The 2022 Oscar nominations have finally arrived….

After plenty of twists and turns, this year’s race sees The Power of the Dog take pole position with a dominant twelve nods including the all-important Best Picture accolade.

The western drama, which centres on a ruthless rancher and his bizarre relationship with a sensitive teenager, also received acting mentions for four of its stars.

Leading man Benedict Cumberbatch (as tough rancher Phil Burbank) is in contention for Best Actor, while Kirsten Dunst (as vulnerable widow Rose Gordon) contests Best Supporting Actress. Finally, Best Supporting Actor frontrunner Kodi Smit-McPhee (as sensitive teenager Peter Gordon) is joined in his category by fellow first-time nominee Jesse Plemons (as sympathetic rancher George Burbank).

Additionally, Jane Campion is in contention for Best Director almost thirty years after her last nomination for The Piano (1993).

Elsewhere, the fantasy remake Dune scored the second-highest number of nominations with eleven, including Best Picture. However, filmmaker Denis Villenueve was surprisingly snubbed for his work on the film; this coming one week after being ignored by the BAFTAs.

Meanwhile, the Irish-based drama Belfast and the musical remake West Side Story both landed seven nominations. Like Dog and Dune, they are also in contention for Best Picture along with the family drama CODA, the Japanese epic Drive My Car, political satire Don’t Look Up, the sports biopic King Richard, the indie-comedy Licorice Pizza, and the noir thriller Nightmare Alley.

Renowned filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza), Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) and Steven Spielberg are all shortlisted for Best Director, along with Jane Campion and surprise nominee Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car).

Elsewhere, the Best Actress line-up sees three real-life portrayals in contention for the gong; Nicole Kidman (as Hollywood legend Lucille Ball) in Being the Ricardos, Jessica Chastain (as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker) in The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Kristen Stewart (as royal family member Diana Spencer) in Spencer.

The trio are joined in a fiercely competitive category by previous winners Olivia Colman (as troubled novelist Leda Caruso) in The Lost Daughter and Penélope Cruz (as ageing mother-to-be Janis) in Parallel Mothers.

Remarkably, there was no mention for Lady Gaga as her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci was surprisingly snubbed despite key nominations at the Golden Globes, SAG and BAFTAs. Additionally, it is the first time since 1988 that none of the BAFTA contenders for Best Actress have made the cut at Oscar.

Meanwhile, the Best Actor line-up includes three fact-based performances in Will Smith (as tennis coach Richard Williams) in King Richard, Javier Bardem (as Hollywood star Desi Arnaz) in Being the Ricardos) and Andrew Garfield (as theatre composer Jonathan Larson) in Tick, Tick…Boom!. The fifth slot is held by Denzel Washington (as power-hungry Lord Macbeth) in the Shakespearean drama The Tragedy of Macbeth.

High-profile stars to receive nominations in the Supporting Actor/Actress categories include Belfast duo Ciarán Hinds (as sickly grand-patriarch Pop) and Dame Judi Dench (as eccentric grand-matriarch Granny) plus Jessie Buckley (as troubled mother Leda Caruso) in The Lost Daughter, Ariana DeBose (as Peurto Rican dancer Anita) in West Side Story, Aunjanue Ellis (as supportive matriarch Brandy Williams) in King Richard, Troy Kotsur (as deaf parent Frank Rossi) in CODA and J.K. Simmons (as comedian actor William Frawley) in Being the Ricardos.

Elsewhere, the Best Animated Feature category sees Pixar’s Luca go up against Disney duo Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon and Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. The Machines. The final slot is held by the Danish documentary Flee which also celebrated key nods for Best Documentary and Best Foreign Language Film.

Coming 2 America, Cruella, Free Guy, House of Gucci, No Time to Die, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Spider-Man: No Way Home are among the biggest blockbusters of 2021 to score Oscar nods in the technical awards.

As to be expected, the Academy delivered a variety of snubs in the acting department including Belfast duo Caitríona Balfe and Jamie Dornan plus Jodie Comer (The Last Duel), Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), Jennifer Hudson (Respect), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Leonardo DiCaprio (Don’t Look Up), Cate Blanchett (Nightmare Alley), Ruth Negga (Passing), Ben Affleck (The Tender Bar), Bradley Cooper (Licorice Pizza) and Jared Leto (House of Gucci).

A number of well-known films also failed to land a single nomination such as C’mon C’mon, Eternals, The French Dispatch, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Harder They Fall, A Hero, The Last Duel, Last Night in Soho, Mass, The Matrix Resurrections, Passing, A Quiet Place: Part II, The Rescue, Respect and Sing 2.

The 94th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday 27th March.

The full list of nominations are below (winner predictions in blue):

BEST PICTURE
BELFAST
CODA
DON’T LOOK UP
DRIVE MY CAR
DUNE
KING RICHARD
LICORICE PIZZA
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE POWER OF THE DOG
WEST SIDE STORY

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA
Kenneth Branagh, BELFAST
Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, DRIVE MY CAR
Steven Spielberg, WEST SIDE STORY

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, BEING THE RICARDOS
Benedict Cumberbatch, THE POWER OF THE DOG
Andrew Garfield, TICK, TICK…BOOM!
Will Smith, KING RICHARD
Denzel Washington, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
Olivia Colman, THE LOST DAUGHTER
Penélope Cruz, PARALLEL MOTHERS
Nicole Kidman, BEING THE RICARDOS
Kristen Stewart, SPENCER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ciarán Hinds, BELFAST
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Jesse Plemons, THE POWER OF THE DOG
J.K Simmons, BEING THE RICARDOS
Kodi Smit-McPhee, THE POWER OF THE DOG

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley, THE LOST DAUGHTER
Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY
Judi Dench, BELFAST
Kirsten Dunst, THE POWER OF THE DOG
Aunjanue Ellis, KING RICHARD

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Siân Heder)
DRIVE MY CAR (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi & TakamasaOe)
DUNE (Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve & Eric Roth)
THE LOST DAUGHTER (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Jane Campion)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BELFAST (Kenneth Branagh)
DON’T LOOK UP (Adam McKay & David Sirota)
KING RICHARD (Zach Baylin)
LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson)
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier)

BEST EDITING
DON’T LOOK UP
DUNE
KING RICHARD
THE POWER OF THE DOG
WEST SIDE STORY

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
DUNE
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE POWER OF THE DOG
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
WEST SIDE STORY

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
DUNE
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE POWER OF THE DOG
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
WEST SIDE STORY

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
CRUELLA
CYRANO
DUNE
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
WEST SIDE STORY

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
COMING 2 AMERICA
CRUELLA
DUNE
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
HOUSE OF GUCCI

BEST SOUND
BELFAST
DUNE
NO TIME TO DIE
THE POWER OF THE DOG
WEST SIDE STORY

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
DUNE
FREE GUY
NO TIME TO DIE
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
DON’T LOOK UP (Nicholas Britell)
DUNE (Hans Zimmer)
ENCANTO (Germaine Franco)
PARALLEL MOTHERS (Alberto Iglesias)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Jonny Greenwood)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
BELFAST, “Down to Joy”
ENCANTO, “Dos Oruguitas”
FOUR GOOD DAYS, “Somehow You Do”
KING RICHARD, “Be Alive”
NO TIME TO DIE, “No Time to Die”

BEST ANIMATED FILM
ENCANTO
FLEE
LUCA
MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
DRIVE MY CAR (JAPAN)
FLEE (DENMARK)
THE HAND OF GOD (ITALY)
LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM (BHUTAN)
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (NORWAY)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
ASCENSION
ATTICA
FLEE
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
WRITING WITH FIRE

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
AUDIBLE
LEAD ME HOME
THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL
THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR
WHEN WE WERE BULLIES

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
ALA KACHUU – TAKE AND RUN
THE DRESS
THE LONG GOODBYE
ON MY MIND
PLEASE HOLD

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
AFFAIRS OF THE ART
BESTIA
BOXBALLET
ROBIN ROBIN
THE WINDSHIELD WIPER