The Big Picture · Discussion · Awards
February 8, 2022/ 64 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda react to the 2022 Oscar nominations before 9 a.m.: Drive My Car's Best Picture surprise, Denis Villeneuve's Best Director shutout despite Dune leading the field at the box office, and a Best Actress race neither of them can call. It's also Amanda's last episode before a leave of absence, and she's still campaigning for Jennifer Lopez at the Oscars.
113 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Snubs, surprises, and WTFsthe stories behind the board
12 nominations, the most of the morning, including a rare double landing in Best Supporting Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons) and a Production Design nod despite missing the guild's own shortlist. The hosts call it the clear frontrunner even though nobody's sure anyone loves it: respected, not beloved.
The morning's biggest surprise for Sean, who didn't think a three-hour, slow-burn Ryusuke Hamaguchi film with no traditional narrative had a path to Best Picture. He credits months of film-lover advocacy since the festival circuit and calls it proof the expanded, younger, more international Academy isn't chasing another Parasite comp.
The 'micro what the fuck' of the morning. Guillermo del Toro's film got a late push after Searchlight put it on HBO Max and Hulu simultaneously right as nomination voting opened. Sean says it became the most-logged film on Letterboxd that week, which he thinks is exactly why enough Academy voters finally saw it.
Kenneth Branagh's most personal film debuted as an early favorite; the hosts note its box office has since softened ($7 million) even as it racked up nominations.
Sean's pre-nominations theory was that this could win Best Picture outright: a Leonardo DiCaprio BAFTA nod and a possible Adam McKay directing nomination were the tells he was watching for. Neither happened, but a Best Film Editing nod keeps a 'Chaos Oscars' path technically alive.
$107 million domestic, easily the highest gross in the field, and the hosts' pick for the field's best directorial achievement, which makes Denis Villeneuve's absence from Best Director sting more (see below).
Only $14 million at the box office, which Sean calls a crime: "a movie that would have made $150 million five years ago."
Steven Spielberg's remake became the highest-grossing traditionally-released nominee ($36 million) and got him his eighth Best Director nomination, tying Billy Wilder for fourth all-time behind Scorsese and William Wyler.
Amanda is relieved it missed Best Picture. She thinks it would have been "by far the worst film nominated," though its three acting nominations (Bardem, Kidman, J.K. Simmons) show how much support it had inside the actors' branch specifically. She'd have preferred Nina Arianda's supporting turn over any of them.
The other film Amanda was bracing to see in Best Picture. It landed two nominations instead, Actor for Andrew Garfield and Film Editing, without cracking the top category.
Denzel Washington's tenth acting nomination, putting him among the ten most-nominated actors ever, but the film itself never contended for Best Picture.
Lady Gaga's Best Actress snub is Amanda's biggest outrage of the morning, tied to her running complaint that the Academy keeps declining chances to have Jennifer Lopez at the ceremony (see Hustlers and The Tender Bar, below).
Asghar Farhadi's Best International Feature snub, losing a slot to Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom despite being widely available on Amazon Prime. Sean calls it "a freaking great film" and chalks the miss up to "winner's guilt," voters undervaluing a two-time winner's new work.
Left out of Best Documentary Feature, which neither host can explain. Sean calls it "mind-blowing" and "the pinnacle of what documentary filmmaking should be."
The nominations, category by categorynominations morning, no winners called yet
Also mentioned raised along the way
Best Picture history and precedent The Dark KnightBlack PantherParasite
The Academy's own streaming service My Octopus Teacher
Leo's campaign history Django UnchainedThe Revenant
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's Oscar snub streak HustlersThe Tender Bar
Parallel Mothers release-strategy comp The Father
Kirsten Dunst retrospective, Metrograph Interview with the VampireMelancholiaMarie AntoinetteBring It On
Razzies nonsense The Last Duel
Sean's new-parent rewatch Ordinary People
Best Original Song, barely discussed Four Good Days
BAFTA-nominated, Oscar-snubbed After LovePassing
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
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