List

2022 Oscar Nominees

By Sharon Weinberg

You can check out these Academy Award nominees from the library.

  • Attica

    2022

    Codirectors Stanley Nelson and Traci Curry delve into the history and circumstances of the 1971 prison uprising at Attica Correctional Facility. Using interviews of several people involved and archival/news footage (some of which is rarely seen), they deliver a powerful and jarring narrative of events that ties directly to existing injustices in the criminal justice system 50 years later. Nominated for Best Documentary Feature. --Sharon

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  • Belfast

    2022

    Branagh’s Best Picture nominated film is something of a paradox--an innocent, downright cozy coming-of-age drama set during the tumultuous Troubles of Northern Ireland of the late 1960s. Shot in a rich black and white (with swooning, sudden bursts of color), and seen through the eyes of a child, Belfast is idealized, nostalgic, innocent, universal and all the better for it. --Chris

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  • Coming 2 America

    2022

    Eddie Murphy reprises his role as King Akeem for this long awaited sequel to the hit comedy Coming to America. As in the first movie, Murphy and costar Arsenio Hall play more than one character and they are completely transformed, which helped earn an Oscar nom for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. --Sharon

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  • Cruella

    2021

    It's the battle of the Emmas, though the adorable dogs manage to steal a few scenes. Emma Stone and Emma Thompson clearly had a great time butting heads in this live-action origin tale of villain Cruella DeVil from 101 Dalmatians. Fashion is central to the characters, and this scored Oscar noms for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. --Sharon

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  • Cyrano (DVD)

    2022

    A rework of the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac with Peter Dinklage taking the lead role, thus becoming my favorite Cyrano. This version is based on the stage musical penned by Dinklage’s wife, playwright Erica Schmidt, and brought to the screen by acclaimed filmmaker Joe Wright. It got a well-deserved Oscar nod for Best Costume Design. --Sharon

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  • Dune

    2022

    Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve created one of the most visually stunning, epic movies of the year, adapting the book by Frank Herbert for the big screen. I loved the top-notch ensemble cast and the complex themes. It received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design. --Sharon

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  • Encanto

    2022

    Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song, Encanto tells the story of the Madrigal family set in the mountains of Colombia. Infused with magical realism, Colombian culture, charming visuals, toe-tapping music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and prominently voiced by Latinx actors, this animated movie is unique in that there is no villain to defeat, but rather a family whose bonds need to be healed. --Rummanah

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  • The Eyes of Tammy Faye

    2021

    Jessica Chastain gives a tour-de-force performance, playing televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker through her rise from a humble background to fame and fortune with husband Jim, and then scandal, fall, and redemption. Adapted from the 2000 documentary of the same name, The Eyes of Tammy Faye received Oscar noms for Chastain as Best Actress and for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. --Sharon

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  • Flee

    2022

    Up for Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature (phew!), Flee depicts the timely, riveting, and haunting story of a family displaced by war in Afghanistan. It’s a refugee story, though also a coming out story. It weaves together these elements with seeming ease, becoming a quiet marvel of compassion, courage, and creativity. --Chris

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  • Four Good Days

    2021

    Glenn Close and Mila Kunis costar as mother and daughter in this emotional, fact-based story about substance abuse and a young woman returning home for one last attempt at sobriety. Diane Warren wrote the song “Somehow You Do” that’s used in the closing credits, which marks her 13th Oscar nomination for Best Song. --Sharon

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  • Free Guy

    2021

    Receiving an Oscar nom for Best Visual Effects, this SF/action/comedy is a cross between The Truman Show, Ready Player One, The Lego Movie, and Wreck-It-Ralph, with a bit of The Matrix thrown in for good measure. It follows a non-player character in a video game (Ryan Reynolds) who takes control of his own story and teams up with a real player (Jodie Comer) who’s racing against time to find stolen source code. Go with the flow--you don’t have to be into video games to enjoy this movie or the awesome visual effects. --Sharon

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  • House of Gucci

    2022

    There is plenty of glamour, murder, money, and greed in this film based on true events about the Gucci fashion empire. Some think the Oscars snubbed Lady Gaga, leaving her out of the Best Actress race despite a powerhouse performance playing Patrizia Reggiani (convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci). The movie’s sole nomination is for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. --Sharon

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  • King Richard

    2022

    Will Smith takes things front and center in this sports biopic from a different perspective, portraying the father of tennis trailblazers Serena and Venus Williams. Smith received an Oscar nom for Best Actor. The film has six Academy Award nominations in total, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Aunjanue Ellis), and Best Original Song (Beyoncé). --Sharon

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  • Licorice Pizza

    2022

    For his latest, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson found inspiration from real experiences and friends, crafting a picturesque coming-of-age dramedy of unfulfilled romance (but an awesome friendship) set in 1973 San Fernando Valley. It received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. --Sharon

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  • Luca

    2021

    From Pixar and Disney, we get a charming coming-of-age story with a nostalgic style and lovely color palette. It’s set on the Italian Riviera where sea monsters live their lives avoiding humans, afraid of them and vice versa--until two curious young sea monsters take human shape and have all sorts of adventures as they conceal their true forms. A fish-out-of-water movie about friendship, courage, and accepting differences, this received an Oscar nom for Best Animated Feature Film. --Sharon

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  • Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

    2022

    Perhaps the best movie title of the year, using mostly nonprofessional actors. Bhutanese director Pawo Choyning Dorji crafted a gentle, life-affirming, beautiful fable about an unmotivated teacher who is sent to the most remote school in the country to fulfill his last year of mandatory government service. Over time, he finds purpose, connection, and community. This received an Oscar nomination for Best International Film, making it a first for Bhutan. --Sharon

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  • The Mitchells Vs. the Machines

    2021

    Whacky, creative, and clever. I loved the bright visual style, plus the animation within the animation is supercool. The family dynamics are oftentimes hilarious, the tech stuff is relatable, and the jokes hit the mark. This received a nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. --Sharon

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  • Nightmare Alley

    2022

    Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) takes a deep dive into the neo-noir genre with his atmospheric adaptation of the 1946 novel of the same name. Cate Blanchett looks like she’s having a terrific time playing the femme fatale to Bradley Cooper’s dangerously ambitious, unscrupulous carny. Nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Cinematography. --Sharon

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  • No Time to Die

    2021

    Daniel Craig’s final turn as the iconic 007 certainly has the action, adventure, and espionage to satisfy fans. Plus, it earned three Oscar nominations: Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, and Best Original Song for Billie Eilish. --Sharon

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  • Parallel Mothers

    2022

    Now in his early 70s, Pedro Almodovar makes work still popping with his patented color and melodrama, though there’s a newfound interest in churning up Spain’s recent, troubled past. Led by a brilliant performance from Penelope Cruz, what seems like a “typical” Almodovar film, albeit one nominated for Best International Feature, slowly builds in power, turning away from its finely honed artifice to courageously confront the horrors of the Franco regime. The ending is shattering. --Chris

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  • Raya and the Last Dragon

    2021

    This fantasy/adventure centers on Raya, a warrior princess (expertly voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) and a fabled last dragon named Sisu, as they team up to stop the monstrous Druun takeover. I loved all the creativity of the storyline and striking animation style. It’s nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. --Sharon

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  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

    2021

    This summer, the Marvel Cinematic Universe debuted its first Asian male superhero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and received an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. By rethinking the problematic origins of the comics, the writers have provided a new origin story that has its own visual and cultural touchstones of Chinese origin and a story centered on family. --Rummanah

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  • Spencer

    2022

    Over three days spent at the Queen's Sandringham House at Christmastime, Princess Diana has an existential crisis as she considers leaving the royal family. Kristen Stewart immerses herself in the role, an imagining of the Princess of Wales, and got an Oscar nom for Best Actress. --Sharon

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  • Spider-Man: No Way Home

    2022

    Exploring the multiverse and bringing back Spider-Men and villains from previous movies, this was a box office and critical success for Marvel Cinematic Universe. It got a richly deserved Oscar nod for Best Visual Effects. --Sharon

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  • Summer of Soul

    2022

    It is hard to believe the source of this Oscar nominee for Best Documentary languished in a basement for 50 years. Filled with fantastic music from many legendary artists such as Mavis Staples, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, and Sly and the Family Stone, this documentary celebrates Black joy, history, culture, and fashion and provides musical healing during a tumultuous time. The interviews and descriptions give great insight into the period and circumstances of the festival, which deepen the film. --Rummanah

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  • West Side Story

    2022

    Steven Spielberg has wanted to make a musical since the beginning of his long film career and he finally got his chance, remaking the 1961 West Side Story with an updated/reworked script from acclaimed screenwriter Tony Kushner and reimagined choreography by Justin Peck. The spectacular cinematography got an Oscar nod, and the cast includes many breakout Latinx actors, including Oscar-nominated Ariana DeBose for Best Supporting Actress. This also has nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Costume Design. --Sharon

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  • The Worst Person in the World

    2022

    Nominated for Best International Feature Film, The Worst Person in the World is a comedy/drama led by one of the best performances of the year from the Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve who won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival. I adored this film (so did Barack Obama, who named it one of his favorites of 2021!), a funny, searching, and stunningly poised exploration of identity. --Chris

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  • Writing with Fire

    2022

    The focus of this independent documentary is the only newspaper in India run entirely by women journalists, challenging structures of tradition and power. These women, from marginalized communities, courageously reported issues that the mainstream did not, thus speaking truth to power. Codirectors Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas filmed over a five-year period when the newspaper was shifting from 14 years of print publication to online journalism, a notable transition, as most of the women hadn’t even touched a smartphone. Nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film. --Sharon

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