By: Ava Curran
Last year held a collection of popular films such as “Dune,” “Encanto,” and “Spiderman: No Way Home.” With award season around the corner, this year is sure to be a nail biter for the Oscars.
The nominations were announced. With it came the obvious choices and some shocking surprises. Here's the breakdown: The film to receive the most nominations, twelve in total, was “The Power of the Dog”. Jane Campion, female director of the film, was nominated for Best Director in a male-dominated category. There are also a herd of first-time nominees, nine all together, including Kristen Stewart, Jesse Buckley and Andrew Garfield.
“Don’t Look Up” and “Licorice Pizza” are among the controversial picks, the first being widely considered as a weak satire with 56% as its rotten tomato meter and the latter having its main couple of the film being a statutory relationship.
A big year for Lin-Manuel Miranda, as two of the films he worked on, “Encanto” and “Tick, Tick… BOOM!” Are both nominated in big categories, such as Best Original Score and Best Actor.
Regarding my predictions, I know a few things for sure- Andrew Garfield is not going home with a Best Actor win. For the past 30 years, it has been incredibly rare for an actor in a comedy or musical to win in the Best Actor/Actress category. The one time that happened, Marisa Tomei winning for “My Cousin Vinny'', the media speculated that the vote was rigged or that there was some sort of card mix up. Because of this, I find it hard to believe that The Academy would vote for Andrew Garfield.
As for who I think will win, Benedict Cumberbatch is the biggest possibility, and for good reason. But Will Smith winning would certainly make headlines and attention, which the Academy desperately needs.
In the Best Actress category, it is a toss up. I’m very sure Jessica Chastain won’t win for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”. Even though Penelope Cruz is getting lots of hype for “Parallel Mothers”, I don’t think she’ll be chosen regarding her competition.
One of the biggest sweeps in the actor/actress categories when it comes to any Oscars is a biopic. If a performer plays a real person that had some significance in the world, they may as well grab your Oscar already. This is why I think Kristen Stewart and Nicole Kidman are the biggest contenders.
Whatever occurs at the Oscars, it is sure to be a night to remember for the nominees, attendees and audiences.