My sincere apologies for late wake-up — I couldn’t fall asleep until 2 am. But all hail HE’s own Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) for having snagged a richly deserved Best Actress nom, and in so doing having seemingly stolen Lady Gaga‘s ardently-campaigned-for Best Actress nom. Further cheers for King Richard‘s Will Smith, an almost certain lock to win Best Actor. Congrats to The Power of the Dog and director Jane Campion — obviously locked to win Best Picture and Best Director. Congrats also for Netflix having finally overcome fogeyish anti-streaming sentiments. Congrats to Drive My Car (four noms), director Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Best Director) and Justin Chang. Congrats to Guillermo del Toro for his Nightmare Alley being Best Pic-nominated. And…first cup of coffee, updates and additions as the wake-up process continues.

SNUBBING the obviously deserving Spider-Man: No Way Home is shameful, obstinate, ignorant, narrow-minded and blind. Sony should’ve offered streaming & screeners earlier in the game.

BEST PICTURE

“Belfast”
“CODA”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Drive My Car” / hats in the air for the Uncle Vanya-stamped grief monkeys! And that red Saab! And the 87 cigarettes smoked during the 179-minute running time.
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog” / OBVIOUSLY LOCKED TO WIN
“West Side Story”

SNUBS: “Being The Ricardos”, “tick, tick…BOOM”

BEST DIRECTOR

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

SNUB “Dune”‘s Denis Villeneuve

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield, “tick, tick, BOOM!
Will Smith, “King Richard” / CERTAIN TO WIN
Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” / Tom O’Neil was right! The others were wrong!
Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter’
Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart, “Spencer” / EVERYONE THOUGHT SHE WAS TOAST…what happened?

SNUBS: Lady Gaga, “House of Gucci” / GAGA MAFIA STUNNED!
Jennifer Hudson, “Respect”
Tessa Thompson, “Passing”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Ciarin Hinds, “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
J.K. 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” / WTF?
Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard” / YES!!! HE’s choice to win!! Because she stood up and stood out!

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“CODA”
“Drive My Car”
“Dune”
“The Lost Daughter”
“The Power of the Dog”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Belfast”
“Don’t Look Up”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“The Worst Person in the World”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

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

BEST FILM EDITING

“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“The Power of the Dog”
“tick, tick…BOOM!”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

“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 MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

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

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

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

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Be Alive,” “King Richard”
“Dos Oruguitas,” “Encanto”
“Down to Joy,” “Belfast”
“No Time To Die,” “No Time to Die”
“Somehow You Do You,” “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”

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

“Drive My Car” / Guaranteed winner
“Flee”
“The Hand of God”
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”
“The Worst Person in the World” / HE’s favorite!

Asghar Farhadi‘s “A Hero” snubbed!

BEST ANIMATED FILM

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

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Ascension”
“Attica”
“Flee”
“Summer of Soul…or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised”
“Writing With Fire”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

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

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

“Affairs of the Art”
“Bestia”
“Box Ballet”
“Robin Robin”
“The Windshield Wiper”

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

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