‘Everything Everywhere’ leads nods with 11
Many of top award contenders movies that drew audiences back to multiplexes
The multiverse-skipping sci-fi indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led nominations for the 95th Academy Awards as Hollywood heaped honors on big-screen spectacles such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” a year after a streaming service won best picture for the first time.
Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” landed 11 nominations, including nods for Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, the former child star of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Released in March, the A24 film has proved an unlikely Oscar heavyweight against the expectations of even its makers. Yeoh became the first Asian actor nominated for best actress.
“Even just to be nominated means validation, love, from your peers,” said an “overwhelmed” Yeoh. “What it means for the rest of the Asians around the world, not just in America but globally, is to say we have a seat at the table. We finally have a seat at the table. We are being recognized and being seen.”
The 10 movies up for best picture are “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tar,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Elvis,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Women Talking” and “Triangle of Sadness.”
Nominations were announced by Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams
Jan. 24 from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in California. If last year’s Oscars were dominated by streaming — Apple TV+’s “CODA” won best picture, and Netflix landed a leading 27 nominations — films that drew moviegoers to multiplexes after two years of the pandemic make up many of this year’s top contenders.
For the first time, two
sequels — “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” — were nominated for best picture. The two films together account for some $3.5 billion in box-office receipts. Tom Cruise missed out on an acting nomination, but “Top Gun: Maverick” — often credited with bringing many moviegoers back to theaters — walked away with seven nominations, including best sound, best visual effects and best song for Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand.” Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” made in the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s death, scored five nominations, including the first acting nod for a performance in a Marvel movie: Angela Bassett, the likely favorite to win best supporting actress.
Martin McDonagh’s Ireland-set dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” may be the stiffest competition for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” at the Oscars. The Searchlight Pictures film
landed nine nominations, including nods for McDonagh’s directing and screenplay, and a quartet of acting nominations: Colin Farrell for best actor, Kerry Condon for best supporting actress, and both Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan for best supporting actor.
Baz Luhrmann’s bedazzled biopic “Elvis” — another summer box-office hit — came away with eight nominations, including a best actor nod for star Austin Butler and nominations for its costumes, sound and production design.
Though Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” struggled to catch on with audiences, the director’s autobiographical comingof-age tale landed Spielberg his 20th Oscar nomination and eighth nod for best director. John Williams, his longtime composer, extended his record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person. Williams’ 53 nominations trails only Walt Disney’s 59 nods. “The Fabelmans”
also marks Spielberg’s 12th nomination as a producer for best picture.
In the ultra-competitive best actress race, “Fabelmans” star Michelle Williams was nominated after being passed over by the Screen Actors Guild. Along with Yeoh, the other nominees for best actress are Ana de Armas (“Blonde”), Cate Blanchett (“Tar”) and Andrea Riseborough, who emerged as a late contender after celebrities rallied around her performance as an alcoholic West Texas mother in the little seen “To Leslie.” Notably left out of the category were Viola Davis (“Woman King”) and Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”).
Along with Butler and Farrell, the best actor nominees are Brendan Fraser, hailed for his comeback performance as an overweight shut-in in
“The Whale”; Bill Nighy for “Living” and — in a surprise for one of the most critically lauded films of the year — Paul Mescal for Charlotte Wells’
father-daughter tale “Aftersun.”
Brian Tyree Henry landed his first Oscar nomination for his supporting turn in “Causeway.” Along with Gleeson, Keoghan and Quan, the other nominee for best supporting actor is Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”).
In the supporting actress category with Condon and Bassett, two “Everything Everywhere All at Once” actors — Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu — were nominated along with Hong Chau (“The Whale”).
After the best director category saw back-to-back landmark wins for female filmmakers — Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”) in 2021 and Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) last year — no women were nominated for best director. But in the best picture group, one of the slots went to Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking,” a parable of sexual assault and justice.
In addition to McDonagh and Spielberg, the nominees for best director are, Todd Field (“Tar”), Ruben
Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”), and Kwan and Scheinert.
Only one streaming title broke into the best picture field: the German WWI film “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Though Netflix for the first time in years lacks a possible best picture front-runner, “All Quiet on the Western Front” landed a better-than-expected nine nominations. The streaming service also has a top contender in “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” which was nominated for best animated feature.
The other nominees for best animated film are “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” “The Sea Beast” and “Turning Red.”
The nominees for international film are “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany), “Argentina, 1985” (Argentina), “Close” (Belgium), “EO” (Poland) and “The Quiet Girl” (Ireland).
Jimmy Kimmel will host the 95th Academy Awards ceremony, airing March 12 on ABC.