I had a doctor’s appoint early this morning so I was not home when three of the guilds announced their nominations for the best of 2022.  However, I am home now and I am looking over the nominations of the DGA, the SAG, and MUAHS.

Instead of splitting these into three separate posts, I’m just going to post them all here.  And I’m also only going to post the film-related nominations because, to be honest, that’s pretty much what we’re all interested in around here.

First off, from the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild:

Best Contemporary Make-Up, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“The Batman” (Naomi Donne, Doone Forsyth, Norma Webb, Jemma Carballo)
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” (Michelle Chung, Erin Rosenmann, Dania A. Ridgway)
“The Menu” (Deborah LaMia Denaver, Mazena Puksto, Donna Cicatelli, Deb Rutherford)
“Nope” (Shutchai Tym Buacharern, Jennifer Zide-Essex, Eleanor Sabaduquia, Kato De Stefan)
“Spirited” (Monica Huppert, Autumn J. Butler, Vivian Baker)

Best Period and/or Character Make-Up, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“Amsterdam” (Nana Fischer, Miho Suzuki, Jason Collins)
“Babylon” (Heba Thorisdottir, Shaunna Bren Chavez, Jean Black, Mandy Artusato)
“Blonde” (Tina Roesler Kerwin, Elena Arroy, Cassie Lyons)
“Elvis” (Shane Thomas, Angela Conte)
“Till” (Denise Tunnell, Janice Tunnell, Ashley Langston)

Best Special Make-Up Effects, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“The Batman” (Michael Marino, Mike Fontaine, Yoichi Art Sakamoto, Göran Lundström)
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Joel Harlow, Kim Felix)
“Elvis” (Mark Coulier, Jason Baird)
“Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” (Barrie Gower, Emma Faulkes, Chloe Muton-Phillips)
“The Whale” (Adrien Morot, Kathy Tse, Chris Gallaher)

Best Contemporary Hair Styling, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“The Batman” (Zoe Tahir, Melissa Van Tongeran, Paula Price, Andrea Lance Jones)
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Camille Friend, Evelyn Feliciano, Marva Stokes, Victor Paz)
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” (Anissa E. Salazar, Meghan Heaney, Miki Caporusso)
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Jeremy Woodhead, Tracey Smith, Leslie D. Bennett)
“The Menu” (Adruitha Lee, Monique Hyman, Kate Loftis, Barbara Sanders)

Best Period Hair Styling and/or Character Hair Styling, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“Amsterdam” (Adruitha Lee, Lori McCoy-Bell, Cassandra L. Russek, Yvette Shelton)
“Babylon” (Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Ahou Mofid, Aubrey Marie)
“Blonde” (Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Lynnae Duley, Ahou Mofid, Robert Pickens)
“Elvis” (Shane Thomas, Louise Coulston)
“The Woman King” (Louisa Anthony, Jamika Wilson, Plaxedes Kelias, Charity Gwakuka)

To be honest, there’s nothing particularly surprising here.  These are the films that you would expect to see nominated by the Markup Artists and Hair Stylists.  I’m a little surprised at the strength of The Batman.  I don’t think you’ll see it nominated in the major categories but it does look like it will be remembered as far as the technical awards are concerned.  The same seems to be true of Blonde.

Now, let’s move on to the Screen Actors Guild:

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Babylon
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
Women Talking

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett – TAR
Viola Davis – The Woman King
Ana de Armas – Blonde
Danielle Deadwyler – Till
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Austin Butler – Elvis
Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Bill Nighy – Living
Adam Sandler – Hustle

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR 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

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Paul Dano – The Fabelmans
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Eddie Redmayne – The Good Nurse

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick
The Woman King

The big news with the SAG nominations is that Top Gun: Maverick only received a nomination for its stunt ensemble, which would seem to suggest that, while the film may receive a nomination for best picture, the actors branch is looking elsewhere.  The actors branch is the biggest branch in the Academy, which is one reason why the SAG awards are typically seen as being such a strong precursor.  Not surprisingly, the actors branch tends to respond to films about actors.  That perhaps explains Babylon’s ensemble nomination and Ana de Armas’s nod for Blonde.  Adam Sander got some good notices for Hustle but he hasn’t really been a big awards season factor, until now.  As a result of being snubbed for his award-worthy work in Uncut Gems, Funny People, and the Meyerowtiz Stories, Sandler can actually make a case that he’s due for his first nomination.  Who would have expected that ten years ago?

Finally, here are the Directors Guild of America nominations.  The DGA is a big deal.  It’s rare that a film receives a DGA nomination without also receiving a best picture nomination.  Here are the DGA nominees:

NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Todd Field – Tár
Joseph Kosinski – Top Gun: Maverick
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans

FIRST TIME NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Alice Diop – Saint Omer
Audrey Diwan – Happening
John Patton Ford – Emily The Criminal
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović – Murina
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun

So, despite being snubbed by the SAG, Top Gun still receives a DGA nomination.  Not nominated was James Cameron, whose Avatar: The Way of the Water is defying the naysayers and is on its way to being as big a hit as the first film.

So, taking in all of these nominations and last night’s Golden Globes, it really does appear that the Oscar race is going to be between The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere All At Once with the Banshess of Inisherin as a possible spoiler.  Much like Mad Max: Fury Road, Top Gun: Maverick appears to be poised to win a lot of technical awards.  Much as what happened with Fury Road, Maverick‘s supporters will probably get their hopes up early in the ceremony, just to have them crushed once the major awards are handed out.  And it looks like the Academy might like both Blonde and Babylon more than the critics.  We’ll see what happens!