Blockbusters such as “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” as well as pop stars such as Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna, have moved a step closer to Oscar nominations.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlists for the 95th Academy Awards on Wednesday, including documentary feature, international film, makeup and hairstyling, score, original song, sound, visual effects, and shorts.
Big-budget sequels like “Avatar,” “Top Gun,” and “Black Panther” had strong showings in the effects and sound categories, as well as original song, which included Gaga’s “Hold My Hand,” The Weeknd’s “Nothing Is Lost” from “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther.”
Swift’s “Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Drake’s “Time” from “Amsterdam,” LCD Soundsystem’s “New Body Rhumba” from “White Noise,” Selena Gomez’s “My Mind and Me” from the documentary of the same name, and Rita Wilson’s “Til You’re Home” from “A Man Called Otto” are also on the original song shortlist. Diane Warren gets another Oscar nomination for “Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman.” The song “Elvis” by Doja Cat was not eligible.
Swift, who premiered her 15-minute short film “All Too Well” at the Tribeca and Toronto film festivals earlier this year, was noticeably absent from the shortlist for best live-action short film.
Shortlists are mostly determined by members of their respective categories, though the specifics vary by branch: Some organisations have committees, while others have minimum viewing requirements.
“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” by Alejandro González Iárritu was one of 15 films shortlisted in the international film category, one of the most competitive. “Holy Spider” (Denmark), “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany), “Saint Omer” (France), “Corsage” (Austria), “EO” (Poland), “Return to Seoul” (Cambodia), “Decision to Leave” (South Korea), “Close” (Belgium), and “Argentina, 1985” are also in the category (Argentina).
The official submission from India was not S.S. Rajamouli’s popular action epic “RRR,” but Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show,” which made the cut, becoming the country’s first film to do so in over 20 years. Other nominations for “RRR” are possible, including for the shortlisted original song “Naatu Naatu.”
Documentaries that have advanced to the next round of voting include Laura Poitras’ Venice-winning “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” about photographer Nan Goldin’s work and activism, Brett Morgen’s David Bowie film “Moonage Daydream,” Daniel Roher’s “Navalny,” about Russia’s opposition leader, “The Janes,” about pre-Roe v. Wade activists, “All that Breathes,” “Descendant,” “Fire of Love,” and “H It’s an eclectic mix of stories and filmmakers: Women directed eight films, while people of colour directed four.
“Jurassic World Dominion,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” were among the visual effects choices, while makeup and hairstyling included David Cronenberg’s body horror “Crimes of the Future.”
Other films that pushed the boundaries of makeup and hairstyling include “The Whale,” in which Brendan Fraser transforms into a 600-pound man, “Elvis,” “Emancipation,” “The Batman,” and the Marilyn Monroe film “Blonde.”
The 15 original scores chosen from 147 eligible include “Women Talking” by Hildur Gunadóttir, “The Fabelmans” by John Williams, “The Banshees of Inisherin” by Carter Burwell, “Babylon” by Justin Hurwitz, “Pinocchio” by Guillermo del Toro by Alexandre Desplat, and “The Woman King” by Terence Blanchard. Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), Nicholas Britell (“She Said”), and Son Lux (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) are also in the mix.
The “Tár” score by Gunadóttir was not eligible, nor was the “Top Gun: Maverick” score by Hans Zimmer, Harold Faltermeyer, Lorne Balfe, and Lady Gaga.
On January 24, nominations for all categories will be announced. The 95th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 12, and will be broadcast live on ABC.
