After winning the hearts of audiences and critics in 2022, the big-hearted science-fiction drama “Everything Everywhere All at Once” lived up to expectations on Tuesday by garnering 11 Oscar nominations — and beating international favorite “The Banshees of Inishrin” sleeper hit “All Quiet on the Western Front” and the Baz Luhrmann standout “Elvis”. It was the biggest show ever for queer cinema as the nominees for this year’s ceremony were announced in an early morning livestream, hosted by Allison Williams (“M3GAN”) and Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) ) did.
In addition to spots in most craft categories, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” earned nominations for directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, as well as first-time nominations for all of its central cast members. As with Michelle Yeoh, nominated for Best Actress, and Kwan, nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Stephanie Hsu’s name received a special round of applause during the announcement of her category. In the film, Hsu — who will be up against fellow cast member Jamie Lee Curtis for Best Supporting Actress — gives a particularly moving performance as a daughter who will go to the end of the multiverse to win her traditional mother’s approval and It won’t feel like this anymore. An outsider because of his strangeness.
Although the film earned the same nomination as 2021’s queer favorite, “The Power of the Dog,” it is expected to take home many more awards in the end. The visually stunning film about a sexually repressed Montana rancher managed to earn only one award for director Jane Campion. Notably, not a single female director was nominated this time around, after Campion became just the third woman to win Best Director at the previous year’s ceremony.
Todd Field, director of “Tar,” one of the critical favorites for 2022, made the cut, however. Overall, the lesbian power-trip flick underperformed in comparison to Daniels’ queer kung-fu movie. But its six nominations included spots in the biggest categories of the evening, including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay and, predictably, Best Actress.
With her spot confirmed in the Best Actress category, Cate Blanchett, who has already won a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award for playing the film’s world-renowned, feminist musician, Lydia Tarr, joins the eight acting stars to be nominated. have joined an elite group of Oscar. While she faces stiff competition in Yeoh, Blanchett has a good chance to take home the win for her undeniable tour de force as a woman pushed to the brink – and perhaps beyond – of her whirlwind grace. fell from. If Blanchett manages to pull it off, it will be a redemption of sorts for legions of queer fans who watched Brie Larson (“Room”) heartbroken as the gay icon lost to Brie Larson (“Room”) in 2016. The year he was nominated for “Carol”.
To the dismay of “Tar” fans, Blanchett is the only cast member from the film who got a chance to take home a gold statuette at the evening’s awards in March, alongside co-stars Noemie Merlant (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”). ), who plays the composer’s disillusioned assistant and former lover, and Nina Haus (“Phoenix”), who plays the composer’s much-loved wife and first violin.
One actor who hasn’t been overlooked for his turn as a queer character is Brendan Fraser, who plays the 600-pound protagonist in director Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale.” Fraser has already won several prestigious awards – including, most recently, the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor – for his role as Charlie, a gay, homebound English teacher who tries to reconnect with his daughter before that it inevitably consumes itself. But an Oscar for best actor would be the ultimate reward for a triumphant return for the former heartthrob after his decades-long virtual escapade from Hollywood.
In addition to Fraser’s first Best Actor nomination, Aronofsky’s controversial tearjerker earned a spot for first-time nominee Hong Chow, who plays Charlie’s best friend and caretaker, in the Best Supporting Actress category, as well as a Best makeup and hairstyling nod too.
As expected, two other LGBTQ-themed films received nominations in major categories: Laura Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” and Lucas Dhont’s “Close.” If Poitras’ film about artist and activist Nan Goldin takes home the award in the Best Documentary Feature category, it will be the second Oscar for the filmmaker, who won for the 2014 Edward Snowden documentary, “Citizenfor.” The win in the best international feature would be a first for Dhont, whose second leg saw the two 13-year-old boys sidelined by peer pressure, Belgium’s official entry this year.
Overall, queer creators and films with LGBTQ themes have plenty of potential to make history and win at the 95th Academy Awards, which will take place March 12 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. However, no one can predict what will happen on Hollywood’s biggest night.
