2022 Oscar nominations reactions slugfest: Editors

The 2022 Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning and Gold Derby editors Denton Davidson, Chris Beachum, Daniel Montgomery and Marcus James Dixon were as shocked as everyone else by some of the OMG snubs and surprise nominees. They recently got together to share their reactions and discuss who they believe are the new Oscar front-runners and why some sure bets were left out of the 94th Academy Awards. Watch the Oscar video slugfest above and be sure to give us YOUR opinions down in the comments section.

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The biggest jaw-dropper in Best Actress is the absence of Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”), who was the only contender to hit all three major precursors with Critics Choice, SAG Awards and BAFTA bids. Instead, Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) came roaring back into contention after major snubs from both the SAG Awards and BAFTA. Montgomery admits to feeling “confused” about the current state of the race because “every tea leaf is reading something different.” While he puts Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) out front, Dixon, Beachum and Davidson all have Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”) in their top position. Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) and Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) round out the field.

For Best Actor Beachum thinks this is a three-way race between Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield (“tick, tick…Boom!”) and Will Smith (“King Richard”). For the time being he is holding out hope for Garfield, who he believes gave the best performance. Davidson, Dixon and Montgomery have their money on Smith for the time being, who also produced “King Richard,” earning the actor a second Oscar bid for Best Picture. The other nominees are Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”) or Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”).

SEE Top 20 Oscar snubs of actors and actresses: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Caitriona Balfe…

In Best Supporting Actress, the consensus is that Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) will take home her first career Oscar. Everyone had to do a double-take when they realized Caitriona Balfe (“Belfast”) was snubbed in favor of Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”) and Balfe’s “Belfast” co-star, Judi Dench. But nobody really sees them or fellow nominees Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”) and Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”) as legitimate threats to DeBose.

Best Supporting Actor could be more tricky. The longtime front-runner has been Kodi Smit-McPhee, but with the surprise nomination of his “The Power of the Dog” co-star, Jesse Plemons, enough votes could be pulled away from Smit-McPhee to give Troy Kotsur (“CODA”) the edge. Kotsur “could charm everyone into giving him that Oscar,” Montgomery says. Ciaran Hinds (“Belfast”) and J.K. Simmons (“Being the Ricardos”) appear to be along for the ride at this point.

“The Power of the Dog” may have had the Best Picture scale tipped in its favor as the only film to get bids for directing, editing and writing. “I don’t want to say it’s a done deal, but it seems pretty done-ish to me,” says Dixon. Beachum adds, “Everybody else missed something critical and [‘Dog’] didn’t miss anything.”