Oscar Nominations 2022: The Biggest Snubs and Surprises, From Lady Gaga to Apple TV+

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Any Oscars morning means a lot of good news for some people and a lot of sad news for others — specifically, those hoping for or even expecting a nomination for their work in this year’s contenders. While many of Tuesday’s nominations fell along predicted lines, with The Power of the Dog and Dune both racking up a strong number of nods, there were plenty of unexpected moments, including some surprising shutouts for popular directors and some exciting history being made.

Here are just a few of our biggest takeaways from another wild morning, courtesy of the Academy Awards.

Surprise: Apple TV+ Makes It Into the Best Picture Race

CODA (Apple TV+)

As the newest streaming platform to try to break into the Oscars game, Apple TV+ had a little success last year with a sound nomination for Greyhound and an animated feature nomination for Wolfwalkers. This year, Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth picked up three nominations for Denzel Washington’s performance, cinematography, and production design.

But the real contender to emerge is CODA, writer/director Sian Heder’s intimate dramedy about the hearing child of a deaf family. CODA received three nominations, including Troy Kotsur for supporting actor (the first deaf man to be recognized in that category), adapted screenplay, and best picture.

Snubbed: Musical Artists Turned Actors

Licorice Pizza (MGM/UA)

While Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza was recognized in the writing, directing, and Best Picture categories, it didn’t receive any acting recognition for its young cast, Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim. And Haim wasn’t the only musical artist snubbed — Lady Gaga‘s scene-chewing good time in House of Gucci went overlooked. So did nearly everything that Ridley Scott touched, in fact…

Snubbed: Sorry, Scott

The Last Duel (20th Century Studios)

Sir Ridley Scott had two films which were serious contenders in the awards race this year, with Lady Gaga working her ass off on the campaign trail for House of Gucci and many people cheering on, unironically, the idea of Ben Affleck getting nominated for his (delightful) supporting performance in The Last Duel. Unfortunately, neither film found any purchase with the Academy this year, with The Last Duel ignored entirely and House of Gucci limited to a single nomination for makeup and hairstyling.

Surprise: This Year’s Best Picture Contenders Feature No Lead Actress Nominees

Kristen Stewart in Spencer, photo by Pablo Larrain

This feels kind of like a snub, except it is a surprise as well: Every single one of this year’s lead actress nominees starred in films that were left out of the Best Picture category. No Being the Ricardos, no The Lost Daughter, no Parallel Mothers, no The Eyes of Tammy Faye, no Spencer. (Parallel Mothers didn’t even make the International Feature Film shortlist.)

What this says about the makeup of the Best Picture race, and the kind of roles that the Academy tends to recognize as strong performances by women, is a discussion for a longer think piece — but it’s an odd trend. To be clear, there was some similar amount of discrepancy to be found in the Lead Actor race, with The Tragedy of Macbeth, tick, tick… Boom!, and (again) Being the Ricardos not making the cut despite their lead male performances all getting nominated.

Snubbed: Sorry, Sorkin

Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman, photo by Glen Wilson

Aaron Sorkin’s very Sorkin-y Being the Ricardos picked up three nominations for stars Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, and J.K. Simmons, but was otherwise shut out of the Oscars race, with Sorkin’s writing and directing not making the cut. (Given that those things were the biggest problems with the movie, this feels a bit like justice.)

Surprise: Aunjanue Ellis Gets Some Well-Deserved Due

King Richard (Warner Bros.)

While King Richard isn’t so much a movie as it is a carefully constructed machine designed to award Will Smith an Oscar, it’s a welcome surprise to see Aunjanue Ellis’s supporting performance included amongst the film’s six nominations. Ellis, a stellar talent who only recently dazzled in HBO’s Lovecraft Country, took on a largely thankless role — the supportive wife behind Richard Williams’ (Smith) wild plans — and owned every moment she could on screen.

Snubbed: Musicals That Steven Spielberg Didn’t Direct

In the Heights (Warner Bros. Pictures)

While it was a great morning for West Side Story with seven nominations, lesser-known musical films struggled to get traction. Cyrano was limited to a costume design nomination, with the Dessner Brothers’ score, Peter Dinklage’s stellar performance, and its many songs overlooked. No love for Annette either, despite the great music by Sparks and performances from previous nominee Adam Driver and previous winner Marion Cotillard, or In the Heights. At least Andrew Garfield was able to squeak out a nomination for tick, tick… Boom!, which was also recognized for film editing.

Surprise: What Don’t Look Up Was and Wasn’t Nominated For

Don’t Look Up (Netflix)

On the one hand, Don’t Look Up managed to collect four nominations Tuesday morning: Best Picture, editing, original screenplay, and the score by Nicholas Britell. Not bad! But Meryl Streep’s weird yet captivating performance as a skewed American president went overlooked, and the combined weight of the songwriting team behind “Just Look Up” couldn’t get the original song contender a nomination.

Seriously, if we’re not going to give Ariana Grande an Oscar for improving the line “‘Cause you’re about to die soon everybody,” then what is even the point of having an Oscars?

Surprise: International Films Dominate

Drive My Car (Bitters End)

Oh, right. The point is to celebrate great films. Two years ago, director Bong Joon-ho stood on the Oscars stage and asked audiences to give foreign-language movies a chance, because “once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” This year’s nominations reflected that the Academy, at least, was paying attention.

While it’s not uncommon for one token international film to be recognized outside of the international feature film category, this year there were three different films nominated alongside English-language contenders, with Flee pulling off the unprecedented achievement of being nominated for international feature film, documentary, and animated feature. In addition, The Worst Person in the World received recognition for its original screenplay, and Drive My Car picked up nominations for adapted screenplay, director, and best picture.

What fate befalls those nominated? We’ll find out when the 94th annual Academy Awards are announced on Sunday, March 27th, 2022, live on ABC. (While Spider-Man: No Way Home only got one Oscar nomination, for visual effects, there’s still a chance that Tom Holland could host.)

Oscar Nominations 2022: The Biggest Snubs and Surprises, From Lady Gaga to Apple TV+
Liz Shannon Miller

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