Netflix's 'The Power Of The Dog' Dominates Oscar Nominations; Marvel Cinematic Universe Mostly Ignored

The major streaming services were among the big winners among the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards, with films released through Netflix NFLX, Amazon AMZN, Apple AAPL dominating the major categories. On the flip side, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was conspicuously overlooked, with only a pair of acknowledgments for visual effects.

What Happened: Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog” brought in 12 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for Jane Campion, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch and supporting acting nods for Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Kirsten Dunst. Another Netflix title, “Don’t Look Up,” scored four nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay while the company’s “Tick, Tick…BOOM!” snagged two nominations including a Best Actor nod for Andrew Garfield.

Amazon’s “Being the Ricardos” scored three nominations in the acting categories for Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman and JK Simmons. Apple’s “CODA” received three nominations for Best Picture, Troy Kotsur as Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. Another Apple title, “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” also brought home three nominations including Denzel Washington’s Best Actor recognition.

Two films that went straight to streaming also received Oscar nominations thanks to having a one-week Los Angeles theatrical release for award qualification: “Luca” from the Walt Disney Co. DIS for Best Animated Feature and “Coming 2 America” from Amazon for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The Neon release “Flee,” an animated documentary from Denmark, made history with its three nominations for Best International Feature Film, Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary Feature – this is the first time a film was nominated in those three diverse categories.

Among the studio releases, "Dune" from AT&T's T Warner Bros. received 10 nominations including Best Picture; the film was in a simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max during its theatrical run. "Belfast" from Comcast's CMCSA Focus Features received seven nominations including Best Picture and Best Director and Original Screenplay nominations for Kenneth Branagh.

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What Didn’t Happen: The box office champ of 2021, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” from Sony Pictures SONY, received a single nomination for Best Visual Effects, sharing the category with another MCU title, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” from Disney. Two other Disney-released MCU titles that were also among 2021’s top-grossing films, “Black Widow” and “Eternals,” were shut out completely.

However, two Disney titles that were among the company’s least commercially successful releases in 2021, “Nightmare Alley” and “West Side Story,” were among the Best Picture nominees. “Nightmare Alley” received four nominations and “West Side Story” received seven, including a Best Director nomination for Steven Spielberg.

Disney’s “Encanto” received three nominations including Best Song, but not for the chart-topping “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” – instead, the tune “Dos Oruguitas” was nominated.

The complete list of Oscar nominees is as follows:

Best Picture

“Belfast”
“CODA”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Drive My Car”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West “Side Story”

 

Best Director

Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”

 

Best Actor

Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick, Boom”
Will Smith, “King Richard”
Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

 

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”

 

Best Supporting Actor

Ciarán Hinds, “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
JK Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”

 

Best Supporting Actress

Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”
Judi Dench, “Belfast”
Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”

Best Adapted Screenplay

“CODA,” Sian Heder
“Drive My Car,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
“Dune,” Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
“The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal
“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion

 

Best Original Screenplay

“Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up,” Adam McKay, Story by McKay and David Sirota
“King Richard,” Zack Baylin
“Licorice Pizza,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Worst Person in the World,” Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier

 

Best Animated Feature

“Encanto”
“Flee”
“Luca”
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
“Raya and the Last Dragon”
 

Best Animated Short

“Affairs of the Art”
“Bestia”
“Boxballet”
“Robin Robin”
“The Windshield Wiper”

 

Best Live Action Short

“Ala Kachuu- Take and Run”
“The Dress”
“The Long Goodbye”
“On My Mind”
“Please Hold”

 

Best Cinematography

“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
“West Side Story”

 

Best Costume Design

“Cruella”
“Cyrano”
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“West Side Story”

 

Best Documentary Feature

“Ascension”
“Attica”
“Flee”
“Summer of Soul”
“Writing with Fire”

 

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Audible”
“Lead Me Home”
“The Queen of Basketball”
“Three Songs for Benazir”
“When We Were Bullies”

 

Best Editing

“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“The Power of the Dog”
“Tick, Tick, Boom”

 

Best International Feature Film

“Drive My Car” (Japan)
“Flee” (Denmark)
“The Hand of God” (Italy)
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” (Bhutan)
“The Worst Person in the World” (Norway)

 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Coming 2 America”
“Cruella”
“Dune”
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
“House of Gucci”

 

Best Production Design

“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
“West Side Story”

 

Best Original Score

“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“Encanto”
“Parallel Mothers”
“The Power of the Dog”

 

Best Original Song

“Be Alive” from “King Richard”
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto”
“Down to Joy” from “Belfast”
“No Time to Die” from “No Time to Die”
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days”

 

Best Sound

“Belfast”
“Dune”
“No Time to Die”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”

 

Best Visual Effects

“Dune”
“Free Guy”
“No Time to Die”
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
“Spider-Man: No Way Home”

 

Photo: Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Power of the Dog," courtesy of Netflix.