The nominations for the 94th Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday. As a movie review blog, we at Stream to Big Screen feel obligated to highlight this annual event. From the crop of 2021 releases, there were surprises and snubs but most of all those prestige picks released at the end of the year became Oscar nominees. I guess the gamble paid off. We have seen and/or reviewed many of those movies that came away with nominations. Below, we will give our best initial guesses on who will prevail in the top categories at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022.

And the nominees are:

BEST PICTURE:

Belfast

CODA

Don’t Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Since The Power of the Dog is the nomination leader with 12 nominations, it would be reasonable to assume that the Western/Thriller from Netflix has the best shot and most support for a win in Best Picture. Dune has next most nominations with 10, mostly in technical categories, but it missed in Best Director and got no acting nominations. All of the Best Picture contenders received multiple nominations, but The Power of the Dog seems to have received nominations from every corner of the academy. It got its entire ensemble acting nominations. Our early prediction for the win here: The Power of the Dog.

BEST DIRECTOR:

Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car

Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Using the same logic for Best Director, Jane Campion has directed the most nominated film. It would stand to reason that she would be rewarded as the Best Director, especially if The Power of the Dog is the favorite for a Best Picture win. Campion is the first woman to be nominated for Best Director more than once, and if she wins, she will be only the third woman to win in this category after Kathryn Bigelow and Chloe Zhao. Denis Villeneuve is not nominated here for Dune, so it’s unclear who would be the main challenger to Campion. Our early prediction for Best Director: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick… Boom!

Will Smith, King Richard

Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

There were some great performances in 2021 in this category, so it may be difficult to decipher who’s on track to win. It seems like the competition should come down between Benedict Cumberbatch in the Best Picture frontrunner and Will Smith in the crowd-pleasing biopic. King Richard‘s popularity seems to be carried on the back of Will Smith’s performance and star power. If academy voters really like King Richard, here is a top place it can honor that movie and Smith has never won an Oscar. Smith did win a Golden Globe this year for this performance, maybe that puts the tennis ball in his court. Early prediction for Best Actor: Will Smith, King Richard.

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter

Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers

Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Here is the problem with doing Oscar predictions – your personal favorites get in the way. For me, I really enjoyed the performances that I saw, but none more than Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. It’s a sensitive and powerful performance in a so-so movie. Chastain in very good and would be deserving of a win. The movie only got one other nomination in Makeup and Hairstyling, so I’m not sure it’s possible. The voters clearly liked Being the Ricardos and Nicole Kidman has got to be the driving force – she also was a Golden Globe winner this year. Olivia Colman is well-liked in a well-regarded movie. Penelope Cruz’s nomination came out of nowhere. Kristen Stewart was the critical favorite, but she’s a sole nominee from Spencer so the academy clearly did not like that movie. I can’t resist making this early Best Actress prediction: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Ciarán Hinds, Belfast

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog

J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos

Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Here are 5 true supporting performances. Kodi Smit-McPhee has been the critics’ favorite this award season for his performance as the inscrutable Peter in The Power of the Dog. He certainly makes an impact and has a memorable character in the Best Picture frontrunner. Troy Kotsur has the most moving performance of the bunch in CODA followed closely by Ciaran Hind’s grandfather in Belfast. Although I’m tempted to predict that Kotsur will pull an Oscar down with all his heartstring tugging, I have to believe that The Power of the Dog will walk away with at least one acting win. For Best Actor in a Supporting Role, the early guess: Kodi Smith-McPhee, The Power of the Dog.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Judi Dench, Belfast

Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog

Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

There were a couple of surprises Tuesday morning in this category. Catriona Balfe, who plays Ma in Belfast, was predicted to be nominated instead of her costar Judi Dench as Granny. Jessie Buckley seems to have rode the wave of love and admiration for the prickly The Lost Daughter. Beyond that, DeBose, Dunst and Ellis have received nominations through the awards season and their films are firmly in the Best Picture conversation – it is likely the winner will come from one of them. DeBose has a standout performance as Anita in West Side Story, a role that won Rita Moreno an Oscar sixty years ago. Maybe lightning can strike the same place twice? Early prediction for Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

Adam McKay and David Sirota, Don’t Look Up

Zach Baylin, King Richard

Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World

In this category, there are 4 Best Picture contenders nominated. Of those Best Picture contenders, 3 of the screenplays were written (or co-written) by the directors of those films. Of those 3, 2 were solely written by the director, who was also nominated for Best Director. Of those 2, Belfast has 7 nominations while Licorice Pizza only has 3. Without more information, I’ll go with the most nominations to triumph – and if Belfast is truly a challenger for the Best Picture win, then it should win here. Tentative Best Original Screenplay prediction for the win: Kenneth Branagh, Belfast.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Siân Heder, CODA

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe, Drive My Car

Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth, Dune

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

By the same logic used in the Best Original Screenplay category, it would seem that Jane Campion may be taking home multiple statues come Oscar night. That’s going to be our early prediction: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog.

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGTS:

From Trip: Although I’m bummed that Zola got no love from the Academy (though I’m not surprised), Nightmare Alley was one of my favorite movies of 2021. I’m glad to see that it racked up some nominations, especially that Best Picture nom. Congratulations, Beyonce! I enjoy “Be Alive” and since “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is not nominated, then I don’t have to be conflicted. Lin will have to complete his EGOT another year. I’ve seen all of the Best Picture nominees except for Drive My Car, and I’m not particularly excited to see any 3-hour movie, but a contemplative Japanese movie about Chekov – *sigh*

Tell us your thoughts about the Oscar nominations, leave your comments about out too-early predictions and make some predictions of your own. Were there any movies left out of these nominations that you wish had been included? Speak up!

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