Oscar nominations: 'The Power of the Dog' leads pack with 12 nominations

The nine other best picture contenders include “Belfast,” "Dune" and “West Side Story.”

“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion’s neo-Western psychodrama, led the pack of nominees for the 94th Academy Awards announced Tuesday morning, picking up 12 nods, including best picture.

The nine other best picture contenders are: “Belfast,” “CODA,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Drive My Car,” “Dune,” “King Richard,” “Licorice Pizza,” “Nightmare Alley” and “West Side Story.”

Tuesday’s nominations were announced live by actors Tracee Ellis Ross (“black-ish”) and Leslie Jordan (“Call Me Kat”) on several platforms, including Oscars.org and the film academy’s social media accounts. The ceremony will be held March 27 and air live on ABC.

Here’s a look at some of the key storylines to follow and takeaways from the nominees.Will Smith eyes first Oscar win

Will Smith scored his third lead actor Oscar nomination for “King Richard,” a portrait of Serena and Venus Williams’ ambitious father. He was previously nominated for his roles in “Ali” and “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

The other performers recognized in Smith’s category are Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield (“tick, tick…BOOM!”) and Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”).

The contenders for the best actress statuette are Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”).

International films make an impression

Two years after Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite” became the first foreign-language film to earn the best picture trophy, the film academy recognized a handful of celebrated projects imported from other countries.

“Drive My Car,” a meditative drama about grief from Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, nabbed a spot on the list of 10 best picture contenders as well as a nod for best international feature. Hamaguchi was nominated for best director, too.

The character study “The Worst Person in the World,” Norway’s submission, claimed an international feature nomination as well as a nod for best original screenplay.

“Flee,” an animated docudrama from Denmark, earned recognition in the international feature and feature-length documentary races, as well as the animated feature category.

Married couples for the win

It was a good morning for some of the film industry’s notable married pairs.

Jesse Plemons and Kristen Dunst were both honored for their poignant supporting turns in Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” (The play a newly married couple in the film.)

The other real-life husband-and-wife duo to land acting nominations: Cruz and Bardem.

Netflix inches closer to best picture

Netflix has conquered the world of streaming video. But the company is still gunning for Hollywood’s most coveted prize: the best picture award. (In recent years, high-profile releases like “Roma” and “Mank” came close but failed to close the deal.)

But the streaming giant has a good shot to win this year with “The Power of the Dog.” The company also distributed fellow best picture nominee “Don’t Look Up” as well as the Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed musical “tick, tick…BOOM!”

Jane Campion, Steven Spielberg make history

Campion is now the first woman to notch two best director nominations. The acclaimed New Zealand auteur was previously nominated for the 1993 drama “The Piano.”

With “West Side Story,” Spielberg, for his part, became the first director nominated in that category across six different decades. He broke a tie he held with Martin Scorsese, who has been nominated for best director nine times across six decades.

He was previously nominated for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” E.T. the Extra Terrestrial,” “Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Munich” and “Lincoln.”

He won for “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.”