Did I really go through all of the nominations for this year’s Oscars to figure out which films received the most nominations? I did. This year, 53 different films have been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their cinematic excellence.
One question I ponder quite often when it comes to film is, “What separates a good film from a great film? A great film from an epic film?”
One question I ponder quite often when it comes to film is, “What separates a good film from a great film? A great film from an epic film?” Some of it boils down to personal taste, yes, but most cinephiles (yours truly included) would argue there are certain elements which comprise any film worth its stock, pun very much intended. The first and most important of these elements is cohesiveness. All the parts of a film must work in conjunction with one another to tell a certain story. You can have a great script but it’s worthless if you have mediocre actors reciting lines from it. You can have GOATs like Meryl Streep acting in your movie but if your script is subpar, no amount of Streeping will save it.
For me, a great film is a film where everything is not only in balance but complementary. There’s subtlety, nuance, and most important of all—craft.
For me, a great film is a film where everything is not only in balance but complementary. There’s subtlety, nuance, and most important of all—craft. A great actor can make you experience several different emotions in the same scene. A great set can transport you back through time. A great cinematographer can transcend time and space to make you see things in ways you’ve never seen them before. A score, crafted just so to ebb and flow within a film’s narrative, can emphasize elements that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
An epic film not only has all of the elements of a great film, but a certain je ne sais quoi that elevates it above the pack, that makes it timeless. An epic film is larger than life even when the story it’s telling is small in scope.
And an epic film? An epic film not only has all of the elements of a great film, but a certain je ne sais quoi that elevates it above the pack, that makes it timeless. An epic film is larger than life even when the story it’s telling is small in scope. It has a universality that makes it resonate with people from all walks of life, from all places and all times. When I think of epic films, I think of The Godfather. The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind. Sunset Boulevard. Titanic. All of these have elements working in conjunction with one another, and all have not a small amount of magic cooked in for good measure. They quite possibly will outlast time, and rightfully so.
See below for a list of all the films nominated for an Academy Award this year. The number in parentheses beside each film indicates how many nominations it has received this Oscars season.
- The Power of the Dog (12)
- Dune (10)
- Belfast (7)
- West Side Story (7)
- King Richard (6)
- Don’t Look Up (4)
- Drive My Car (4)
- Nightmare Alley (4)
- Being the Ricardos (3)
- CODA (3)
- Encanto (3)
- Flee (3)
- Licorice Pizza (3)
- The Lost Daughter (3)
- No Time to Die (3)
- The Tragedy of Macbeth (3)
- Cruella (2)
- The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2)
- Parallel Mothers (2)
- tick, tick…Boom! (2)
- The Worst Person in the World (2)
- Affairs of the Art (1)
- Ala Kachuu – Take and Run (1)
- Ascension (1)
- Attica (1)
- Audible (1)
- Bestia (1)
- Boxballet (1)
- Coming 2 America (1)
- Cyrano (1)
- The Dress (1)
- Four Good Days (1)
- Free Guy (1)
- The Hand of God (1)
- House of Gucci (1)
- Lead Me Home (1)
- The Long Goodbye (1)
- Luca (1)
- Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (1)
- The Mitchells vs. the Machines (1)
- On My Mind (1)
- Please Hold (1)
- The Queen of Basketball (1)
- Raya and the Last Dragon (1)
- Robin Robin (1)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (1)
- Spencer (1)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (1)
- Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (1)
- Three Songs for Benazir (1)
- When We Were Bullies (1)
- The Windshield Wiper (1)
- Writing with Fire (1)
The 94th Academy Awards ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on March 27th, 2022.
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