Awards Season is upon us. Do you know what that means? Yes, the Oscars are just around the corner. Taking place on Sunday, March 27, 2022, the 94th Oscars will be sieving out the best in film from the past year. Which, as far as 2021 is concerned, is a hard task considering the quality of movies that surfaced was outstanding and eventually became the only thing that kept us afloat.
As we keep our eyes peeled for the official voting process, and thus the nominations to come, we're plucking out the films that have caught our attention over the past year. Below, find the movies that according to the nominations shortlist released by the Academy, are set to bring home the bacon come the 2022 Oscars. From Dune, Licorice Pizza, Spencer and House of Gucci...
1. Dune
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Dune is a vision of humanity set in the far off future. It charts a hero's journey centred on Paul Atriedes played by Timothee Chalamet. In it, Paul must travel t0 the most dangerous planet in the solar system named Arrakis, also known as Dune. On this hazardous country lies the only source of the most precious resource in existence called melange or "the spice" which Paul must locate to ensure the future of his family and his people.
2. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
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Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield star in this film based on the 'Barbie and Ken of TV evangelism', Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker. Together the couple created the world's largest religious TV network over the course of the 70s and 80s, amassing great wealth and power only to be toppled by scandal.
3. House of Gucci
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The highly-anticipated film follows the true tale of the Gucci dynasty and its subsequent momentary downfall – following the assassination of Maurizio Gucci in 1995. The former head of fashion at the luxury fashion house, and grandson of Guccio Gucci is being portrayed by Driver; while Gaga takes on the role of Patrizia Reggiani – his ex-wife. It's a tale of ambition, greed, family ties, one that will leave you feeling queasy and forlorn at the finish line.
4. West Side Story
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An old classic remade and remade again. Grounded in the star-crossed lovers trope of Romeo and Juliet, Steven Spielberg reimagines the 1961 musical for a modern audience. Here, the Sharks and rival gang, the Jets come up against one another in New York City. That is until love and loss bring them together. Although, the latest iteration of West Side Story is not without its own controversy. Audiences are concerned that the sexual assault allegations levelled against Ansel Elgort have been swept under the proverbial rug.
5. Being the Ricardos
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Being the Ricardos follows the iconic duo, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz played by Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem respectively, tumultuous on and off-screen relationship over the course of a week of production for I Love Lucy. Beginning with a table read of the 1950s sitcom on Monday morning, to the live-audience filming that Friday, Deadline teases that amongst the chaos, the pair will "face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage."
6. The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun
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A film based on the New Yorker was always bound the capture the attention of the Academy, but throw in Wes Anderson and his usual cast of Hollywood heavyweights like Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Benicio Del Toro, Léa Seydoux, Timothée Chalamet, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan and honestly, a whole heap more, and you've got a love letter to journalists during a time when few appreciate their spark.
7. King Richard
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Years on, Will Smith is still tugging at our heart strings. This time, it's in the film, King Richard, an inspirational and true story covering the life of Richard Williams, the father of Serena and Venus Williams. Smith plays the sister's undeterred father, who was instrumental in raising Venus, played by Saniyya Sidney and Serena Williams, played by Demi Singleton, who are now, as we know, some of the most influential tennis players in history.
8. Parallel Mothers
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Parallel Mothers is a celebration of Penelope Cruz's ongoing work with director Pedro Almodóvar; a relationship that first began with the 1997 film, Live Flesh and has since spanned eight more films, including this movie. As the title suggests, the film focuses on two single mothers at different stages in their lives, as their paths collide in the final moments of their pregnancies. What follows is an extremely honest and evocative exploration of their two journeys and how they navigate the circumstances in front of them.
9. The Power of the Dog
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Director Jane Campion takes us to the dusty plains and outcrops of Montana, or in this case New Zealand - where the film was shot - and into the lives of two wealthy ranchers and brothers, Phil and George Burbank played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons from Olive Kitteridge and Netflix's mind-contorting I'm Thinking About Ending Things. When George marries Rose, played by Kirsten Dunst, he also becomes father to her thoughtful and sweet-natured teenage son, Peter. At first his brother Phil is disapproving, responding to Peter's more 'feminine' traits with cruelty and hazing tactics. But as the film develops Phil has a change of heart, a reality that could leave Peter more exposed than he thought.
10. Spencer
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While the is much that could be said on the seemingly endless on screen portrayals of Princess Diana's life, admittedly we are excited to see what Kristen Stewart can bring to the table in Pablo Larraín's Spencer. Opening with Christmas festivities at Sandringham estate in 1994, the film covers the weekend when Diana decides to leave her marriage.
11. The Tragedy of Macbeth
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A monumental marriage of Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand and Joel Coen — one half of the directing duo the 'Coen brothers' — is what's needed when tackling one of Shakespeare's most loved plays and doing so in ways unseen before. Shot in black and white, the film opens with the Macbeths notably in the winter of their lives, as they vie for the crown in a last chance for glory.
12. CODA
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From the outset, CODA will strike a chord of familiarity in some more than others with its very name. CODA is the acronym used to describe the specific and yet individual experience of being a 'Child Of Deaf Adults'. Adapted from the 2014 french film La Famille Bélier, CODA follows the Rossi family, all three of whom are Deaf, except for the 17-year-old daughter Ruby. We shadow Ruby, who, in her final years of high school is negotiating her desire to attend college for singing and the impact she knows leaving her hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts will have on her family. After all, Ruby is an important link between her community and her brother and parents. CODA is monumental in that the main three characters are played by deaf actors.
13. Belfast
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Written and directed by the hunky Kenneth Branagh, Belfast follows the young and spirited Buddy. Set in late 1960s Northern Ireland, the film jolts from its sense of childhood ease as Buddy's parents, played by Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan, are forced to decide whether to leave the city and inevitably their culture or to stay put and wait out what would become The Troubles. Drenched in familial love, culture and community, Ciaran Hinds and Dame Judi Dench add colour and humour to a devastating period in living memory.
14. Don't Look Up
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It would seem that everyone we are obsessed with (plus a few add ons) have been cast to star in the film. Namely Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Matthew Perry, Kid Cudi, Jonah Hill, Himesh Patel, Cate Blanchett and Rob Morgan. Available on Netflix, the film offers social commentary on the climate crisis and the pandemic, when the characters within discover that a 'planet killer' asteroid is on route to hit earth, and thus destroy humanity as we know it.
15. The Worst Person in the World
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A frontrunner in the International Feature Film category. The World Person in the World, delivered to us by Norwegian director Joachim Trier, traces a Fleabag-type character on the cusp of her thirties, attempting to make sense of the mess that engulfs her. Leading lady, Renate Reinsve, won Best Actress at Cannes 2021.
16. Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry
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From the moment the world welcomed musician Billie Eilish back in 2016, it was clear that her tenure in the industry, and the zeitgeist, would be a long one. While the 20-year-old has typically reserved her personal life as just that – personal – her highly-anticipated documentary, The World's A Little Blurry offers us an uncommonly intimate insight into her meteoric rise to fame.
For a complete list of the nominations shortlist head over to the Oscars website. Voting for nominations begins on Thursday, January 27, 2022, and concludes on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. From here the official nominations for each category will be released on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.
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