The nominees for the 94th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are in. As ever, there are some snubs, some obvious entires, and some surprises.
For Best Picture, the nominations are: Belfast, Coda, Don't Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, West Side Story.
In the running for Best Directing are: Kenneth Branagh, Ryuske Hamaguchi, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jane Campion, and Steven Spielberg.
Contenders for Actress In A Leading Role are: Jessica Chastain, Olivia Coleman, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, and Kristen Stewart.
Best Actor will be between: Javier Bardem, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield, Will Smith, and Denzel Washington.
Best International Feature Film is between: Drive My Car, Flee, The Hand of God, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, and The Worst Person in the World.
The nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are: Encanto, Flee, Luca, The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Spider-Man: No Way Home didn't manage to secure a nomination for Best Picture, despite the hopes of the producers, but it did get nominated for Best Visual Effects, along with Dune, No Time to Die, Free Guy and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
This is the first Oscar nomination for Kristen Stewart. She's a been an indie darling and critic favourite for years now, so it's good to see her get the Academy recognition she's long deserved. Both Penélope Cruz and Jessica Chastain are outsiders for the nomination, but Best Actor looks as expected.
Licorice Pizza has been a hit among critics, but its depiction of a relationship between a teacher and her much younger student has caused a split among movie-goers.
This is the fourth year in a row that a film in a foreign language has been nominated for Best Picture, showing the Academy is finally opening up to the idea that these films can compete on the same level as English language ones.
Natural Oscar contenders Dune, Power of the Dog, and West Side Story have picked up a fair few nominations between them, but Tick, Tick… Boom! has majorly missed out. Lady Gaga also failed to pick up a nod for her excellent performance in House of Gucci.
The full list of nominations can be found on the Oscars website.
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