thank heaven the Academy has NOT increased like so many other awards- and specially in the best actor category, seems academy members liked more The Apprentice than Queer, so Craig was out and -it's a real surprise- Sebastian Stan is in.

Latest news are emphasizing The Brutalist and Emilia Perez use of AI, or more specific, technology for voice-cloning to tweak Hungarian accents of Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, and the singing voice of Karla Sofía Gascón. If that causes a stir then dubbing should cause a higher stir as there are so many films that are spoiled by horrendous dubbing. If this technology becomes industry accepted, then please use it to dub movies to foreign languages like French, Spanish, etc. so we could have better voice acting when forced to watch dubbed movies. Sigh.

Nominations announcement hosted By Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott was kind of funny to watch, so if wish to watch it again, video is at the end of post.

The Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, at the Dolby Theater and for the first time besides de ABC broadcast will also be available to stream live on Hulu, a concession the Academy did as says it's recognizing the shifting ways that audiences are watching movies and shows, especially the most desired young and young adults audiences.

The Nominations
Best Picture
Anora, Sean Baker, USA
A Complete Unknown, James Mangold, USA
Conclave, Edward Berger, USA and UK
Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve, USA, Canada, UAE, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Jordan and Gambia
Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
I'm Still Here, Walter Salles, Brazil and France
Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross, USA
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat, UK, France and USA
Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK

International Feature Film
France: Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Germany: انه‌ی انجیر معابد Daneh Anjeer Moghadas (The Seed of the Sacred Fig), Mohammad Rasoulof, Germany and France
Brazil: I'm Still Here, Walter Salles, Brazil and France
Denmark: Pigen med nålen (The Girl with the Needle), Magnus von Horn, Denmark, Poland and Sweden
Latvia: Straume (Flow), Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia, France and Belgium

Animated Feature Film
Inside Out 2, Kelsey Mann, USA
Memoir of A Snail, Adam Elliot, Australia
Straume (Flow), Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia, France and Belgium
The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders, USA and Japan
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park, UK and France

Documentary Feature Film
Black Box Diaries, Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin
No Other Land, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor, Palestine and Norway
Porcelain War, Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, USA, Ukraine and Australia
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, Johan Grimonprez, Belgium, France and Netherlands
Sugarcane, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, USA and Canada

Directing
Sean Baker for Anora, Sean Baker, USA
James Mangold for A Complete Unknown, James Mangold, USA
Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary
Coralie Fargeat for The Substance, Coralie Fargeat, UK, France and USA

Actress in a Leading Role
Mikey Madison in Anora, Sean Baker, USA
Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here, Walter Salles, Brazil and France
Demi Moore in The Substance, Coralie Fargeat, UK, France and USA
Cynthia Erivo in Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK

Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown, James Mangold, USA
Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Isabella Rossellini in Conclave, Edward Berger, USA and UK
Felicity Jones in The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary
Ariana Grande in Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK 

Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown, James Mangold, USA
Ralph Fiennes in Conclave, Edward Berger, USA and UK
Colman Domingo in Sing Sing, Greg Kwedar, USA
Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi, Canada, Denmark, Ireland and USA
Adrien Brody in The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary

Actor in a Supporting Role
Edward Norton in A Complete Unknown, James Mangold, USA
Yura Borisov in Anora, Sean Baker, USA
Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg, USA and Poland
Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi, Canada, Denmark, Ireland and USA
Guy Pearce in The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary

Adapted Screenplay

Original Screenplay

Visual Effects

Cinematography
Greig Fraser for Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve, USA, Canada, UAE, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Jordan and Gambia
Paul Guillaume for Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Edward Lachman for Maria, Pablo Larraín, Italy, Germany, Chile and USA
Jarin Blaschke for Nosferatu, Robert Eggers, USA
Lol Crawley for The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary

Costume Design
Arianne Phillips for A Complete Unknown, James Mangold, USA
Lisy Christi for Conclave, Edward Berger, USA and UK
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman for Gladiator II, Ridley Scott, USA, UK, Morocco, Canada and Malta
Linda Muir for Nosferatu, Robert Eggers, Czech Republic and USA
Paul Tazewell for Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK

Film Editing
Sean Baker for Anora, Sean Baker, USA
Nick Emerson for Conclave, Edward Berger, USA and UK
Juliette Welfling for Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
David Jancso for The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary
Myron Kerstein for Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK

Makeup and Hairstyling
Mike Marino, David Presto, and Crystal Jurado for A Different Man, Aaron Schimberg, USA
Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini for Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
David White, Traci Loader, and Suzanne Stokes-Munton for Nosferatu, Robert Eggers, USA
Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli for The Substance, Coralie Fargeat, UK, France and USA
Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth for Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK

Music Original Score
Volker Bertelmann for Conclave, Edward Berger, USA and UK
Clément Ducol and Camille for Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz for Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK
Kris Bowers for The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders, USA and Japan

Music Original Song

El Mal from Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard

Mi Camino from Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, France
Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol

Never Too Late from Elton John: Never Too Late, R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, USA
Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin

Like A Bird from Sing Sing, Greg Kwedar, USA
Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada

The Journey from The Six Triple Eight, Tyler Perry, UK and USA
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

Production Design
Conclave, Edward Berger, USA and UK 
Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve, USA, Canada, UAE, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Jordan and Gambi
Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Nosferatu, Robert Eggers, USA
Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK, USA and Hungary
Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia b
Wicked, Jon M. Chu, USA, Japan, Canada, Iceland and UK
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Sound

Live Action Short Film
A Lien, David Cutler-Kreutz and Sam Cutler-Kreutz, USA 15'
Anuja, Adam J. Graves, USA 22'
Covjek koji nije mogao sutjeti (The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent), Nebojša Slijepčević, Croatia 13'
I'm Not A Robot, Victoria Warmerdam, Belgium and Nethrlands 22'
The Last Ragner, Cindy Lee, South Africa 28'

Animated Short Film
Beautiful Men, Nicolas Keppens, Belgium, France and Netherlands 18'
Beurk! (Yuck!), Loïc Espuche, France 13'
In the Shadow of the Cyoress, Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi,  Iran 20'
Magic Candies, Daisuke Nishio,  Japan 21'
Wander to Wonder, Nina Grantz,  Netherlands, Belgium, France and UK 14'

Documentary Short Film
Death by Numbers, Kim A Snyder, USA 33'
I Am Ready, Warden, Smriti Mundhra, USA 37'
Incident, Bill Morrison, USA 30'
Instruments of a Beating Heart, Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Japan 23'
The Only Girl in The Orchestra, Molly O’Brien,  USA 34'

Nominations Video