The 2022 Academy Awards

Each year, Kristin and Dan host an Oscars party. At the party, we watch the Academy Awards, compete in Oscars trivia, and predict who we think will win the awards. 

Pre-Oscar Preparation

This year Alison and I got really into the movies that were nominated. At the end of 2021, Jake and Meg went and saw many of the contenders in theaters. They told us how good some of the movies were so we started to go see them too. We were loving it, after not going to see any movies since 2019, we were going to the theater nearly every week. By the time the nominees were announced in early February we had seen nearly half of the films that were nominated (and we had seen most of the big ones). After realizing how many of the movies we had seen already I decided I wanted to try and see all of the 53 films that were nominated for an Academy Award in 2022. I succeeded. In the end, it was a bit of a slog - I had mostly foreign films and shorts left in the final weeks. Alison got really tired of reading all of the movies we watched together, but I really wanted to watch them all. As a result, we watched some truly great films (CODA, King Richard, Belfast), some films that surprised us (Nightmare Alley, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Attica, The Lost Daughter, The Worst Person in the World), and some that were pretty terrible (The Hand of God, Licorice Pizza, and The Power of the Dog). Overall it was a strong year of films. 

Having watched all 53 nominees I wrote out how I would vote for each category before watching the Oscars. I listed the nominees for each category in order of favorite to least favorite:

BEST PICTURE Nominees:

CODA

Belfast

King Richard

West Side Story

Nightmare Alley

Dune

Drive My Car

The Power of the Dog 

Licorice Pizza 

Don’t Look Up

My vote: CODA. I loved this film. I really hope it wins the Academy Award for best picture. Who doesn't love the little-engine-that-could underdog story? This feel-god scrappy movie that centers on the only hearing member of a deaf family torn between her passion for music and her fear of abandoning her family's fishing business hits all the right notes. It is beautiful in many ways - its focus on family, deaf storytelling, and music combine to make it a truly special film. 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE nominees:

Will Smith, King Richard

Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Andrew Garfield, tick, tick...BOOM!

Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog 

My vote: Will Smith. I really love King Richard, in a large part because of the performance by Will Smith. He plays the quirky, supportive, and controversial father in such a convincing way. I came away from this movie thinking that if I have kids one day that I hope I can show them I believe in them as much as Richard believed in this his daughters. 

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE nominees:

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Ciarán Hinds, Belfast

Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog

J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos

My vote: Troy Kostur. Troy Kostur should run away with this award. This is another father figure role that was inspiring and entertaining. The scene in which he tells a government fishing official where to stick it in expletive-filled American Sign Language on its own justifies the win coming his way. His performance shined and he deserves to be recognized.  

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE nominees:

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye 

Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos 

Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter 

Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers

My vote: Jessica Chastain. This category was tough. All of the performances were strong, and none stood out as head and shoulders above the rest. I do find it incredible when an actress can so fully portray a role so fully that you forget who the actress is and only see the character she portrays. Jessica Chastain did that as Tammy Faye. She put on a masterclass in acting. I have to go with her performance. 

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE nominees:

Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter  

Judi Dench, Belfast

Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog 

My vote: Ariana DeBose. I thought this year's remake of West Side Story was an excellent film and one of the best parts of the film was Ariana DeBose's depiction of Anita. Whenever she was on screen she stole the show. Her energy, passion, and dancing were top-notch. 

DIRECTING nominees:

West Side Story

Belfast

The Power of the Dog

Drive My Car 

Licorice Pizza

My vote: West Side Story. I don't think West Side Story will win this award, but I think it should. I still remember leaving the theater and reflecting on how much I loved the artistic choices that Steven Spielberg made to bring this film to life. It has been a few years since I saw the original film version of West Side Story, but I don't recall particularly enjoying it. I really enjoyed seeing this remake and Steven Spielberg's fingerprints are all over the best parts of this film. 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY nominees:

CODA

Dune

The Lost Daughter 

The Power of the Dog

Drive My Car

My vote: CODA. What can I say? I loved CODA and I hope that it is duly recognized. I know that the story hits some familiar tropes of family dramas, but I still felt like it was original and it caught me by surprise. Going in I had seen the trailer and knew it was about a deaf family, but I was blown away. 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY nominees:

Belfast

King Richard

The Worst Person in the World

Licorice Pizza

Don’t Look Up

My vote: Belfast. The storytelling in Belfast is truly beautiful. Kenneth Branagh's personal story born from introspection during the pandemic becomes one we can all relate to - how families, children, and parents cope with difficult and stressful circumstances. This was my second favorite Oscar film of the year. 

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM nominees:

Luca

Encanto

Flee

The Mitchells vs. the Machines 

Raya and the Last Dragon

My vote: Luca. Encanto is the popular choice here, but I really loved Luca. It’s a marvelously inventive tale of friendship, love, the need for change, and finding your own path. It probably won't win, but to all the doubters out there I have to say - “Silenzio Bruno!”

CINEMATOGRAPHY nominees:

The Tragedy of Macbeth 

Dune

West Side Story

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog 

My vote: The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Tragedy of Macbeth was one of the more visually stunning films we watched to prepare for the Oscars. I was about as transfixed by the way the camera framed the scene as I was by the action of the scene. It also probably won't win, but I think it deserves the recognition. 

COSTUME DESIGN nominees:

Cruella

West Side Story

Nightmare Alley 

Dune 

Cyrano

My vote: Cruella. Not a lot stuck with me about Cruella, other than the costumes. In a movie that decides to focus on fashion, they nailed the costumes. 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE nominees:

Flee

Attica

Writing with Fire

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Ascension

My vote: Flee. This was a deep category. Both Flee and Attica really stuck with me. I don't think either will win, but Flee, an animated documentary film about Amin Nawabi and his journey to share his story of fleeing Afghanistan before he marries his husband is such an innovative documentary. 

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT nominees:

Lead Me Home

Audible

When We Were Bullies

The Queen of Basketball 

Three Songs for Benazir 

My vote: Lead Me Home. Homelessness is one of the most pressing challenges of our day. This short documentary is an upsetting and realistic depiction of how unhoused folks are dehumanized. The film uses most of its time simply showing footage of the temporary, unsanitary, and unsafe places people experience homelessness live, and the rest of what Lead Me Home contains is testimony from homeless folks. Lead Me Home is a demonstration of how inhumane the treatment of America’s homeless population truly is. 

FILM EDITING nominees:

Dune

tick, tick...BOOM!

King Richard

Don’t Look Up

The Power of the Dog 

My vote: Dune. I thought this film was beautifully crafted. Dune brought multiple worlds to life, including palaces and grandiose sets that make Arrakis and Caladan feel truly real. I think it is likely to win many technical awards such as film editing, production design, sound, and visual effects. 

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM nominees:

The Worst Person in the World

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

Flee

Drive My Car

The Hand of God

My vote: The Worst Person in the World. There is no way that Drive My Car does not win this award, but I enjoyed The Worst Person in the World way more than Drive My Car. The Worst Person in the World, a Norwegian romantic comedy, captures a universal story about young adulthood while also telling a unique story with flawed characters. The Worst Person in the World turns the traditional rom-com on its head, instead of focusing on the love triangle and who Julie (the protagonist will end up with) the film focuses on Julie confronting who she is and what she wants outside of romantic entanglements. 

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING nominees:

The Eyes of Tammy Faye 

House of Gucci

Coming 2 America 

Cruella

Dune

My vote: The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Mostly because I think this is where the award will end up, and I think a few of these movies would be deserving. I went with Tammy Faye as an echo of my comments earlier relating to Jessica Chastain. Her transformation for this movie is incredible and hair and makeup were a big part of the transformation. 

ORIGINAL SCORE nominees:

Dune

Encanto

Don’t Look Up

The Power of the Dog

Parallel Mothers

My vote: Dune. I appreciate a powerful score that compliments an epic film and Dune checks those boxes.  I wasn't particularly enamored with the other scores that were nominated. 

ORIGINAL SONG nominees:

“No Time To Die” from No Time to Die 

“Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto

“Be Alive” from King Richard

“Down To Joy” from Belfast

“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days

My vote: No Time To Die. There is something about a good James Bond theme and this one fits perfectly with the film. I think Billie Eilish shines, and as much as I love Lin-Manual Miranda. I think he will be playing second fiddle at the Oscars. 

PRODUCTION DESIGN nominees:

Dune

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog 

The Tragedy of Macbeth 

West Side Story

My vote: Dune. I thought this film was beautifully crafted. Dune brought multiple worlds to life, including palaces and grandiose sets that make Arrakis and Caladan feel truly real. I think it is likely to win many technical awards such as film editing, production design, sound, and visual effects. 

ANIMATED SHORT FILM nominees:

Robin Robin

The Windshield Wiper

Boxballet

Affairs of the Art 

Bestia

My vote: Robin Robin. I will be honest, I did not love the field of the animated short films. I thought Robin Robin was the best of the bunch, but it wasn't that great. 

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM nominees:

The Long Goodbye

On My Mind

Please Hold

Ala Kachuu - Take and Run 

The Dress

My vote: The Long Goodbye. I thought this was a pretty strong category this year. I liked the Long Goodbye because it starts abruptly and escalates quickly to tell a story that feels very relevant to the world we live in right now. It was the most memorable short film. Although I also really enjoyed On My Mind and almost went with that one instead. 

SOUND nominees:

Dune

Belfast

West Side Story

No Time to Die

The Power of the Dog 

My vote: Dune. I thought this film was beautifully crafted. Dune brought multiple worlds to life, including palaces and grandiose sets that make Arrakis and Caladan feel truly real. I think it is likely to win many technical awards such in film editing, production design, sound, and visual effects. 

VISUAL EFFECTS nominees:

Dune

Free Guy

Spider-Man: No Way Home

No Time to Die

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 

My vote: Dune. I thought this film was beautifully crafted. Dune brought multiple worlds to life, including palaces and grandiose sets that make Arrakis and Caladan feel truly real. I think it is likely to win many technical awards such in film editing, production design, sound, and visual effects. 

Oscar Party

On Sunday night we headed over to Kristin and Dan's house. As always, they threw a fabulous party. Keeping the food in line with the nominations they served licorice and pizza. We made our Oscar predictions and filled out our trivia. This year Kristin went with matching (current year films to locations, current year films to directors, and current year animated films to locations). We also listed out as many past best picture winners as we could think of - here Dan had a decided advantage as he has memorized all of the best pictures winners back to the 1950s - very impressive. 

Then we watched the Oscars. Skylee ran the scoreboard and updated each win as it was announced. This year's Oscars were quite entertaining - we enjoyed having a host again. The assault of Chris Rock by Will Smith was crazy. We weren't sure if it was real, and then we were shocked when it was real. Violence is never the answer. I feel bad for everyone involved. I was thrilled when CODA pulled off the win for best picture. 

Once all of the awards had been given out we tallied our competition. There are three main categories - predictions, trivia, and homework. For the predictions, you get one point for each winner that you guessed. I led the pack with 21 out of 23 correct predictions. I missed the documentary short where I guessed Audible, but it was the Queen of Basketball and I missed the animated short where it was The Windshield Wiper and I guessed Robin Robin. In trivia, you get one point per correct answer. Here is Dan was quite gracious as he could have crushed all of us with his knowledge of past best picture winners, but he took the next highest trivia score and added one to get his own. The final category was homework. For this category, you get two points for each nominee watched prior to the announcement of the nominees, one point for each nominee watched after they are announced, and half a point for each short. I led the pack with 23 watched prior to the announcement, 15 watched after the announcement and all 15 shorts. Alison also watched all of the nominees the only difference between us is that I watched Free Guy before the nominees were announced. In the end, I was named this year's oscar champion, but only because Dan was quite gracious on the trivia. I was pretty proud that I won both the homework and prediction categories. All in all, it was a fun night spent with family watching the Academy Awards.