After winning the hearts of audiences and critics in 2022, the big-hearted sci-fi comedy-drama «Everything Everywhere All At Once» lived up to the hype on Tuesday by garnering 11 Oscar nominations and beating out the favorite international «The Banshees of Inisherin», the sleeper hit «All Quiet on the Western Front» and the Baz Luhrmann extravaganza «Elvis». It was by far the biggest showing of queer cinema, as the nominees for this year’s ceremony were announced in an early morning livestream, hosted by Allison Williams («M3GAN») and Riz Ahmed (» Sound of Metal»).
In addition to spots in most craft categories, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” garnered nominations for directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, as well as first-time nominations for all of the core cast members. As with her co-stars Michelle Yeoh, a best actress nominee, and Ke Huy Quan, a best supporting actor nominee, Stephanie Hsu’s name drew particular applause during her category announcement. In the film, Hsu, who will go up against co-star Jamie Lee Curtis for best supporting actress, gives a particularly moving performance as a daughter who will go to the far reaches of the multiverse to earn her traditional mother’s approval and no longer she will feel like an outsider because of her weirdness.
Though the film garnered the same number of nominations as 2021’s queer favorite «The Power of the Dog,» it’s expected to take home many more awards in the end. The visually stunning film about a sexually repressed Montana rancher only managed to win one award, for director Jane Campion. Notably, after Campion became the third woman to win the best director award at last year’s ceremony, not a single female director was nominated this time around.
However, Todd Field, the director of a 2022 critical favorite «Tár,» made the cut. Overall, the lesbian power trip film underperformed Daniels’ queer kung-fu film. But her six nominations included spots in the night’s biggest categories, including best picture, best cinematography, best original screenplay and, unsurprisingly, best actress.
With her spot in the best actress category confirmed, Cate Blanchett, who already won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for playing the film’s world-renowned womanizing composer Lydia Tár, joins an elite group of stars to be nominated for eight acting awards. Oscar. As she faces stiff competition in Yeoh, Blanchett has a good chance to take home a win for her undeniable prowess as a woman pushed to the brink, and perhaps beyond, by her fall from grace. If Blanchett pulls it off, she’ll be something of a redemption for the legions of queer fans who watched heartbroken as the lesbian icon lost to Brie Larson («Room») in 2016, the year she was nominated for «Carol.» .
To the disappointment of “Tár” fans, Blanchett is the only cast member from the film with a chance to take home a golden statue at the March night awards show, despite impressive performances from her co-stars. Noémie Merlant (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”), who plays the composer’s disillusioned assistant and former lover, and Nina Hoss (“Phoenix”), who plays the composer’s wife and first violin.
One actor who wasn’t snubbed for his role as a queer character is Brendan Fraser, who plays the 600-pound protagonist of director Darren Aronofsky’s «The Whale.» Fraser has already won several prestigious awards, including most recently the Critics Choice Award for Best Actor for the role of Charlie, a gay English teacher who tries to reconnect with his daughter before she essentially eats herself. till die. But a best actor Oscar would be the final prize in what has been a victorious comeback tour for the former heartthrob following his virtual decade-long exodus from Hollywood.
In addition to Fraser’s first Best Actor nomination, Aronofsky’s controversial tearjerker film earned first-time nominee Hong Chau, who plays Charlie’s best friend and caretaker, a spot in the Best Supporting Actress category as well. as well as a nomination for best makeup and hairstyling.
Unsurprisingly, two other LGBTQ-themed films received nominations in major categories: Laura Poitras’ «All the Beauty and the Bloodshed» and Lukas Dhont’s «Close.» If Poitras’ film about artist and activist Nan Goldin takes home the award for best documentary feature, it will be the filmmaker’s second Oscar, which she won for her 2014 Edward Snowden documentary «Citizenfour.» A win in the best international feature category would be the first for Dhont, whose second feature about two 13-year-old boys torn apart by peer pressure is Belgium’s official entry this year.
Overall, queer creators and LGBTQ-themed films have a lot of potential to sweep and score historic wins at the 95th Academy Awards, taking place on March 12 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. Although no one can predict what will happen on the biggest night in Hollywood.