By Maia Venuti
Film Critic
The 2022 Oscar nominations were released on Feb. 8 and there has been a lot of buzz regarding who got nominated, as well as shock at who did not. The Oscars are a way to reflect on the films from the past year, and the awards give the more unseen roles in making a great film the recognition they deserve. I wanted to take some time today to talk about some of my favorite categories and give my predictions for who I think will win the Oscar in five of the most popular categories.
Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds (“Belfast”), Troy Kotsur (“CODA”), Kodi Smit-McPhee “The Power of the Dog,” Jesse Plemons (“The Power of the Dog”), J.K. Simmons (“Being the Ricardos”)
Best Supporting Actress: Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”) , Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”), Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”), Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”), Judi Dench (“Belfast”)
For best supporting actor, I think that the winner is going to be Kodi Smit-McPhee for “The Power of the Dog.” That movie would have been nothing without him — no one else could have played that role the way he did. He breathed life into the role of Peter; his performance was so authentic that it felt unscripted. Peter is an extremely complicated character, and the role is dependent on the smallest, most minute details. He does not have the words to express what he is thinking, and he has to use nothing more than his facial expressions and body language to convey his emotionS. Kodi Smit-McPhee does what can only be described as a perfect job at getting his inner thoughts out.
Shifting to best supporting actress, I think that the winner will be Jessie Buckley for her role in “The Lost Daughter.” This story was absolutely beautiful and an extremely challenging one to tell, with Jessie Buckley playing the same role as Olivia Colman, just in flashback form. Playing the same role as Olivia Colman, one of the greatest actresses of all time, is definitely an extremely intimidating concept. When a film has two actors playing the same role in a flashback format like this, it requires the actors to match. The mannerisms, vocal inflection, expressions and physical appearance of the actors has to match in order for the flashbacks to be a believable depiction of what a character looked like in the past. Jessie Buckley was not only able to match with Olivia Colman and capture her expressions, speech patterns and mannerisms, but she made them her own.
Best Actor: Will Smith (“King Richard”), Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”),Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick … Boom!”)
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”)
I fully believe that the winner of the award for best actor will be Denzel Washington for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Creating a film that completely revamps a story that is almost 400 years old is no easy feat, and it was done to perfection. Some of the most challenging roles for any actor in film or live theatre are ones from Shakespeare, and there are so many factors that go into giving a good performance that do not go into a normal role. It is extremely hard to make the words feel natural and unscripted.
Before this film, I have only once seen a performance that felt truly authentic and natural, that being Andrew Scott starring as Hamlet in a televised production for the BBC. However, Denzel Washington’s performance as Macbeth felt so real. It felt as if he was speaking his own real thoughts, giving us his own stream of consciousness. Washington was able to make me forget that I was watching a 400 year old story that I have seen and read a million times. I saw myself gasping at scenes I knew were going to happen, and I felt as if I was watching the story unfold for the first time. Washington’s performance in this film was the reason I felt these emotions. I know that no one could ever replicate his work, and for him to be able to completely reinvent this classic story with his performance alone, makes him beyond worthy of the award.
Moving on to best actress, I think that the winner for this year will be Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” This film was based on the life of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband, Jim Bakker, and how they went about creating one of the largest religious broadcasting networks in the world. Seeing Jessica Chastian play a character like Tammy Faye was not only extremely enjoyable, but it was such a refreshing departure from Chastain’s more typical roles. Coming out of her element entirely and playing a role like Tammy Faye, a woman everyone in America knows, is not at all easy because of the fact that Tammy Faye is so carved into pop culture that everyone expects perfect accuracy.
I believe that not only did Chastain do a perfect job at portraying Tammy Faye on screen, but the physical transformation that she underwent with hair, makeup and costumes made her disappear into the role. Chastain was entirely unrecognizable under the pounds of foundation and Faye’s staple of layers of caked on mascara. She disappeared into the role in such a way that I forgot I was watching a movie and not old footage of Tammy Faye.
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”), Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”), Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car.”)
I think that the winner of best director is going to be Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog.” This film was one of the most unique stories I have ever seen, and seeing the book come to life on screen through Campion’s storytelling abilities was such a satisfying experience. Shockingly, Campion has made history with her nomination, being the first woman to ever be nominated for best director twice, something indicative of greater issues in Hollywood. Jane Campion’s work with “The Power of the Dog” is some of the best directorial work I have seen in 2021. She is able to tell so much of a story with no words at all at points, which is such a challenging thing to do. This story is one that has never been done before and there will never be another film like this.
