Oscar nominations reaction

Critic Christopher Lloyd offers his snap reactions to the 2023 Academy Award nominations, including surprises, snubs and disappointments.

There are people who care little for the Oscars. Most put them somewhere in the middle of their consciousness, aware of them but maybe not watching the whole broadcast or able to recall who won what. Then there are the obsessives, people who try to parse the odds and hidden meanings behind every nomination and award.

I would belong to that last category. Here are my snap reactions to the 2023 nominations just announced a few minutes ago.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is clearly the front-runner, receiving the expected level of support — and even more. I was surprised by two nominations for supporting actress, Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu. It’s pretty rare for actors from the same movie to compete against each other in the same category. It’s also Curtis’ first nomination after more than 40 years in the biz, making films of varying quality. Good for her.

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” which didn’t get a lot of attention at the time of its release but I thought magnificent, got a lot of love beyond the international feature category, including best picture, cinematography, musical score and adapted screenplay. Well deserved.

Plenty of other surprises in the acting categories, which is unusual. Hong Chau got in for “The Whale” where many (including me) thought Sadie Sink would get the nod. Brian Tyree Henry was nominated for “Causeway,” a streaming film not a lot of people saw (also including me). Judd Hirsch from “The Fabelmans” and Barry Keoghan from “The Banshees of Inisherin” were longshots who made it.

Austin Butler was another longshot who snuck in with “Elvis” for Best Actor, but the real surprises were Bill Nighy in “Living” and Paul Mescal for “Aftersun.” Those are tiny, tiny films — “Living” is just hitting theaters this week, so look for my review soon. It also got a screenplay nod. It’s nice to see the Academy look for smaller pictures, though in truth the lead actor category was a bit weak this year.

More shocks with Best Actress. Cate Blanchett and Michell Yeoh are the front-runners, but “Blonde” had been dismissed by virtually everyone so I’m surprised Ana De Armas made the cut. It is a strong performance, though in a profoundly misguided portrait, I think. I had not even heard of “To Leslie” until recently, so Andrea Riseborough is one we’ll have to look at. Viola Davis seems like the obvious snub for “The Woman King.”

I was very glad to see “Women Talking” honored with a screenplay nomination and best picture, though disappointed Sarah Polley did not get into the director’s category, which again featured five men. (Actually six, with The Daniels co-directing “Everything.”) Steven Spielberg got in as more of a lifetime achievement nod, though it seems to me he’s been honored enough and “Fabelmans” is one of his weaker films. James Cameron, who doesn’t make a lot of movies and rubs Hollywood the wrong way despite his boffo box office, was left off.

Ruben Östlund was the big directing surprise with “Triangle of Sadness,” the winner at Cannes that also scored surprise nominations for best picture and screenplay. To me it’s a wildly uneven flick and this feels almost as if the Americans are trying to seem like they’re more sophisticated than the Europeans would hold us.

“The Sea Beast,” an excellent Netflix movie that didn’t get a lot of notice, got into the animated category, as did “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” For once it seems like the Disney/Pixar film, “Turning Red,” is not the front-runner.

My favorite film of the year, the Belgian coming of age drama “Close,” earned an international nod but nothing else.

My biggest disappointment is the snubbing of “Till,” my second favorite film, especially Danielle Deadwyler’s magnificent lead turn. That one really stings. For me, she and Brendan Fraser of “The Whale” gave the two best performances of the year. The lack of much other support for “The Whale,” with snubs in screenwriting and best picture, might hurt Fraser’s chances.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” also snuck into the best picture race, though its only other nominations were in the so-called technical categories. The other big box office champ, “Top Gun: Maverick,” also made the best picture list as well as a surprise nod for screenplay. Many will call Tom Cruise’s being left off the best actor list a snub, and it probably is.

I was glad to see John Williams pick up another nomination for his musical score for “The Fabelmans.” Despite my reservations about the movie, it is one of Williams’ better scores and a nice career capper for the cinema legend.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

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 Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix) 

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” (A24) 

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (DreamWorks Animation) 

“The Sea Beast” (Netflix) 

“Turning Red” (Pixar) 

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse” (Apple TV+) 

“The Flying Sailor” 

“Ice Merchants” 

“My Year of Dicks” 

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It” 

Best Costume Design 

“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures) 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios) 

“Elvis” (Warner Bros) 

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24) 

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” (Focus Features) 

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye” (Floodlight Pictures) 

“Ivalu” (M&M Productions) 

“Le Pupille” (Disney+) 

“Night Ride”

“The Red Suitcase” (Cynefilms) 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix) 

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.) 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.) 

“The Whale” (A24) 

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front”  

“Babylon”  

“The Banshees of Inisherin”

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

“The Fabelmans”  

Best Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix) 

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios) 

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.) 

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.) 

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures) 

Best Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)   

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)  

“Living” (Sony Pictures Classics) 

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures) 

“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing) 

Best Original Screenplay

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)  

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)  

“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)  

“Tár” (Focus Features)  

“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)  “An Irish Goodbye” (Floodlight Pictures) 

Best Cinematography 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)   

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Netflix) 

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.) 

“Empire of Light” (Searchlight Pictures) 

“Tár” (Focus Features) 

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“All That Breathes” (HBO Documentary Films) 

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (Neon) 

“Fire of Love” (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon) 

“A House Made of Splinters”

“Navalny” (CNN/Warner Bros.) 

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers” (Netflix) 

“Haulout”

“How Do You Measure a Year?” (Jay Rosenblatt Films) 

“The Martha Mitchell Effect” (Netflix) 

“Stranger at the Gate”

Best Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures) 

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.) 

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24) 

“Tár”

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount) 

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

Best Original Song 

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman”

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”   

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”   

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”   

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once” 

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix) 

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios) 

“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures) 

“Elvis” (Warner Bros) 

“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures) 

Best Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix) 

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios) 

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.) 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios) 

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures) Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

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 Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix) 

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios) 

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures) 

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.) 

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24) 

“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures) 

“Tár” (Focus Features) 

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures) 

“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon) 

“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)