2021 OSCAR NOMINATIONS: THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Best Picture:

• The Nominees.

  • The Father

  • Judas and the Black Messiah

  • Mank

  • Minari

  • Nomadland

  • Promising Young Woman

  • Sound of Metal

  • Trial of the Chicago 7

• The Snubs.

  • Da 5 Bloods

  • Never Rarely Sometimes Always

  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • Promising Young Woman | You’ll see this movie in this category a few times

• The Personal Favorite.

  • Minari | I suppose I have a favorite movie of the year! Nomadland is probably better but is so experiential and moving that it would be tricky to return to. Minari slowly, sweetly breaks your heart and puts it back together again and I could sign up for that and a cute little kid almost any day of the week. I won’t be upset when Nomadland wins though.

Best Director:

• The Nominees.

  • Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

  • Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

  • David Fincher, Mank

  • Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

  • Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round

• The Snubs.

  • Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods

  • Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

  • Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah

  • Andrew Patterson, The Vast of Night

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman | Hurrah for a historic number of female nominees – just 2 – but I would replace Fennell with Hittman in an instant.

• The Personal Favorite.

  • Chloé Zhao, Nomadland | This film lives and dies by its direction, and Zhao creates something undeniably alive here. Go get ‘em.

Best Actor:

• The Nominees.

  • Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal

  • Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

  • Anthony Hopkins, The Father

  • Gary Oldman, Mank

  • Steven Yeun, Minari

• The Snubs.

  • Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • Gary Oldman, Mank | I really really love this performance, but I had to put something and excluding Delroy Lindo is just plain wrong.

• The Personal Favorite.

  • Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom | Chadwick is the best thing in this film. Go get ‘em.

Best Actress:

• The Nominees.

  • Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

  • Andra Day, United States vs. Billie Holliday

  • Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman

  • Frances McDormand, Nomadland

  • Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

• The Snubs.

  • Julia Garner, The Assistant

  • Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

  • Han Ye-ri, Minari

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • o Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman | See Gary Oldman above – nothing wrong with this performance, and I don’t think I would replace it with any snubs. Just had to blog, you know?

• The Personal Favorite.

  • Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman | Considering how down on this film I am, you might be surprised by this – she kills it and is easily the best thing here.

Best Supporting Actor:

• The Nominees.

  • Sacha Baron Cohen, 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

• The Snubs.

  • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Trial of the Chicago 7

  • Mark Rylance, Trial of the Chicago 7

  • Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah | Why are these two lead performances in the Supporting Actor category? I’m worried that we might have a vote split, and Kaluuya loses despite having the best performance in this category.

• The Personal Favorite.

  • Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah | See above. Go get ‘em.

Best Supporting Actress:

• The Nominees.

  • Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

  • Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy

  • Olivia Colman, The Father

  • Amanda Seyfried, Mank

  • Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

• The Snubs.

  • Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah

  • Talia Ryder, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy | This is a bad movie, and the only reason we’ve been paying any attention is because Glenn Close is overdue for an Oscar.

• The Personal Favorite.

  • Amanda Seyfried, Mank | This performance is so fun and so alive that it lifts the entire mood of the film to much more lighthearted places whenever Seyfried is on screen. That’s the power of a good performance, folks.

Best Original Screenplay:

• The Nominees.

  • Judas and the Black Messiah

  • Minari

  • Promising Young Woman

  • Sound of Metal

  • The Trial of the Chicago 7

• The Snubs.

  • Never Rarely Sometimes Always

  • The Vast of Night

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • Promising Young Woman | Back at it again with me and this movie – despite being a novel idea and hurling powerful themes at the audience, this movie should have been a speech and not a movie – it really lacks that nuance.

• The Personal Favorite.

  • The Trial of the Chicago 7 | I love me some Sorkin, ok? This film is definitely over-nominated, but not in this category. Go get ‘em.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• The Nominees.

  • Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

  • The Father

  • Nomadland

  • One Night in Miami

  • The White Tiger

• The Snubs.

  • First Cow

• The Worst Inclusion.

  • Borat Subsequent Moviefilm | This film had a screenplay? Which was adapted from something? And not just a collection of well-planned, well-executed public stunts? Could have fooled me.

• The Personal Favorite.

  • Nomadland | Eschewing a traditional narrative in favor of scripted naturalism serves Nomadland well. Go get ‘em.

Snubbed Films:

• · Da 5 Bloods

  • Nominated for: Best Score

  • Should have been: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay

• · Never Rarely Sometimes Always

  • Nominated for: Nothing

  • Should have been: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay

• · First Cow

  • Nominated for: Nothing

  • Should have been: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design

• · Tenet

  • Nominated for: Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design

  • Should have been: Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score

• · Soul

  • Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score, Best Sound

  • Should have been: Best Picture

• · The Vast of Night

  • Nominated for: Nothing

  • Should have been: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Sound