The Alternate Universe Oscars

In another reality, maybe these were the movies and performances nominated at the Academy Awards this year.

Robert Pattinson in “The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

Hollywood was all about alternate universes in 2022, from the Oscar victor “Everything Everywhere All at Once” to Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

In that spirit, now that the dust has cleared on the actual Oscars, I looked at the overlooked movies that didn’t make it into certain Oscar races; the movies that, in an alternate universe, might have been nominated.

The rules:

For the “big eight” categories — picture, director, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, original screenplay, and adapted screenplay — I picked movies and performances that weren’t already nominated this year in those categories. Even if I think they deserved their actual nomination, I wanted to highlight movies that weren’t honored with a nod.

For the additional categories that I made up — stunts, casting, breakthrough performance, and the “Genre Award,” all categories that aren’t already included in the show (but maybe should be) — I picked any movie I wanted.

The “winner” in each category, as chosen by me, is in bold.

I’m a firm believer that the shorts categories don’t belong in the main Oscars show, which otherwise celebrates feature-length films; we can move them to a pre-show or something, and add categories that should have been added a long time ago. I want to highlight some options for the Academy.

Let’s get to it.

Margot Robbie in “Babylon.” (Paramount)

Best Picture

• Aftersun

• Babylon

• The Batman

• Decision to Leave

• Glass Onion

• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

• Nope

• The Northman

• RRR

• The Woman King

Damien Chazelle’s three-hour Hollywood epic “Babylon” isn’t for everybody, but it won me over. It’s a fascinating (and over-the-top) critique of Hollywood’s excess, how it builds people up only to tear them down. But it’s also a twisted love letter to the industry it eviscerates —how it makes magic through all the chaos — and lays bare Chazelle’s seemingly complicated relationship with Hollywood in a way that his “La La Land” only scratched the surface of.

Park Hae-il and Tang Wei in “Decision to Leave” (Mubi)

Director

• Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave)

• Damien Chazelle (Babylon)

• Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick)

• Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King)

• S.S. Rajamouli (RRR)

Park Chan-wook is a master craftsmen, and it’s a shame the Academy has overlooked him. His “Decision to Leave” is an expertly made thriller, equal parts erotic and suspenseful.

Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount)

Actor

• Diego Calva (Babylon)

• Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick)

• Daniel Kaluuya (Nope)

• Robert Pattinson (The Batman)

• Alexander Skarsgard (The Northman)

Cruise should have won a Best Picture Oscar on Sunday. But why not an acting trophy instead? Cruise proved with “Maverick” why he’s still one of the biggest, and only, movie stars in the world.

Viola Davis in “The Woman King” (Sony)

Actress

• Frankie Corio (Aftersun)

• Viola Davis (The Woman King)

• Mia Goth (Pearl)

• Keke Palmer (Nope)

• Margot Robbie (Babylon)

Davis should have been in actual Oscars contention (and I won’t wade into the controversy around that). In “The Woman King,” she delivers a propulsive, commanding performance.

Brad Pitt in “Babylon.”

Supporting actor

• Paul Dano (The Fabelmans)

• Colin Farrell (The Batman)

• Justin Long (Barbarian)

• Brad Pitt (Babylon)

• Ben Whishaw (Women Talking)

Pitt already has an Oscar, but I don’t mind giving him another for his performance in “Babylon,” as a star of the silent-film era — whose star is quickly fading.

Noémie Merlant in “Tár” (Focus Features)

Supporting actress

• Claire Foy (Women Talking)

• Nicole Kidman (The Northman)

• Lashana Lynch (The Woman King)

• Noémie Merlant (Tár)

• Janelle Monae (Glass Onion)

“Tár” is Cate Blanchett’s movie, but Merlant infuses it with a subtly tragic and striking performance as her assistant who is the latest victim of the cruelty of Lydia Tár.

“Nope” (Universal)

Original screenplay

• Babylon (Damien Chazelle)

• Barbarian (Zach Cregger)

• Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook, Chung Seo-kyung)

• Nope (Jordan Peele)

• The Northman (Robert Eggers, Sjón)

Jordan Peele’s “Nope” didn’t get the adulation of his “Get Out,” but I’m of the opinion it should have. It’s a tough movie to swallow, and doesn’t present its ideas neatly. That’s why it sat with me long after I saw it.

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

Adapted screenplay

• The Batman (Matt Reeves, Peter Craig)

• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole)

• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale)

• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley)

• She Said (Rebecca Lenkiewicz)

This category was already lacking even in the actual Oscars race — the fact that some pundits predicted “All Quiet on the Western Front” to win is proof of that. Here, I’ll award “The Batman,” which excelled at feeling like a Batman comic come to life, and managed to be a compelling take on the character, despite other recent interpretations.

Stephanie Hsu in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Breakthrough performance

• Frankie Corio (Aftersun)

• Mia Goth (X)

• Tenoch Huerta (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

• Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King)

• Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Hsu’s “Everything Everywhere” co-star Jamie Lee Curtis took home the award for supporting actress on Sunday, but Hsu is the heart of the film and gives a far more layered performance. Her film breakout deserves recognition.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Ensemble/casting

• Babylon

• The Batman

• Everything Everywhere All at Once

• Glass Onion

• The Woman King

“Everything Everywhere” dominated the actual Oscars on Sunday, with three acting wins. There’s no doubting the power and charisma of this cast, which infuses a wacky sci-fi comedy about the multiverse with charm and tenderness. And putting industry veterans Curtis and Michelle Yeoh alongside Ke Huy Quan for his big comeback was genius.

“The Woman King” (Sony)

Stunts

• The Batman

• Bullet Train

• RRR

• Top Gun: Maverick

• The Woman King

“The Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood told Vulture recently that the movie literally had to assemble a stunt team from scratch in South Africa because the film’s “budget did not allow us to bring in stunt people.” Pretty impressive.

Steven Yeun in “Nope” (Universal)

The “Genre Award” (best action, comedy, horror, or sci-fi/fantasy movie)

• Ambulance (action)

• Avatar: The Way of Water (sci-fi)

• Barbarian (horror)

• The Batman (action)

• Everything Everywhere All at Once (sci-fi/comedy)

• Nope (sci-fi/horror)

• The Northman (action/fantasy)

• RRR (action)

• Top Gun: Maverick (action)

• X (horror)

More genre movies should be celebrated at the Oscars. It’s a minor miracle that “Everything Everywhere” emerged as this season’s biggest winner. Critics will say that they should be observed in the best picture race — no need for a separate category. But this would add something fresh and exciting to the telecast, and offers a way to spotlight movies that may otherwise be ignored. Why not celebrate more movies at the movie awards?

With that in mind, I’m giving this to “Nope,” which combines elements of horror, sci-fi, and even comedy in unique ways. It was tragically shut out of the actual Oscars but will surely go down as one of Jordan Peele’s finest films when we look back on his career years from now.