2021 Oscar Nominations And Discussion Thread. (2 Viewers)

[Tino]

The Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM. It will be a unique year of nominations to be sure.

Here they are


Best Picture

The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Director

Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round
David Fincher – Mank
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman

Best Actor

Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Gary Oldman – Mank
Steven Yeun – Minari

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 Muligan – Promising Young Woman

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

Best Supporting Actress

Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Yuh-Hung Youn – Minari

Best Adapted Screenplay

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night In Miami
The White Tiger

Best Original Screenplay

Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Animated Feature

Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Best International Feature Film

Another Round
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Documentary

Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

Best Cinematography

Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Costume Design

Emma.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Film Editing

The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma.
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Original Score

D 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

Best Original Song

“Fight for You” – Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice – The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik” – Eurovision
“Io si (Seen)” – The Life I Had
“Speak Now” – One Night In Miami

Best Production Design

The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet

Best Sound

Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

Best Visual Effects

Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

“Colette”
“A Concerto Is A Conversation”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“A Love Song for Latasha”

Best Short Film (Animated)

“Burrow”
“Genius Loci”
“If Anything Happens I Love You
“Opera”
“Yes-People”

Best Short Film (Live Action)

“Feeling Through”
“The Letter Room”
The Present”
“Two Distant Strangers”
“White Eye”

 

[Jake Lipson]

I suggest this thread be sticky.

 

[TravisR]

Nice to see the Academy totally or mostly ignore Spike Lee, Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods, and Soul. Dummies.

Yes, I realize that Soul is nominated for animated feature (and score) but that's a category that reinforces the idea that animated movies aren't as good as 'real' movies so f-that. It absolutely deserves to be in contention for the real Best Picture.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Is there any way that Boseman doesn't win Best Actor? I don't see it any other way.

 

[TravisR]

Is there any way that Boseman doesn't win Best Actor? I don't see it any other way.

Yeah, if I was any of the other nominees, I'd just skip the ceremony and go straight to the parties.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah, if I was any of the other nominees, I'd just skip the ceremony and go straight to the party.

Even if you don't think his performance was worthy enough, there is no way sentimentally isn't going to be the overall factor in that particular category. We've seen it beforehand in prior Oscar years.

 

[Tino]

Unless I’m mistaken I believe a category has been eliminated.

Sound Editing.

 

[Tino]

Unless I’m mistaken I believe a category has been eliminated.

Sound Editing.

Yup

Just one Oscar category for sound? The pros are happy to share the acclaim

At today's board of governors meeting, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to create one consolidated category: "Achievement in Sound."

www.google.com

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Happy about Mank receiving the 10 nominations and i did like the film even thought you get the impression that Herman did all the work on developing Citizen Kane.

 

[Steve Y]

I saw depressingly few of the nominees this year. However, Sound of Metal was my favorite of the films I did catch, so I'm happy to see that nominated. Judas and the Black Messiah was very good too, especially its two main performances.

Sentimentality will certainly be a bigger factor this year than in other years, but that said, it's never NOT a factor with these awards. I'm always more excited about the nominations than the awards because it reminds me what I still need to check out.

 

[Malcolm R]

Glad to see Love and Monsters in there for Visual Effects. That was a fun film.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I predict the lowest rated Oscar telecast ever, followed by much hand-wringing and shock from the Academy the following day.

 

[Malcolm R]

I predict the lowest rated Oscar telecast ever, followed by much hand-wringing and shock from the Academy the following day.

Probably. I doubt most people have even heard of many of these films/performances.

The only ones I've seen on the entire list are Tenet, Onward, and Love and Monsters.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I haven't seen any of best picture, international, documentary or animated features, have i missed anything or is this the worst lineup in the Academy's history. They should have skipped a year.

 

[TravisR]

I predict the lowest rated Oscar telecast ever, followed by much hand-wringing and shock from the Academy the following day.

Absolutely. This year is obviously different with so few high-profile movies having been released but let's say that a huge box office hit gets nominated next year, I doubt the ratings would be up very much then either because I don't think that people particularly care about seeing the ceremony anymore. Audience fragmentation has wiped out TV ratings for pretty much everything and the Oscars is in the same boat.

I haven't seen any of best picture, international, documentary or animated features, have i missed anything or is this the worst lineup in the Academy's history.

Yes, you've missed out because the nominated movies that I have seen were all quite good.

 

[Bryan^H]

I haven't heard of one of the BP nominations. Then again, I really haven't been paying attention to movies in 2020.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Absolutely. This year is obviously different with so few high-profile movies having been released but let's say that a huge box office hit gets nominated next year, I doubt the ratings would be up very much then either because I don't think that people particularly care about seeing the ceremony anymore. Audience fragmentation has wiped out TV ratings for pretty much everything and the Oscars is in the same boat.

I think the fragmentation certainly plays a part but I think there’s also a narrative that’s been cemented that the Academy is no longer about recognizing movies that interest the vast majority of filmgoers.

They expanded the number of nominees a decade ago specifically to make more slots available to recognize the films that audiences actually watch, but instead have - by and large - doubled down on nominating films that don’t appeal to a general audience. When they do nominate a popular film, they almost always make a point of cutting it off at the knees by denying it the corresponding nominations considered necessary to win the biggest prizes.

I’m really starting to think that, broadcast audience fragmentation aside, the Academy has spent years suggesting to the general public that the movies it likes aren’t suitable, and I think the public, rather than taking the Academy’s picks as suggestions of what to watch, are just moving away from paying attention to what the Academy has to say. The Academy used to regularly nominate and reward films which struck a chord with the general public; they no longer do.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The (admittedly very small) silver lining here is because many of these films are streaming, they are more accessible to the general audience than they otherwise would be in a non-pandemic year. Chicago 7 and Mank are on Netflix; Sound of Metal is on Amazon; Nomadland is available on Hulu at the same time as theaters; and Promising Young Woman becomes available to rent at normal prices on digital storefronts tomorrow. Minari is available now if you want to pay for a $19.99 premium rental, although I'll wait until it drops down to see it. Judas and the Black Messiah was on HBO Max through yesterday, but it is now a theatrical exclusive for its second month in release. Usually, many of these films are in limited release in major cities and take a while to become available nationwide. But anyone who wants to see these films can do so on streaming. That's a good thing for the Academy.

That being said, the problem is getting the general public to want to see these films that they haven't heard of before. People like us who spend their time hanging out on forums to discuss movies are aware of many of these, but your average Joe moviegoer probably isn't.

I have said this before and I will say it again. If the Academy were to nominate high-quality films that the audience is familiar with alongside the smaller films that they deem valuable, then you would have a situation where people might be drawn to some of the smaller films because they want to see what is nominated alongside their favorite. Because the Academy has by and large chosen not to nominate anything

This year in particular, that might have been more challenging because less films than usual had highly visible theatrical releases. But it doesn't mean they had no choices.

Soul was a direct-to-streaming release, but it is an unusually high-profile one because most people know what Pixar is. Also, it was heavily marketed as a theatrical release before the pandemic forced Disney to pivot its release. Disney+ has over 100 million subscriptions now and they included Soul without a Premier Access upcharge. I would guess that Soul has probably reached more people than most of these Best Picture nominees. More importantly, it is as highly acclaimed as any of them.

So why would the Academy not choose to honor it? They had ten possible slots for nominations and only used eight of them. That means they had room to include Soul in the Best Picture race and still include all of these films as well, but didn't like it enough to do so. As @TravisR said, they think that its Best Animated Feature nomination is sufficient and that it does not deserve bigger recognition because it is animated.

In the history of the Oscars, there have only been three animated films nominated for Best Picture. Beauty and the Beast was nominated in 1992 for the year 1991. Up was nominated in 2010 for the year 2009. And Toy Story 3 was nominated in 2011 for the year 2010. The latter two of those were nominated in the years when the Academy had a fixed number of ten nominees. They would have both gotten my vote for the best picture of their respective years if I had a vote to give. But I am sure that if the Academy had the flexible number nomination system that they use now, those two would not have been nominated in that category at all. The Academy nominated those films not because they were prepared to give them the award, but because they had ten slots to fill.

A Best Picture nomination for Soul would have greatly helped awareness this year, but it would not have automatically corrected the years and years of snubbing popular work. The irrelevance that the Academy is currently facing is a direct result of years and years of turning away from popular movies, and they are going to continue to feel the impact of that until they change their practices.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that a movie should get nominated simply because it is popular. That's why the poorly-conceived Best Popular Movie category never actually came to fruition. If a movie is popular and it is bad, then there is no reason to give it award. But the Academy pretending like popular entertainment as a whole is less than what they are doing is a mistake. There can be room for both. As @Josh Steinberg noted, that is ostensibly why the number of nominations was extended in the first place, but they didn't actually use that extension the way they had said that they would.

 

[WillG]

Is there any way that Boseman doesn't win Best Actor? I don't see it any other way.

Not a chance, everyone else can stay home

 

[Jake Lipson]

I posted this in the Judas and the Black Messiah thread and don't normally double post, but feel like it bears mention here as well because it is specifically about the nomination process.

Here is an interesting article from Variety explaining the Academy's rules. It laying out a possible explanation for how Lakeith Stanfield ended up in the supporting actor race even though he was campaigned in Lead.

Why Lakeith Stanfield Was Nominated in Supporting and Not Lead for ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ (Opinion)

Lakeith Stanfield was surprisingly nominated in best supporting actor for "Judas and the Black Messiah" despite a lead campaign. Here's why.

variety.com