2021 Academy Award Nominations


We've finally made it to our last big nomination list. This season has gone on forever and now we finally have our Oscar nominees. Thankfully this year I'm much more happy about the list of nominations than I was last year when there was so much garbage. But of course, there's always a few misses I'm sad about. Here's a list of the nominations + my thoughts.

Best Picture
“The Father”
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Sound of Metal”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7″
It drives me insane when the Academy doesn't fill all 10 Best Picture slots. There's always 10 movies worthy of the title of Best Picture. You're telling me there was no room for Another Round, One Night in Miami or Ma Rainey's Black Bottom when you nominated them in so many other places? Or Da 5 Bloods in general? 

Best Director
Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)
David Fincher (“Mank”)
Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)
Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”)
Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)
TWO female nominees is amazing and so is the surprise inclusion of Thomas Vinterberg. I didn't watch the nominations live, but when I logged into Twitter the first tweet I saw was the director nominees so I had higher hopes for Another Round. Psyched for Chung as well, Minari was so beautiful.

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)
Gary Oldman (“Mank”)
Steven Yeun (“Minari”)
Thank God Steven made it, I was getting worried about him, but come on...Gary Oldman? When Mads Mikkelson (and Delroy Lindo tbh) were RIGHT THERE? I was really hoping since Another Round got in directing it made Mads' chances higher, but nope.

Best Actress
Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)
This was probably the most predictable category of the acting nominations. I can't argue with it, all 5 of these women gave wonderful performances, but I still weep for Radha Blank, who was amazing in The Forty-Year-Old Version. 

Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)
Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”)
LaKeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
I'm torn between YESSS LAKEITH and ...wtf who is the lead of Judas and the Black Messiah then? I love Stanfield, and Academy Award Nominee LaKeith sounds amazing but how in the world did he end up here? I'm so happy for Paul Raci, he was one I thought might get snubbed so I'm so happy to see his name here. 

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Olivia Colman (“The Father”)
Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”)
Youn Yuh-jung (“Minari”)
I'm team Maria all the way! I hope she wins. I'm really happy for Amanda Seyfried too who was the only thing I liked about Mank. It's a pity Close is here for this role though. I had hoped young Helena Zengel might sneak in. Shocked that Jodie Foster didn't. She pulled an Aaron Taylor-Johnson in winning the Globe, then getting snubbed for Oscar. 

Best Adapted Screenplay
Sacha Baron Cohen and Co-Writers (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton (“The Father”)
Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”)
Kemp Powers (“One Night in Miami”)
Ramin Bahrani (“The White Tiger”)
The White Tiger's screenplay was pretty chaotic. Once Priyanka was announced as someone reading the nominations, I figured that was going to happen but it's still a bit puzzling. I'm happy for Borat and One Night in Miami being here, but I think Nomadland has this in the bag. 

Best Original Screenplay
Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas, and Kenny Lucas (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)
Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)
Derek Cianfrance, Abraham Marder, Darius Marder (“Sound of Metal”)
Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
I know a lot of people hate Trial of the Chicago 7 but I really liked it so I'm happy it's here. This is a great list of nominees. Even though I had my issues with a few of the story aspects of Promising Young Woman, I can't help but be happy for it. 

Best Animated Feature
“Onward”
“Over the Moon”
“Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”
“Soul”
“Wolfwalkers”
I need to see Over The Moon still. I've never cared for Shaun the Sheep movies. Soul is winning this, but Wolfwalkers has my heart. I'm happy for Onward too, I liked that way more than I expected to.

Best International Feature Film
“Another Round” (Denmark)
“Better Days” (Hong Kong)
“Collective” (Romania)
“The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia)
“Quo Vadis, Aida?” (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 
ANOTHER ROUND! I'm ready for this to start winning. Country wise, this is pretty different. Normally we have heavy hitters from France, Germany and Italy in the mix. I haven't seen any of the other films but I looked up how you can in case you're in the same boat as me. Better Days you can rent on Prime, Collective, which is also a documentary you can rent on Prime or DVD Netflix. The Man Who Sold His Skin doesn't appear to be available anywhere yet. Quo Vadis, Aida? I couldn't find either, but apparently it was part of a $20 streaming bundle Letterboxd was offering for a week. 

Best Documentary
“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“The Mole Agent”
“My Octopus Teacher”
“Time”
I haven't seen any of these. My two favorite docs I did see this year were Disclosure and Class Action Park, both on streaming so I don't know if they were campaigned here or at the Emmys. Crip Camp and My Octopus Teacher stream on Netflix, The Mole Agent streams on Hulu and Time streams on Prime, so I should have an easier job catching up with these over the International Films. 

Best Cinematography
Sean Bobbitt (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Erik Messerschmidt (“Mank”)
Dariusz Wolski (“News of the World”)
Joshua James Richards (“Nomadland”)
Phedon Papamichael (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
I would've put Minari in here over Mank but the Academy was always going to go for that. I still need to see News of the World, but I like the other nominees.

Best Costume Design
“Emma”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Mank”
“Mulan”
“Pinocchio”
Emma! I keep getting forgetting a Pinocchio movie came out this year. I hate that this category continues to ignore modern films though. I would've put Promising Young Woman here. 

Best Film Editing
“The Father”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Sound of Metal”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
I really want Sound of Metal to sweep all these technical awards. 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Emma”
“Hillbilly Elegy”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Mank”
“Pinocchio”
We need to stop making Hillbilly Elegy happen. 

Best Original Score
“Da 5 Bloods”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“News of the World”
“Soul”
I can't believe his is the only nomination for Da 5 Bloods. It wasn't even my favorite Spike Lee film, but come on. The Academy should've went for it. 

Best Original Song
“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
“lo Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami”
I am so glad something from Eurovision got nominated here. That movie was a mess but the music was so good. Overall, this is a really strong category. I don't feel as strongly as I have in the past about some of these songs, but I think Speak Now is my favorite. I'm just bummed Running With The Wolves from Wolfwalkers wasn't original. That's the one thing from a movie that's been consistently stuck in my head.

Best Production Design
“The Father”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Mank”
“News of the World”
“Tenet”
I still haven't seen The Father. I know Birds of Prey was always going to be a long shot, but I would've liked to have seen that here.

Best Sound
“Greyhound”
“Mank”
“News of the World”
“Soul”
“Sound of Metal”
I forgot they combined the Sound categories this year. Soul surprises me, I thought Tenet would be here. But I'm rooting for Sound of Metal.

Best Visual Effects
“Love and Monsters”
“The Midnight Sky”
“Mulan”
“The One and Only Ivan”
“Tenet”
Is it bad that I'm underwhelmed with the visual effect nominees without the blockbusters that are normally here? It's got to be Tenet winning, right?

Best Documentary Short Subject
“Colette”
“A Concerto Is a Conversation”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“A Love Song for Latasha”
I plan on doing another Short Film posts prior to the ceremony. I really love writing those and trying my best to find all the Short nominees. Last year I think I found all of them and the year before I think I only missed two.

Best Animated Short Film
“Burrow”
“Genius Loci”
“If Anything Happens I Love You”
“Opera”
“Yes-People”
If Anything Happens I Love you BROKE me. 

Best Live Action Short Film 
“Feeling Through”
“The Letter Room”
“The Present”
“Two Distant Strangers”
“White Eye”

Comments

  1. This is the first time in decades I actually saw them announce the nominees as I am always working. I am off this week. Of course, I haven’t seen my but I hope to see a few before April 25th. I am surprised that Ma Rainey is not up for Best Picture. I am certain there are more snubs. I think Chadwick Boseman will win. Now I must try and see all these others...hahahaa. Fat chance

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    Replies
    1. I am too, I thought they would get in easily. It's ridiculous that they didn't, they still had two slots left.

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  2. So Glenn Close is nominated for both an Oscar and a Razzie for the same performance. I hope she wins the latter but then again, Music is also nominated in that category for Maddie Ziegler though Ziegler isn't totally at fault as that is all SIA's fault as I hope that film wins the awards for Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Actress to Kate Hudson. Fuck them bitches.

    Happy that NIN is twice-nominated and "Husavik" I hope wins best song.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, hopefully Close wins that and loses here. Hillbilly Elegy is a joke.

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  3. I am very disappointed that Elisabeth Moss managed to be overlooked for both The Invisible Man and Shirley. Certainly one of these merited a nomination, especially for someone who is clearly one of the best actors of any gender working right now.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't care for Shirley all that much but she was outstanding in The Invisible Man. I wonder where they campaigned her for Shirley? They should've gone supporting if they didn't.

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  4. I'm wondering if WB thought Best Actor was stacked and Stanfield would have a better chance in supporting? Or the academy moved him? It's kind of odd. I hope he and Daniel don't wind up syphoning votes from each other.

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