2023 OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

Well this Oscar morning announcement started off really lousy for me as I slept right through it!! My alarm was set for 5:10 AM, I woke up when It went off --- and then the next thing I know, it's 6:30!!! My friend, who I have watched the announcement with for years while over the phone, even called me and I didn't hear the phone ring. And my phone was right next to my head. Anyway, I rushed to turn to the Oscars channel on YouTube and watched the revealing of the nominations there.

With Riz Ahmed, an Oscar winner for Best Live-Action Short and Allison Williams, hot right now due to the hit horror film, "M3GAN" which she stars and produced, serving as hosts of the event and the return of a live audience, there was a welcome sense of pageantry that has been restored to the announcement of these nominations. "Everything Everywhere All at Once", the sci-fi, action, family drama, lead in the nominations with eleven. This is followed by "The Banshees of Inisherin" and the German-language feature, "All Quiet on the Western Front" with eight nominations each.

Some highlights include big surprises in the acting categories with Paul Mescal unexpectedly being recognized for Best Actor for the critically acclaimed indie, "Aftersun"; Brian Tyree Henry receiving his first Oscar nomination for the Apple+ film, "Causeway" and Andrea Riseborough getting an incredible long-shot Best Actress nod for her turn in "To Leslie", a little seen, low-budget film that got a lot a buzz right before voting began for her performance. Angela Bassett has received only her second Oscar nomination for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever", her first in twenty-nine years, and it is notable that this is the very first acting nod for a Marvel super-hero movie. It been even longer for Judd Hirsch between nominations as he just received his second Best Supporting Actor nod for "The Fabelmans" following recognition in the same category for "Ordinary People" back in 1980. At the age of ninety, John Williams received his fifty-third nomination in Best Score for composing the music for "The Fabelmans". And Diane Warren has received her fourteenth nomination for Best Original Song, still without a competitive win but she did just receive a Honorary Oscar last year.

The 95th annual Academy Awards will be held on March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Jimmy Kimmel will return as host for the third time.

Here is the complete list of the 2023 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 Original Screenplay:

Todd Field, "Tár"
Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg, "The Fabelmans"
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Ruben Östlund, "Triangle of Sadness"

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Edward Berger, Ian Stokell, and Lesley Paterson, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Rian Johnson, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery"
Kazuo Ishiguro, "Living"
Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, "Top Gun: Maverick"
Sarah Polley, "Women Talking"

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Cate Blanchett, "Tár"
Ana de Armas, "Blonde"
Andrea Riseborough, "To Leslie"
Michelle Williams, "The Fablemans"
Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Austin Butler, "Elvis"
Colin Farrell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Brendan Fraser, "The Whale"
Paul Mescal, "Aftersun"
Bill Nighy, "Living"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

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 Actor in a Supporting Role:

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 Cinematography:

James Friend, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Darius Khondji, "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths"
Mandy Walker, "Elvis"
Roger Deakins, "Empire of Light"
Florian Hoffmeister, "Tár"

Best Film Editing:

Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond, "Elvis"
Paul Rogers, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Monika Willi, "Tár"
Eddie Hamilton, "Top Gun: Maverick"

Best Production Design:

Christian M. Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Dylan Cole, Ben Procter and Vanessa Cole, "Avatar: The Way of Water"
Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino, "Babylon"
Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy and Bev Dunn, "Elvis"
Rick Carter and Karen O'Hara, "The Fabelmans"

Best International Feature Film:

"All Quiet on the Western Front" (Germany)
"Argentina, 1985" (Argentina)
"Close" (Belgium)
"EO" (Poland)
"The Quiet One" (Ireland)

Best Live Action Short Film:

"An Irish Goodbye"
"Ivalu"
"Le Pupille"
"Night Ride"
"The Red Suitcase"

Best Documentary Feature Film:

"All That Breathes"
"All The Beauty and the Bloodshed"
"Fire of Love"
"A House Made of Splinters"
"Navalny"

Best Documentary Short Film:

"The Elephant Whisperers"
"Haulout"
"How Do You Measure a Year"
"Stranger at the Gate"

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio"
"Marcel the Shell With Shoes On"
"Puss In Boots: The Last Wish"
"The Sea Beast"
"Turning Red"

Best Animated Short Film:

"The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse"
"The Flying Sailor"
"Ice Merchants"
"My Year of Dicks"
"An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It"

Best Original Score:

Volker Bertelmann, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Justin Hurwitz, "Babylon"
Carter Burwell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Son Lux, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
John Williams, "The Fabelmans"

Best Original Song:

"Applause" from "Tell It like a Woman" - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
"Hold My Hand" from "Top Gun: Maverick" - Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
"Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" - Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
"Naatu Naatu" from "RRR" - Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
"This Is A Life" from "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Best Costume Design:

Mary Zophres, "Babylon"
Ruth Carter, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Catherine Martin, "Elvis"
Shirley Kurata, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Jenny Beavan, "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine, "The Batman"
Camille Friend and Joel Harlow, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti, "Elvis"
Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley, "The Whale"

Best Sound:

Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges, "Avatar: The Way of Water"
Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson, "The Batman"
David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller, "Elvis"
Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor, "Top Gun: Maverick"

Best Visual Effects:

Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett, "Avatar: The Way of Water"
Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy, "The Batman"
Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher, "Top Gun: Maverick"