Surprising absolutely no one thought that Jane Campion’s Western The Power of the Dog – a hot favourite throughout the ongoing award season – would emerge as the leading contender for this year’s Oscars when the nominees for the 94th annual Academy Awards were unveiled this week. The Netflix psychological drama leads the pack with 12 nods, including Best Picture, Best Director for Campion (making her the first woman to ever be nominated in the category twice), and acting mentions for star Benedict Cumberbatch and supporting performers Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons. Whether the movie continues its winning streak and emerges victorious (like Nomadland did last year) or eventually falls short (like 2018’s Roma) remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune followed as the second most nominated film with 10 nods, including Best Picture, although the movie did not make the cut in the directing and acting categories and most of its noms are for technical achievements.

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story and Kenneth Branagh’s coming of age comedy-drama Belfast each earned seven nominations. And the Danish docudrama Flee made history with its hat-trick, earning simultaneous mentions in the Best Animated Feature Film, Best International Feature Film, and Best Documentary Feature categories.

This year’s ceremony will take place on March 27 and will mark the first time since 2018 that the show will have a host, although an emcee has yet to be named. The Oscars have been struggling in ratings over the last few years and producer Will Packer will be hoping to undo this slumping trend.

Diana the Musical earns the Razzies’ ire

The universally panned recording of the Broadway musical Diana that was released by Netflix last year has received 9 nominations at the 42nd Golden Raspberry Awards, Oscar’s snarky cousins that “honour” the worst in cinema. The film has a nomination in 8 of the Razzie’s 10 categories, including direction (Christopher Ashley) and acting (Roe Hartrampf and Jeanna de Waal).

Other “frontrunners” include the Taryn Manning-starring dark comedy-drama Karen and Joe Wright’s psychological thriller The Woman in the Window with 5 mentions each, while the adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen and the Space Jam sequel A New Legacy got 4 noms apiece. Bruce Willis, meanwhile, has been given his very own special category – Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie – for eight bad performances in one year.

A little more surprising was the inclusion of Ben Affleck (The Last Duel) and Jared Leto (House of Gucci) in the Worst Supporting Actor category; both performances have been receiving fairly positive reviews from critics.

The Razzie winners will be announced on March 26 in the ceremony’s traditional slot a day before the Oscars.