If there were really any justice in this world, this year’s Oscars would be fully Everything Everywhere All at Once themed. Different worlds! Different outfits! Different homages! Bagels and hot dogs for everyone! A cameo from Raccacoonie!
But as that is highly unlikely, I’ll happily settle for the film winning at least half of the eleven Oscars for which it’s nominated—including acting nominations for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, and Jamie Lee Curtis; a directing nomination for Daniels; and a best picture nomination. Yeoh is the first woman who identifies as Asian ever to be nominated in the best actress category.
And that’s not all the Academy got right: Angela Bassett is the first actor to win a nomination for work in a Marvel movie, with a best supporting actress nomination for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. (Somehow, it’s been almost thirty years since she was nominated for best actress for What’s Love Got to Do With It.)
Wakanda Forever has five nominations in total, including one for best song for Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up.” The best song category also includes “Naatu Naatu” from RRR, the first time a song from an Indian movie has been Oscar-nominated.
The best animated film category is, as usual, largely relevant to SFF fans; it includes Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; Marcel the Shell with Shoes On; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; The Sea Beast; and Turning Red. Did you ever expect to think the words “Oscar-nominated movie Puss in Boots: The Last Wish“? Personally, I did not.
There are many expected nominations in this year’s pack, including perennially stunning cinematographer Roger Deakins (for Empire of Light) and John Williams, who at ninety has earned his 53rd Oscar nomination for the score for The Fabelmans. There are no women among the nominees for best composer or best director, though Sarah Polley’s Women Talking is nominated for best picture and best adapted screenplay.
Inexplicably, Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick are also nominated for best picture. You can see the full list of nominees here, and watch the Oscars on Sunday, March 12th.
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