'Power Of The Dog' tops Oscar noms with 12; 'Dune' nabs 10

Jesse Plemons in a scene from 'The Power Of The Dog'. Photo: Handout

The Netflix film "The Power Of The Dog” has topped this year's Oscar nominations with 12. The sci-fi epic "Dune” followed closely behind with 10 nods once the names were read Tuesday (Feb 8) morning.

The nominees for best picture are: "Belfast”; "CODA”; "Don’t Look Up”; "Drive My Car”; "Dune”; "King Richard”; "Licorice Pizza”; "Nightmare Alley”; "The Power Of The Dog" and "West Side Story”

The nominees for best actress are: Jessica Chastain, "The Eyes Of Tammy Faye”; Olivia Colman, "The Lost Daughter”; Penélope Cruz, "Parallel Mothers”; Nicole Kidman, "Being The Ricardos”; Kristen Stewart, "Spencer.”

The nominees for best actor are: Will Smith, "King Richard”; Javier Bardem, "Being The Ricardos”; Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Power Of The Dog” and Andrew Garfield, "Tick, Tick ... Boom!” and Denzel Washington, "The Tragedy Of Macbeth.”

The nominees for best supporting actress are: Jessie Buckley, "The Lost Daughter”; Ariana DeBose, "West Side Story”; Judi Dench, "Belfast”; Kirsten Dunst, "The Power Of The Dog” and Aunjanue Ellis, "King Richard.”

The nominees for best supporting actor are: Ciarán Hinds, "Belfast”; Troy Kotsur, "CODA”; Kodi Smit-McPhee, "The Power Of The Dog”; Jesse Plemons, "The Power Of The Dog” and J.K. Simmons, "Being The Ricardos.”

Actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan read the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards live on multiple platforms, including Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the academy’s social media accounts and on ABC’s "Good Morning America.”

This image released by Amazon shows Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball (left), and Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz in a scene from 'Being The Ricardos'. Photo: Handout

The nominees for best animated feature are: "Encanto”; "Flee”; "Luca”; "The Mitchells vs. the Machines” and "Raya And The Last Dragon.”

The nominees for documentary feature are: "Summer Of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”; "Flee”; "Attica”; "Ascension” and "Writing With Fire.”

Nominees for best director are: Paul Thomas Anderson, "Licorice Pizza”; Kenneth Branagh, "Belfast”; Jane Campion, "The Power Of The Dog”; Steven Spielberg, "West Side Story” and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, "Drive My Car.”

The nominees for best original score are: "Don’t Look Up”; "Dune”; "Encanto”; "Parallel Mothers” and "The Power Of The Dog.”

The nominees for costume design are: "Cruella”; "Cyrano”; "Dune”; "Nightmare Alley”; "West Side Story.”

The nominees for original screenplay are: "Belfast”; "Don’t Look Up”; "King Richard”; "Licorice Pizza” and "The Worst Person In the World.”

The nominees for adapted screenplay are: "CODA”; "Drive My Car”; "Dune”; "The Lost Daughter”; and "The Power Of The Dog.”

A largely virtual awards season added some unpredictability to this year’s nominations, which are occurring later than usual. To make way for the Olympics, the Oscars will be held March 27 and will return to their usual venue, the Dolby Theatre.

In pulling from films released in myriad ways, these Oscar nominations reflect a tumultuous pandemic year for Hollywood that began with many theatres shuttered and ended with Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home” smashing box-office records.

This image released by Warner Bros Pictures shows Timothee Chalamet (left), and Rebecca Ferguson in a scene from 'Dune'. Photo: Handout

In between, much of the normal rhythm of the movie business was transformed, as studios pushed some of the biggest movies of the year to streaming services in a bid to lure subscribers. Films including "Dune" (despite the objections of its director), Pixar's "Luca" and "King Richard” were among those that went straight to homes.

As Covid-19 cases surged in the last two months due to the omicron variant, much of Oscar season also turned virtual. Last year, the pandemic led the academy to host a delayed Oscars in a socially distanced ceremony at Los Angeles' Union Station. Ratings plummeted to an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers.

This year, the academy has yet to map out plans for its show, except that it will include a host for the first time since 2018. For better or worse, the Academy Awards will also be without its usual lead-in. The Golden Globes in January were an untelevised non-event after NBC said it wouldn't air them in 2022 while the beleaguered Hollywood Foreign Press reformed itself after ethics and diversity criticism.

Other changes were more subtle but potentially impactful. For the first time, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences ruled out hard-copy DVD screeners for its members, who instead could watch submissions on the academy's streaming platform. - AP