Oscar has a song in his heart, as evidenced by the number of Academy Award nominations announced Thursday for movie musicals.
Two of the three most-nominated films, 鈥淓milia P茅rez鈥 with 13 nods and 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥 with 10 (tied with drama 鈥淭he Brutalist鈥), are song-and-dance spectacles, a rarity in a contest that usually honours dramatic features. The last musical to win best picture was 鈥淐hicago鈥 in 2003, and that followed a three-decade drought.
The nominations, announced by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott, had been twice delayed by still-raging wildfires in Los Angeles, but the March 2 awards ceremony is expected to go ahead as planned.
The identity-swapping 鈥淓milia P茅rez,鈥 “The Wizard of Oz” prequel 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥 and dream-building drama 鈥淭he Brutalist鈥 are among the 10 nominees for best picture. The others are the Bob Dylan biopic 鈥淎 Complete Unknown鈥 (eight nominations), Vatican drama 鈥淐onclave鈥 (eight), sex work dramedy 鈥淎nora鈥 (six), sci-fi fantasy 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥 (five), sci-fi horror film 鈥淭he Substance鈥 (five), missing person drama 鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here鈥 (three) and racial drama 鈥淣ickel Boys鈥 (two).
Both Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce are nominated for “The Brutalist.”聽
Lol Crawley/A24 via APThe guiding hands of five of these films are also in the race for the best director honour: Jacques Audiard (鈥淓milia P茅rez鈥), Brady Corbet (鈥淭he Brutalist鈥), James Mangold (鈥淎 Complete Unknown鈥), Sean Baker (鈥淎nora鈥) and Coralie Fargeat (鈥淭he Substance鈥). Notably missing from the list are Jon M. Chu (鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥), Edward Berger (鈥淐onclave鈥) and Denis Villeneuve (鈥淒une: Part Two鈥), but it was a very competitive year for this category and there are only five slots.
The Spanish-language 鈥淓milia P茅rez鈥 and Portuguese-language 鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here鈥 are also nominated for best international feature, which gives them a chance to match the double win of 鈥淧arasite鈥 in 2020, when the South Korean family drama became the first film to take both categories.
There鈥檚 a third double nominee vying for best international feature: the Latvian survival drama 鈥淔low,鈥 which is also nominated for best animated feature. The two remaining best international feature nominees are Iran鈥檚 鈥淭he Seed of the Sacred Fig鈥 and Denmark鈥檚 鈥淭he Girl With the Needle.鈥
“Anora,” starring Mark Eydelshteyn and Mikey Madison, has been nominated for six Oscars.
Neon via APCanadian hopefuls didn鈥檛 fare as well, although they gained some impressive recognition.
Quebec writer-director-producer Denis Villeneuve is one of the credited producers for 鈥淒une: Part Two,鈥 meaning he鈥檒l be clutching gold on the Dolby Theatre stage if his film wins best picture.聽
Villeneuve鈥檚 blockbuster ongoing adaptation of the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic, which was also nominated for production design, sound, cinematography and visual effects, also fell short of the 10 nominations 鈥淒une: Part One鈥 received in 2022, ultimately winning six Oscars.
鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 a Canadian co-production about U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 early career, which was filmed in Ontario, received nominations for its two main performers, Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. The first-time Oscar nominees were considered long shots, with Stan taking a best actor slot many thought Daniel Craig (鈥淨ueer鈥) would get and Strong landing a best supporting actor nod that once seemed a sure thing for Denzel Washington (鈥淕ladiator II鈥).
Another Canadian co-production in the golden spotlight Thursday was 鈥淪ugarcane,鈥 a documentary about the horrors of a B.C. Indigenous school, directed by Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat and nominated for best documentary feature.
But two other Canadian hopefuls, Torill Kove鈥檚 NFB animation 鈥淢aybe Elephants鈥 and Matthew Rankin鈥檚 absurd comedy 鈥淯niversal Language,鈥 failed to score nominations in their respective categories of best animated short film and best international feature, despite having made earlier shortlists.
Oscar nominee Demi Moore stars in “The Substance.”聽
Mubi via APAnother Canuck disappointment was B.C.-born Pamela Anderson鈥檚 failure to land a best actress nod for her affecting performance as a fading Vegas star in 鈥淭he Last Showgirl鈥; her SAG Awards nomination and other precursors had suggested otherwise.
But there was genuine shock for the category鈥檚 snub of Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the much-lauded star of the British family drama 鈥淗ard Truths,鈥 while there was less surprise over the no-shows for Nicole Kidman (鈥淏abygirl鈥) and Angelina Jolie (鈥淢aria鈥). And Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres continues to impress with her well-deserved best actress nod for her lead role in 鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here,鈥 which opens Jan. 31 in Toronto.
Along with its other two nominations, for best picture and best international feature, 鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here鈥 qualifies as this year鈥檚 鈥淟ittle Picture That Could鈥 contender. Could it pull off a surprise best picture triumph like 鈥淐ODA鈥 did at the 2022 Academy Awards, which also went into the ceremony with only three nominations?
There are currently more than 9,900 Oscar voters from 93 countries in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making it a truly international awards for a ceremony once thought of as a mainly Hollywood affair.
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