Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of the MCU's most accomplished solo hero films. Simu Liu is a wonderful fit for Shang-Chi, while Tony Leung's Wenwu is one of the greatest MCU villains of all time. While the final act succumbs to Marvel's customary CGI fight hijinks, the preceding action more than compensates.
Following another historic year in cinema, Hollywood is gearing up for the 2022 Academy Awards. And, of course, a large part of the legendary awards show is speculating on which film will win the coveted Best Picture prize. The Power of the Dog, a Netflix film, leads the race with 12 nominations. Dune, which got ten nominations, is a close second.
Belfast. Kenneth Branagh's charming, low-key recollection of his Irish youth at the outbreak of the Troubles would have been a shoo-in for Best Picture at an era when the Academy's membership was a bit more conventional and much more white. As constituted, it has a reasonable probability of going from seven nominations to seven defeats, while a victory for the original script is not ruled out. Fortunately, the film remains endlessly charming, as long as you avoid thinking too hard about its politics, or lack thereof, and features award-winning performances by Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe as the young protagonist's impossibly gorgeous parents, as well as Ciarn Hinds and Judi Dench (both of whom earned supporting nominations). It is available for $19.99 through digital stores. Advertisement
“Duneâ€
Apologies to Marvel fans hoping for a Best Picture nomination for âSpider-Man: No Way Homeâ: The only big-budget action film garnering Oscar consideration is Denis Villeneuve's (Arrival) âDune,â the magnificent, vast, mesmerizing dreamscape. Based on Frank Herbert's seminal science fiction series, âDuneâ introduces viewers to the futuristic desert world of Arrakis, where the Atreides family âDuke Leto (Oscar Isaac), Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and son Paul (Timothee Chalamet) âface stiff resistance from all quarters as they assume rulership of the planet and its abundant supply of âspice. †Villeneuve has created a blockbuster that seems really epic in scope and ambition, owing as much to films like âLawrence of Arabiaâ as to space-based sagas like âStar Wars: A New Hopeâ (which was inspired in part by Herbert's book).
