Cate Blanchett, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, lead Aussie Oscar charge
Cate Blanchett has made history as she guns for her third Oscar win while Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis scored eight nominations, but there were a few surprising snubs.
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Cate Blanchett has joined an elite group of actors after she scored her eighth Oscar nomination for her stunning performance as an abusive, world-famous orchestra conductor in Todd Field’s acclaimed drama, Tar.
Blanchett joins Hollywood legends Marlon Brando, Judi Dench, Geraldine Page, Peter O’Toole and Glenn Close as the only actors who have been nominated eight times.
(Only nine people have received more than eight nominations, led by 21-time nominee Meryl Streep.)
The Australian star has won twice: for The Aviator in 2005 and for Blue Jasmine in 2014.
It comes as Baz Luhrmann’s creative muse and wife, Catherine Martin, scored an incredible three nominations for her work on the Australian’s wildly popular Elvis biopic.
Martin’s nods came as a producer on the film in the Best Picture category, and subsequent nominations for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design. Now nominated nine times, she has already won four Academy Awards (for Moulin Rouge and the Great Gatsby), making her the most awarded Australian in Oscars history.
Blanchett was nominated for Best Actress alongside Ana de Armas for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie, Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans and Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Blanchett has swept all before her this awards season, already taking out a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award. She’s also been nominated for a BAFTA for her turn as Lydia Tar, a power-hungry conductor who’s facing her own #MeToo moment after a string of inappropriate relationships with her underlings.
There was more good news for Aussies: Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic, Elvis, was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture (the Aussie was snubbed in the Best Director category).
Aside from Martin’s haul, Elvis also scored golden nods for Australians Mandy Walker (Best Cinematography), Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond (Best Editing), Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy and Bev Dunn (Best Production Design/Set Design), Jason Baird (Best Make-up and Hairstyling), Wayne Pashley and David Lee (Best Sound).
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE TOPS NOMINATIONS
There were no real surprises after the Oscar nominations were announced in Los Angeles early on Tuesday morning (local time) as Hollywood formally kicked off the race to the all-important Academy Awards.
Surreal sci-fi adventure Everything Everywhere All At Once topped the nominations with 11.
It was followed by German anti-war movie All Quiet on the Western Front and the bleak Irish tale of male friendship, The Banshees of Inisherin, which each received nine nominations.
But in a shift that’s taken flight in recent years, Academy voters also rewarded blockbusters such as Tom Cruise’s money-spinning Top Gun: Maverick and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water for helping to bring audiences back to movie theatres after the pandemic.
Tom Cruise, however, will have to wait for his chance at a Best Actor gong after he was snubbed in the acting category. Despite being nominated in the acting category four times, the star has never won.
Another crowd-pleaser — Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — also missed out.
The remaining best picture slots went to rock 'n' roll biopic Elvis, Steven Spielberg’s quasi-memoir The Fabelmans, Cate Blanchett’s latest tour-de-force Tar, Cannes festival winner Triangle of Sadness and literary adaptation Women Talking.
Absurdist indie film Everything Everywhere All At Once portrays a Chinese-American immigrant family undergoing a tax audit, who are quickly drawn into an inter-dimensional battle to save the multiverse from a powerful villain.
It became a huge word of mouth hit and has grossed over A$142 million worldwide. The film earned four acting nominations for its cast, including best supporting actor for Ke Huy Quan — who appeared as a child in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom almost four decades ago — and best lead actress for Michelle Yeoh.
Yeoh becomes just the second Asian woman ever nominated for lead actress in 95 years of Oscars history, and will compete with double Oscar-winner Blanchett for the prize.
But there was controversy elsewhere in the lead actress category, as no Black women were nominated, despite Viola Davis (The Woman King) and Danielle Deadwyler (Till) having been seen as frontrunners.
Instead the remaining slots went to Ana de Armas (Blonde), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans) and Andrea Riseborough for tiny indie film To Leslie, which mounted an unusual, late celebrity-backed campaign for its star.
INTERNATIONAL VOTERS
In the other individual categories, Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Austin Butler (Elvis) are clear favourites for best actor.
The remaining nominations went to Paul Mescal in Aftersun and Bill Nighy in Living. In the best supporting actress category, Angela Bassett became the first star in a Marvel superhero movie to ever earn an Oscar acting nomination with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Spielberg made the best director shortlist, but no women were nominated in the category, sparking quick social media backlash.
Speaking before the nominations, Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis told media this was one of the more unpredictable Oscars races, in part due to the recent massive growth in the number of international Academy voters.
Those members have been credited with surprises such as South Korea’s Parasite winning best picture in 2020.
This year they got behind All Quiet on the Western Front, which is distributed by Netflix.
The World War I drama All Quiet on the Western Front has built major momentum, scooping a massive 14 nods last week for Britain’s BAFTAs.
‘SAVED MOVIES’
Actors Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) and Allison Williams (Girls) unveiled the Oscar nominations early on Tuesday morning local time from Los Angeles.
Television ratings for award shows including the Oscars have trended downwards, as Academy voters in recent years have veered toward honouring lesser-known indie hits like Nomadland and CODA. Many in the industry were hoping for a healthy spread of nominations among 2022’s crowd-pleasing sequels, which were sorely needed as giants such as Cineworld, the world’s second biggest cinema chain, filed for bankruptcy protection.
James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar: The Way of Water, which has earned A$2.8 billion globally, scored four nominations including Best Picture, Production Design, Sound and Visual Effects.
Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise’s long-awaited sequel to his huge 1986 hit which came out in May during highly uncertain times for cinemas and earned around A$2.1 billion, received six — Best Picture, Editing, Song, Sound, Visual Effects and Adapted Screenplay.
“That’s the one that feels like it could actually win best picture,” said Mr Davis, before the announcement.
“What better story the day after the Oscars air, than that the movie that saved movies was named the best movie? That’s a good story to tell.”
MAIN OSCAR NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking
BEST DIRECTOR
Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Todd Field (Tár)
Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness)
BEST ACTOR
Austin Butler (Elvis)
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Bill Nighy (Living)
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (Tár)
Ana de Armas (Blonde)
Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie)
Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)
Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)
Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Hong Chau (The Whale)
Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
All Quiet on the Western Front, James Friend
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Darius Khondji
Elvis, Mandy Walker
Empire of Light, Roger Deakins
Tár, Florian Hoffmeister
– with AFP
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