The more one is aware of how politicized award seasons are, the less one cares about who actually wins. Last year’s Oscar telecast was such a travesty that it left me with no appetite for any more of them. In the three consecutive years I spent covering the Academy Awards for RogerEbert.com, my goal was to keep the focus on where it should be—the work itself—and that’s what I continue to do with my annual list revealing whom I would personally nominate in each of the award season categories, including a few I made up myself, such as Best Vocal Performance.
Racking up the most nominations this year—a grand total of eleven—is Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s marvelously creative opus “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which was a triumph in every department. Earning nine nominations is Todd Field’s cinematic gift that keeps on giving, “TÁR,” followed by my top film of 2022, Audrey Diwan’s “Happening,” and Justin Kurzel’s career-best achievement, “Nitram,” which each earned seven nominations apiece. Lukas Dhont’s exceptionally cast “Close” received six nods, while Sophie Hyde’s exhilarating study of a sexual awakening, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” Ti West’s horror masterwork, “Pearl,” and Jamie Dack’s shattering Sundance prize-winner, “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” all earned five nominations each.
Five films received a total of four nods apiece: Alejandro González Iñárritu’s achingly personal dreamscape, “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Mamoru Hosoda’s animated marvel, “Belle,” Rian Johnson’s enormously entertaining crowd-pleaser, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” the stunning stop-motion adaptation of “Pinocchio” from directors Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, and Sarah Polley’s magnificent ensemble piece, “Women Talking.” Also be sure to stick around for the twelve special mentions at the end of this list, which honor such achievements as Best Tour de Force in Front Of and Behind the Camera.
And the nominees are…
BEST PICTURE
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Nitram
Palm Trees and Power Lines
TÁR
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Close
Happening
Vortex
You Resemble Me
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Bad Axe
Let the Little Light Shine
Lynch/Oz
Mama’s Boy
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
Belle
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Mad God
Turning Red
BEST SHORT FILM
Essentials
Fontis Nympha
My Summer Vacation
My Year of Dicks
September
BEST DIRECTOR
Lukas Dhont, “Close”
Audrey Diwan, “Happening”
Todd Field, “TÁR”
Sophie Hyde, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”
Justin Kurzel, “Nitram”
BEST ACTOR
Dario Argento, “Vortex”
Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”
Caleb Landry Jones, “Nitram”
Daryl McCormack, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”
Jeremy Pope, “The Inspection”
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, “TÁR”
Essie Davis, “The Justice of Bunny King”
Mia Goth, “X” and “Pearl”
Emma Thompson, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”
Anamaria Vartolomei, “Happening”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Colin Farrell, “The Batman”
Francis Guinan, “Relative”
Kakhi Kavsadze, “Brighton 4th”
Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Jonathan Tucker, “Palm Trees and Power Lines”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley, “Women Talking”
Judy Davis, “Nitram”
Émilie Dequenne, “Close”
Thomasin McKenzie, “The Justice of Bunny King”
Elizabeth Stam, “Relative”
BEST ENSEMBLE
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
Happening
Relative
Women Talking
BEST DEBUT PERFORMANCE
Hunter Bryant, “Provo”
Gracija Filipović, “Murina”
Sofia Kappel, “Pleasure”
Lily McInerny, “Palm Trees and Power Lines”
Malek Rahbani, “Jacir”
BEST ACTOR UNDER 18
Eden Dambrine, “Close”
Gustav De Waele, “Close”
Kate Hallett, “Women Talking”
Lumi Pollack, “The Fallout”
Siiri Solalinna, “Hatching”
BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE
David Bradley, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
Rosalie Chiang, “Turning Red”
Kylie McNeill, “Belle”
Jenny Slate, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”
Brie Tilton, “My Year of Dicks”
BEST CAMEO
Cate Blanchett, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
Sylvia Flote, “TÁR”
Angela Lansbury & Stephen Sondheim, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
David Lynch, “The Fabelmans”
Devin Ratray, “Kimi”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Katy Brand, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”
Lukas Dhont & Angelo Tijdens, “Close”
Todd Field, “TÁR”
Shaun Grant, “Nitram”
Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jamie Dack & Audrey Findlay, “Palm Trees and Power Lines”
Audrey Diwan & Marcia Romano, “Happening”
Mia Goth & Ti West, “Pearl”
Rian Johnson, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
Sarah Polley, “Women Talking”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Chananun Chotrungroj, “Palm Trees and Power Lines”
Florian Hoffmeister, “TÁR”
Darius Khondji, “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
Hélène Louvart, “Murina”
Laurent Tangy, “Happening”
BEST EDITING
Bob Ducsay, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
Nick Fenton, “Nitram”
David Lawrence, “Lynch/Oz”
Paul Rogers, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Monika Willi, “TÁR”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Ruth E. Carter, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Shirley Kurata, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Catherine Martin, “Elvis”
Sandy Powell, “Mothering Sunday”
Malgosia Turzanska, “Pearl”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Rossitsa Bakeva, “Barbarian”
Hannah Beachler, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Eugenio Caballero, “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
Rick Heinrichs, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
Jason Kisvarday, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
BEST SCORE
Yûta Bandoh, Ludvig Forssell, Miho Hazama & Taisei Iwasaki, “Belle”
Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury, “Men”
Tyler Bates & Tim Williams, “Pearl”
Hildur Guðnadóttir, “TÁR”
Son Lux, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
BEST SONG
“Everything is New to Me” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Hot Girl” from “Bodies Bodies Bodies”
“Lend Me Your Voice” from “Belle”
“Life Can Be So Delicious” from “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
“(Nothing Like the Coffee) At the Automat” from “The Automat”
BEST SOUND
Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Nitram
TÁR
BEST MAKEUP
The Batman
The Eternal Daughter
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Men
X
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: The Way of Water
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Happening
Top Gun: Maverick
You Resemble Me
Twelve Special Mentions
BEST OVERALL YEAR
Jenna Ortega in “The Fallout,” “Scream,” “X” and “Wednesday”
BEST TOUR DE FORCE IN FRONT OF AND BEHIND THE CAMERA
Emma Thatcher, “Provo”
BEST SCENE-STEALER
Rachel Sennott, “Bodies Bodies Bodies”
BEST CHANNELING OF A LIVING ICON
Taylor Henderson, “Hocus Pocus 2”
BEST DOCUSERIES
The Last Movie Stars
BEST CRINGE-INDUCING COMEDY
I Love My Dad
BEST MADE FOR TV HISTORICAL PORTRAIT
Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches
BEST MADE FOR TV HORROR FILM
The Murmuring
BEST BELATED THEATRICAL RELEASE
The Worst Person in the World
BEST FINAL SHOT
Pearl
MOST OVERUSED LINE
“I see you” in “Avatar: The Way of Water”
WORST FILM OF THE YEAR
Disney’s Pinocchio
Indie Outlook 