Thread by @AFP

From a bumper 2021 in which sprawling blockbusters finally hit reopened movie theaters, and streaming platforms released more prestige flicks than ever, 10 films remain in contention for the best picture #AcademyAward.
Here's a rundown from @andrewmarszal
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@andrewmarszal Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical #Belfast has long been viewed as a serious #Oscars contender. It depicts the outbreak of violence in his native Northern Ireland in the late 1960s from the perspective of a nine-year-old boy

@andrewmarszal #CODAfilm centers on teen Ruby, the only hearing member of a deaf household in a small US fishing community. The #Oscars contender, which cast deaf actors in lead roles and features copious dialogue in sign language, has been celebrated as a landmark in disability representation

@andrewmarszal Satirical comedy #DontLookUp has the starriest cast of any #Oscars best picture nominated film this year, with A-listers including Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep facing extinction from a massive comet hurtling toward Earth -- an allegory for the climate crisis

@andrewmarszal Clocking in at a minute under three hours, Japanese drama #DriveMyCar -- a subtle and slow meditation on grief and loss, adapted from Haruki Murakami's short story -- is the longest film nominated for the best picture #Oscar

@andrewmarszal Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic #Dune adapts the first part of Frank Herbert's seminal novel about feuding noble houses on a planet plagued by giant sandworms. The movie earned $400 million at the global box office -- the other nine nominated movies took $220 million combined

@andrewmarszal Combining the remarkable real-life story of Venus and Serena Williams with the A-list stardust of Will Smith, #KingRichard is an uplifting crowd-pleaser with strong reviews to match. The best actor #Oscar appears to be Smith's to lose, but a best picture win would be an upset

@andrewmarszal Paul Thomas Anderson's latest offbeat offering #LicoricePizza returns to his native Los Angeles, where a directionless twentysomething woman and a cocky high school boy strike up an unlikely relationship

@andrewmarszal Macabre carnival fable #NightmareAlley is undeniably stylish and immersive, but Guillermo del Toro's noir about a traveling "mind reader" who defrauds rich clients with sham seances is unlikely to match the best picture #Oscar of his previous film, "The Shape of Water"

@andrewmarszal Since its world premiere, Jane Campion's moody Western #ThePowerOfTheDog has been the film to beat. Adapted from Thomas Savage's novel about toxic masculinity in 1920s Montana, it earned the most #Oscar nominations and has racked up a slew of other awards

@andrewmarszal Ariana DeBose's performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg's remake of the most-awarded musical film of all time #WestSideStory is expected to win her an #Oscar after numerous precursor awards, but the movie's odds for best picture remain long

@andrewmarszal Follow @afp on Sunday March 27 for live coverage of the 94th #AcademyAwards

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VIDEO: Hollywood grapples with Ukraine ahead of Oscars.

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Oscar nominees in main categories

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