The Academy released several short lists yesterday including those for Best Song, Score, Documentary Feature, Foreign Film, and all the visual and sound effects.
The big surprise is nothing in Visual Effects for “Everything, Everywhere All at Once.” The film directed by “The Daniels” has been mercilessly hyped for six months. Even I will admit that this movie is 99% visual effects. If they’re not going to be in the mix for that, I don’t see how they can win Best Picture. So this may be a real stumbling block.
Almost no one I know actually thinks this is an Oscar movie. I know some people are passionate about it. But the typical Academy voter obviously does not find “EE” understandable. And while I think Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan may get nominations, I don’t think they will win.
Interesting: In visual effects one of the semi-finalists is Ron Howard’s “Thirteen Lives.” I loved this movie, it’s been overlooked by the Oscar mob so far. Maybe this will give it a push.
Among Best Songs, my choices are in bold. Documentaries, too.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Feature Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. One hundred forty-four films were eligible in the category. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“All That Breathes”
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“Bad Axe”
“Children of the Mist”
“Descendant”
“Fire of Love”
“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song”
“Hidden Letters”
“A House Made of Splinters”
“The Janes”
“Last Flight Home”
“Moonage Daydream”
“Navalny”
“Retrograde”
“The Territory”
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Short Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Ninety-eight films qualified in the category. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton”
“Anastasia”
“Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison”
“As Far as They Can Run”
“The Elephant Whisperers”
“The Flagmakers”
“Happiness Is £4 Million”
“Haulout”
“Holding Moses”
“How Do You Measure a Year?”
“The Martha Mitchell Effect”
“Nuisance Bear”
“Shut Up and Paint”
“Stranger at the Gate”
“38 at the Garden”
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Films from 92 countries and regions were eligible in the category.
Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.
In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”
Austria, “Corsage”
Belgium, “Close”
Cambodia, “Return to Seoul”
Denmark, “Holy Spider”
France, “Saint Omer”
Germany, “All Quiet on the Western Front”
India, “Last Film Show”
Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”
Mexico, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
Morocco, “The Blue Caftan”
Pakistan, “Joyland”
Poland, “EO”
South Korea, “Decision to Leave”
Sweden, “Cairo Conspiracy”
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Ten films will advance in the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 95th Academy Awards. All members of the Academy’s Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Sunday, January 15, 2023. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar® consideration.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Amsterdam”
“Babylon”
“The Batman”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Blonde”
“Crimes of the Future”
“Elvis”
“Emancipation”
“The Whale”
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Fifteen scores will advance in the Original Score category for the 95th Academy Awards. One hundred forty-seven scores were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The scores, listed in alphabetical order by film title, are:
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Babylon”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Devotion”
“Don’t Worry Darling”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“The Fabelmans”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Nope”
“She Said”
“The Woman King”
“Women Talking”
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Fifteen songs will advance in the Original Song category for the 95th Academy Awards. Eighty-one songs were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:
“Time” from “Amsterdam”
“Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from “Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Til You’re Home” from “A Man Called Otto”
“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”
“My Mind & Me” from “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me”
“Good Afternoon” from “Spirited”
“Applause” from “Tell It like a Woman”
“Stand Up” from “Till”
“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”
“Dust & Ash” from “The Voice of Dust and Ash”
“Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing”
“New Body Rhumba” from “White Noise”
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Animated Short Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Eighty-one films qualified in the category. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“Black Slide”
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”
“The Debutante”
“The Flying Sailor”
“The Garbage Man”
“Ice Merchants”
“It’s Nice in Here”
“More than I Want to Remember”
“My Year of Dicks”
“New Moon”
“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It”
“Passenger”
“Save Ralph”
“Sierra”
“Steakhouse”
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Live Action Short Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Two hundred films qualified in the category. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation, Directors, Producers and Writers Branches vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“All in Favor”
“Almost Home”
“An Irish Goodbye”
“Ivalu”
“Le Pupille”
“The Lone Wolf”
“Nakam”
“Night Ride”
“Plastic Killer”
“The Red Suitcase”
“The Right Words”
“Sideral”
“The Treatment”
“Tula”
“Warsha”
SOUND
Ten films will advance in the Sound category for the 95th Academy Awards. All eligible members of the Sound Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. Academy members will be invited to view excerpts from each of the shortlisted films beginning Thursday, January 12, 2023, in the San Francisco Bay area, followed by New York, London and Los Angeles. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Babylon”
“The Batman”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Elvis”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Moonage Daydream”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ten films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 95th Academy Awards. The Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 14, 2023. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“The Batman”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”
“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”
“Jurassic World Dominion”
“Nope”
“Thirteen Lives”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
